You can learn more about forest gardening, permaculture, and why we grow the plants we grow in our Forest Gardening article here.
Not everything on this list is available all the time, but everything (edible) that's available in the gardens is on this list. Listings indicate the main harvest time for each crop.
As a rule, greens are best picked before flowering, while the new season's growth is still fresh. If cut back after flowering, most will then produce new fresh growth to eat.
WARNING: It is impossible to completely eradicate non-edible plants from the gardens, and hazards exist if you pick the wrong plant. Please note in particular that daffodils, foxgloves and many types of fungi are common in the gardens and should not be eaten. Please positively identify anything you plan to eat from the gardens using this guide or another reliable source.
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Dahlia
EDIBLE FLOWERS: This dahlias are mostly here for the bees and for you to enjoy seeing, but did you know the petals can be added to salads, and the tubers are edible too and can be eaten like yams? Flavour and texture varies between varieties.
SUMMER, AUTUMN
Fennel
Care: Very little. Remove unhealthy/aphid-infested leaves. Remove dead material in autumn/winter.
Harvest: Leaves and flowers during summer, seeds later. This is not a bulbing variety.
Eat: Add to salads or chop and use as flavouring, especially in fish dishes and with pork.
CAUTION: The sap or oil can be irritant for some people. Not recommended for small children or those with liver disorders.
SUMMER
French Beans
Care: Water well. Protect from slugs. Clear in winter and resow next year.
DWARF BEANS do not require support. CLIMBING BEANS need canes or similar to climb.
We often grow Ryder's Blue Coco beans (climbing) which are a purple bean developed in St Albans by Samuel Ryder - our very own heritage variety, from which we save seeds each year to resow!
Harvest: When beans are 10cm long and smooth (ideally before beans inside start to swell).
Eat: Boiled or steamed, as a side dish or in casseroles and pasta dishes.
SUMMER, AUTUMN
French Marigolds
EDIBLE FLOWERS: These plants are great for the garden: while the flowers attract hoverflies and other pollinators, the pungent smell deters aphids, and the roots also repel soil pests such as nematodes and soil-dwelling slugs. Petals are edible, with a citrus flavour.
SUMMER
French Scorzonera (aka Common Brighteyes)
Care: Pick regularly. Remove flower stalks after flowers have faded.
Harvest: Leaves, virtually all year round but especially in the cooler months.
Eat: Leaves have a mild flavour and can be used in place of lettuce, or cooked like spinach.
AUTUMN, WINTER, SPRING
French Thyme
Care: Trim lightly after flowering, to encourage fresh growth and good shape.
Harvest: Leaves, any time. Snip stems rather than stripping leaves, to encourage new growth.
Eat: As flavouring in a wide variety of dishes!
SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN
Fuchsia
Care: Feed in summer for maximum flowering. Cut plants back hard in March.
Harvest: Pick berries when black and soft in late summer and autumn.
Eat: Raw or in jams, cakes, puddings, salads. (Yes, ALL fuchsias have edible berries!)
AUTUMN, WINTER
Garden Mint
The mint for desserts and garnishes.
Snip stems when harvesting, to promote new growth. Cut back after flowering. Do not allow to invade – limit runners regularly.
SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN
Golden Marjoram
Care: Trim lightly after flowering, to encourage fresh growth and good shape.
Harvest: Leaves, any time. Snip stems rather than stripping leaves, to encourage new growth.
Eat: As flavouring in a wide variety of dishes! Especially with tomatoes, cheeses, eggs, salad dressings and in Mediterranean cooking. Flavour is similar to oregano.
ALL YEAR ROUND
Good King Henry
Care: Cut back hard after flowering, and remove dead material when plant dies back in autumn. Cut regularly throughout spring to encourage fresh growth.
Harvest: Early spring; plants grow bitter later in the season.
Eat: Like spinach. Has a tendency to bitterness, so may be best as part of a mixture of leaves.
CAUTION: May contain saponins (also in beans) and oxalic acid (also in spinach). Both are harmless in small amounts but oxalic acid can be problematic in larger quantities, especially for those with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity, so limit intake accordingly. Cooking reduces levels of both.
