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LOUISE MIDGLEY is inspired by a book that shows you how to grow all the ingredients you need for a recipe in one pot

An estimated quarter of the population are now having a go at growing their own fresh produce and although demand for allotments is high, cultivating vegetables, herbs and soft fruit in containers at home, is every bit as popular.

Container gardening involves far less soil preparation, no heavy digging and is ideal if you have downsized and only have a small outside space.

This efficient system rarely sees a glut of one variety, as space in a container is far more limited than a long row of the same vegetable. You’re also far more likely to only grow crops that you’ll eat. It’s much in the same vein as planning a menu for the week before hitting the supermarket; the end result for both means less waste all round.

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In a new book, The One-Pot Gourmet Gardener, author Cinead McTernan takes container growing to a new level, by grouping all the ingredients for a recipe in one pot, providing pudding pots, snack pots, picnic pots and supper pots, all ready to be turned into nutritious dishes, straight from the balcony or patio onto the plate.

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Drawing from her horticultural expertise, she has grouped together crops that favour the same growing conditions and can be harvested at the same time.

Each edible, planted container has been photographed in all its glory, burgeoning with colourful combinations of fruiting crops and flowers, that would clearly rival any ordinary pot of flowering plants as a focal point in the garden.

A plant ingredients list is given for each container, as well as a recipe and image of the dish.

So inspired was I by the fragrant pot of herbs that’s used for the pudding recipe of lemon verbena, rose geranium and thyme posset, that I have now planted up my own.

It also includes English lavender and lemon basil plants, all of which attract pollinating insects into the garden and will fill the air with a melange of essential oils on a summer’s day.

There is a useful and comprehensive section at the beginning of the book for novice gardeners that gives horticultural advice and tips on how to succeed in growing your own produce in containers, some of which would be of interest to seasoned growers too. rat

To order One-Pot Gourmet Gardener by Cinead McTernan at the discounted price of £12.99 including p&p* (RRP: £16.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote offer code APG311

*UK Only- Please add £2.50 if ordering overseas.

About the author:
Cinead McTernan is a horticulturally trained writer and gardening editor of The Simple Things. She was previously editor of The Edible Garden and worked on The English Garden and BBC Gardeners’ World.

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