Diana Yates shares her guide to creating a flower and veg garden from scratch, and how it turned out to be larder, source of home decoration and a place of restoration and healing, too. From planting for pollinators to growing a pumpkin patch and storing your homegrown produce, Diana takes us through the growing year at her home, Greenfields.
Growing at Greenfields follows a year with Diana Yates in her garden in the picturesque Scottish Borders. She shows that anyone can raise their own veg, create a plant theatre, cook seasonally and decorate their home using home-grown dried or fresh flowers. You don't need a grand house or huge plot, by the way – her veg are all grown in a raised bed, her potatoes are in sacks, and her plant theatre created using pots.
Guided by the seasons, there are helpful checklists of essential garden tasks, advice on seeds and cuttings, how to store your precious produce, planting for wildlife and more. Also included are projects for indoors and out, such as making a potager, crafting an autumn wreath, growing peas in guttering and making your own calendula balm. Diana also shares her favourite garden-to-table family recipes so you can show off your produce, from Garlic Scape Pesto to Comforting Cauliflower Soup. By growing, crafting and cooking, make a place that you can truly call home.
Contents include:
Spring
Seed-sowing guide
How to Grow: Peas in guttering
Recipe: Caper linguine
Spring garden tasks
Summer
Kitchen garden care
How to Grow: Pumpkins
Recipe: Creamy new potato salad
Harvesting, curing and storing
Autumn
Bulbs, glorious bulbs
Recipe: Butternut and prosciutto salad
How to make: Calendula balm
Creating an autumn porch display
Winter
How to grow: Sweet peas
Recipe: Immune-boosting chicken
The winter cutting garden
Late winter garden tasks