SPRING
Gooseberry
Care: Prune in winter, when dormant: cut out unproductive branches older than three years, remove low-growing/drooping and crossing branches and aim for an open centred, bowl-shaped bush. Feed and mulch in early spring. Watch out for sawfly caterpillars and remove by hand.
Harvest: When berries are deep red – almost purple.
Eat: Raw or cooked into pies, jams and crumbles.
SOME PLANTS DONATED BY CARPENTER'S NURSERY - THANK YOU!
SUMMER
Hogweed
Care: None. Remove dead material at end of season.
Harvest: Young shoots, leaves, or buds.
Eat: Sauteed in butter, or steamed.
SPRING
Hookers Onion (white flowers)
Care: Cut back after flowering and when it dies back in winter.
Harvest: Leaves and flowers, any time during growth.
Use: As chives or spring onion greens.
SPRING, SUMMER
Hyssop
Care: Trim lightly after flowering, to encourage fresh growth and good shape.
Harvest: Leaves and flowers, any time. Snip stems rather than stripping leaves, to encourage new growth.
Eat: In teas, or Middle Eastern cooking. Has a pungent mint/licorice taste. Suits game and lamb well.
SPRING, SUMMER
Jimbur (purple flowers)
Care: Cut back after flowering and when it dies back in winter.
Harvest: Leaves and flowers, any time during growth.
Eat: As chives or spring onion greens.
SUMMER
Jostaberry
Care: Prune in winter, when dormant: remove weak, wispy shoots and any very old branches to the base, retaining 6-10 healthy main shoots. Feed and mulch in early spring.
Harvest: From July.
Eat: These are a cross between gooseberries and blackcurrants and can be used in all the same ways. Eat raw when fully ripe, or cook into desserts.
SUMMER
Kale
Care: Protect from pigeons and white butterflies – under netting or mesh is best! Resow next year.
Harvest: Leaves, when a good size. Buds as broccoli in spring.
AUTUMN, WINTER, SPRING
Lamb's LettuceCare: Allow to drop seed after flowering, then remove dead matter.
Harvest: Whole plants or arms, when a useful size. Please leave a few to set seed for next year.
Eat: Raw in salads and sandwiches.
WINTER, SPRING
Land Cress
Care: Allow to drop seed after flowering, then remove dead matter.
Harvest: Leaves or whole plants, when a useful size. Please leave a few to set seed for next year.
Eat: As watercress: raw in salads and sandwiches or gently wilted.
WINTER, SPRING
Leaf Celery
Care: Keep well watered. Resow each year – this is a biennial and will flower and die in its second spring. Allow to drop seed after flowering.
Harvest: Leaves and stems, any time during growth.
Eat: Like celery: add to soups, stews, salads etc.
SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER
Lemon Balm
Care: Pick or pinch out regularly to promote bushy growth and lots of leaves. Cut back after flowering.
Harvest: Leaves, any time during growth (spring/summer). Snip tops of stems rather than picking individual leaves.
Eat: Use as a calming tea, or as a dessert herb, e.g. in a fruit salad. Add to smoothies, or infuse syrup, honey or vinegar. Chop and mix with butter to accompany roast chicken, fish or potatoes.
CAUTION: Some sources recommend avoiding this herb during pregnancy.
SPRING, SUMMER
Lettuce
Harvest outer leaves at any time, or pull whole lettuces when a good size.
SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN
Lovage
Care: Very little. Remove unhealthy leaves. Remove dead material in autumn/winter.
Harvest: Leaves and stems, in spring and summer.
Eat: Has a strong flavour similar to celery; use in place of celery or in stews, soups, or chopped with potatoes or vegetable side dishes. Especially complements chicken and spring veg.
CAUTION: Some sources recommend avoiding this herb during pregnancy.
SPRING, SUMMER
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WARNING: It is impossible to completely eradicate non-edible plants from the gardens, and hazards exist if you pick the wrong plant. Please note in particular that daffodils, foxgloves and many types of fungi are common in the gardens and can be dangerously toxic. Please positively identify anything you plan to eat from the gardens using this guide or another reliable source.