| Name |
Why |
Culture |
Image
|
| Nettle |
The foodplant of many butterfly caterpillars,
and can be steamed and eaten, too. |
Needs rich soil, so grows well around
the compost heap, where it need not be destroyed. |
|
| Jack by the Hedge (Garlic mustard) |
A bundle added to soups and stews
adds a wonderful flavour. |
Likes dry conditions, under hedges
and on roadside verges or banks. |
|
| Dandelion |
Find a big plant, cut the leaves
to within 5mm of the root, cover with a saucer and harvest blanched
leaves two weeks later for salad. Flower heads make great wine. |
Grows absolutely anywhere. |
|
| Horseradish |
The essential addition to roast beef
and steamed trout. Grate the raw root into cream. |
Self-propagating from a root cutting. |
|
| Clover |
Red clover is THE bumble bee attractor,
helping your crops get pollinated. |
Can be sown from seed anywhere. |
|
| Fat hen |
Attracts hoverflies, which control
greenfly, and can be eaten like spinach. |
Grows anywhere rich in nitrogen. |
|
| Bramble |
Blackberries… does any fruit
taste better? |
Can be trained like a vine. Fruits
on previous year's growth. |
|
| Ivy |
Attracts beneficial birds, and can
be dug in (before it seeds) for green manure. |
Pick a vigorous native ivy and prune
ruthlessly in autumn. |
|
| Chickweed |
Attracts beneficial birds, and can
be dug in (before it seeds) for green manure. |
Grows on any recently-dug ground,
from seed collected in summer |
|
| Foxglove |
Bumble bees love it, and it looks
gorgeous. |
Biennial which self-seeds from a
few plants transplanted in autumn. |
|
