UK: Gardening experts reveal the gateway plants that got them hooked on horticulture
Was there a particular plant that got you interested in gardening? Seriously green-fingered folk reveal their gateway to growing
By Jean Vernon
The Telegraph
21 December 2020
Excerpt:
Michelin-starred chef Merlin Labron-Johnson was late to the gardening party, although early life lessons on the family farm in Devon left their mark. Food is his first love, but a new hobby came knocking when lockdown closed his restaurant, Osip, in the Somerset foodie hub of Bruton.
“Growing veg is definitely a very recent thing. I was busy running the restaurant and never quite found time to get involved in any of the growing. It has become almost an obsession and something that I am now as passionate about as cooking. It provides a great kind of escapism and also there’s something slightly therapeutic and relaxing about it.”
It was while travelling in Peru that the seed was sown: Labron-Johnson was introduced to some plant ingredients that he loves to grow today.
“The ones that fascinated me were amaranth and the red and purple orach; it’s the most beautiful bright pink/claret colour. You can treat their leaves almost like spinach, but you can also use the grains and the seeds and cook them like a risotto.”
Labron-Johnson, like all gardeners, learned by his mistakes. He watched and read a lot on the internet, listened to local no-dig expert Charles Dowding and read Lucy Chamberlain’s book Step-by-Step Veg Patch.
