Brassica Oleraceae - Capitata group

Family: Brassicaceae

Every different type of vegetable from the brassica family is from one original type of plant. All the various differences from the giant flower on a cauliflower to the dense heading leaves on our cabbage has been brought about by farmers careful selection and breeding techniques over the millenia. Cabbage is a very versatile vegetable and can be pickled, eaten raw or cooked, used in stir-fries and even added to a health-giving green smoothies. Cabbage stew is a delicious dish.

Allium Cepa

Family: Alliacaeae

Onions are used in countless ways from crunchy onions rings to pickles and stir-fries. They form an important basis of most cooking traditions of the world. The poor onion is often a neglected home produce crop and we would love to see our friends growing them at home chemical free. They keep so well and we think that one more thing you don't need to put in the fridge means a smaller fridge, or a fridge that can be shared, fridge pooling - the way of the future!

Rocket or Arugula - Eruca Sativa

BRASSICACEAE

Rocket is an annual that grows up to a metre in height when left to go to seed but in cultivation is around 40 cm tall. It has a peppery taste and is great in salads, pesto and on pizzas amongst many other things.

Raphanus sativus

BRASSICACEAE

Petroselinum crispum
Family: Apiaceae

Parsley is a must in any self-respecting home garden, with culinary and medicinal uses that have been celebrated for centuries.

Beta Vulgaris sub species maitima

Family: Chenopodiaceae

Basically a multi-coloured relative of beetroot and silverbeet, this plant is one of the easiest to grow in the garden and you wont have to force yourself to drink wheatgrass juice, this plant is packed with chlorophyl! Just be sure to steam or cook as the cellular structure and oxalates need a little breaking down to get to that goodness. Alternatively only eat the young leaves for salads.

Vicia Faba

Family: Fabaceae

Before we can relax and get into the details about this plant, let us first say that we love the broad bean so much, some may deem it almost inappropriate. But tell me, what else grows so vigorously, so tall and strong in the winter garden? What bean is so culinarily versatile? What plant is steeped so pungently in history and culture?

I tell you there is nothing like the broad bean. Also known as the fava bean, it is a delicious and abundant food crop, but is also extremely useful as a soil improver, capturing the elusive nitrogen from the atmosphere with its specialised root nodules.

Allium ascalonicum

Family: Alliaceae

Spring onions have been used in China and Japan for centuries. They have a white stalk and green leaves.

Lactuca Sativa

Lettuce is a temperate annual and sometimes biennial and is a member of the daisy family Asteracea.

Beta Vulgaris

Solanum lycopersicum

Family: Solanaceae

Ah the red in red-blooded, the wonderful ubiquitous Tomato. How on earth did the Italians identify as true Italians before Africans gave them wheat for their pasta and the South Americans, tomato for their sauce?! Most tomatoes on the shelves in supermarkets are picked unripe and are sprayed with ethylene in storage to force ripening and as a result are less juicy and more mealy with much less sweetness and flavour, so tomatoes grown at home are far better than you can buy. Growing tomatoes at home is a must.