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This summer, BBC Gardener's World presenter Adam Frost will be surrounded by edible plants as he creates the main show garden, 'Chef's Table', on BBC Gardener's World Live at the NEC in Birmingham.
The designer and plant grower says this is a selfish project, as he loves to cook: “I think I was one of those kids who were told to become a gardener or a chef or join the army when I left school.”
Over the years, he has met many chefs and cooks who share the farm-to-table ethos, and he plans to host guest chefs, including James Martin, in the outdoor space he has created.
Here he shares his tips and tricks on how to create a unique farm-to-table space.
1. Find a place you like
“Think about what it is about your garden that appeals to you. If you have a little spot you like to sit in, how are you going to use it?”
2. Consider interplanting
“I always feel like people who try vegetable growing either fall in love with it, or it doesn’t work out at first and they get discouraged, or they don’t necessarily have the space to grow just vegetables.
“The garden is really about planting. We'll have vegetables, herbs and ornamentals all in one space, so you wouldn't necessarily think it's a pure vegetable patch.”
Frost's garden will be planted with one layer of fruit and ornamental trees: “The premise is to find some old apple trees and plant them in the center of the plot, then plant other edible and ornamental plants on top of them. The second layer will be a mix of shrubs and fruit trees.”
“I've found that when I mix plantings in my garden, they don't require as much water as a standard vegetable patch.”
3. Change your choices
“We grow ornamental and edible currants and ornamental and edible rhubarb. If you think about converting ornamental to edible, you'll see they look beautiful as ornamentals too.”
“There are lots of herbs that are really beautiful to look at, like Sweet Sicily, which will be flowering soon. Sweet Sicily has a lovely anise-like scent and can be used to sweeten rhubarb instead of sugar.”
“We have lots of lovage in our garden which has a celery-like flavour and goes well with many dishes, but there's a smaller variety called Scottish lovage which has beautiful umbelliferous flowers.”
“Then there's sorrel. There's the regular green sorrel that you use in fish dishes and stews, but there's also silver sorrel, which has beautiful silver-variegated leaves and makes a really nice plant to have at the front of a flower bed. It's just a slightly different way of looking at herbs.”
4. Consider fruit trees
“When you think about fruit trees, you don't always have a lot of space, but there are a wide variety of fruit you can grow in a fan against a wall or in containers on your patio.”
“You can grow it as a little stepover – it's a little dwarf fruit with a T-bar on top – and plant it at the edge of a border, so it has quite a lot of fruit that can look decorative depending on how you prune and look after it.”
5. Make the most of your most beautiful vegetables
“You can use leaf beets – fantastic different colours of leaf beet, different colours of beetroot, carrots – we've got fantastic pumpkins, different courgettes, fennel too.”
“They all have interesting foliage, so consider interplanting them with some flowering plants, from late-flowering primulas to astrantias and salvias. The gorgeous foliage adds a sense of peace and ties everything together.”
6. Create a “picking” path
Instead of building a full-width path, he suggests making one 40-50cm wide, allowing enough space to access the site while still softening the look with plantings.
If you have gravel, he suggests planting some herb seeds in it, including borage, which produces soft blue flowers that will add a softening effect to the available space.
7. Don't alienate chefs
“Lots of people want to barbecue, but it's always some poor old man in the corner doing it and everyone else is far away. The principle of the Chef's Garden is that the person cooking has an eye over the table.
“If you build a little bench and put a barbecue grill next to it, it will make the surrounding area more inviting.”
Adam Frost will appear on BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC from 13th to 16th June.
