THE NATURAL FORAGER’S GARDEN
With expert broadcaster, author and long-standing AG columnist, Anne Swithinbank
The countryside here on the border between East Devon and West Dorset is full of yellow, from fields of oil seed rape, fluttering brimstone butterflies and if I’m lucky to spot them, yellowhammers. There’s plenty of yellow in the garden too, from dandelions. These begin flowering towards the end of March and are such a treat for bees and other pollinating insects. They’re a good forager’s plant too, mainly for the bright yellow florets.
Asked to name my favourite vegetable, it has to be the runner bean and growing them at home means those delicious pods can be picked at the perfect moment. In mid to late summer, I often slice a colander full at lunchtime, to boil briefly but vigorously in lightly salted water until al dente. A meal of nothing but beans, anointed with a little butter and freshly ground pepper is a seasonal treat. Bean lovers with sheltered gardens and well-drained soils might make a first, speculative sowing in March under cover but for most of us in colder gardens and on heavier, wetter soils, April is early enough. Sowing can continue into May and June right up until July and I’ll usually make at least two, to be sure of a long season. The plants flower and set pods from the bottom upwards as they grow and once the topmost pods have been picked, cropping is over. In fact, runner beans are perennial and after a mild winter will often re-grow but rarely to produce as generous a crop in their second year.
Sharing our garden with other creatures brings a special joy and although we have no frogs and few toads, there are plenty of newts and slow worms. These inhabit two definite areas on either side of the garden and love to infiltrate compost heaps. When working in these areas, I have to slow down and concentrate so as not to harm these beautiful reptiles.
