Last updated
05 February 2012
Quest for the Good Life 
Welcome to our Fruit and Vegetable section.
We have a copy of the old Ministry of Agriculture “Dig for Victory” war time vegetable growing guide. This inspired us to use this for the 2011 season. It was useful so in 2012 we are keeping to the plan, adding a few more veg for interest.
This war time plan was designed to maximise vegetable production from gardens and allotments. We too wish to maximise our production so what better then growing our food in the same way! The three pages of this document offer a plan, one of the most essential starts to any successful garden. We will using what we have learnt from the 2011 season and building on it for 2012. Read more about planning the vegetable garden. An important part of this plan is the use of crop rotation.
As well as vegetables we need to grow fruits like apples, pears and plums plus as many others as possible. We have created a small orchard, along with some fruit bearing trees in our boundary hedge lines. This will increase productivity considerably. For the purpose of this section we will consider all of these as orchard fruits.
As we are limited for space and wish to grow more than just vegetables, we may have to adjust the “Dig for Victory” plan slightly. A reduction of about 30% in fact. Because we want to have orchard fruits, currants and keep chickens, we have to cram it all in.
We don’t want to use chemicals on the plants. This is not a desire to be organic, we simply don’t see the point in using chemicals to artificially control pests. If we can grow healthy plants from good seed stock then the effects of pests and diseases should be reduced. Using natural fertilisers , such as Comfrey, is part of this strategy.
What is the definition of a vegetable?
Strange, we all know what a vegetable is when we see it, but not quite so easy to define it scientifically. Perhaps the simplest definition is “ a plant cultivated for an edible part ”. But how does this compare to a herb? A herb can be defined as “ a plant grown for flavouring or medicinal purposes”. The overlap here can be demonstrated with garlic. Commonly regarded as a vegetable along with onions, but used as a flavouring and reputed to have medical benefits as well. Herb or vegetable? The answer is probably both.
The herb garden usually goes hand in hand with the vegetable plot, and the two are
inter-
What is the definition of fruit?
A simple definition is “ the seed bearing product of a plant”. Perhaps slightly more accurate is “ the ripened ovary of a flowering seed plant ”. So you can think of a fruit as an apple, orange or tomato. But then tomatoes are often included in vegetable lists. Confusing isn’t it! Now strictly speaking pea pods, runner beans, courgettes, marrows and pumpkins are fruit. They are a product of a fertilised flower. But we all tend to view them as vegetables along with carrots and swedes.
Families and Groups
So if we accept that “vegetables” can include some fruit and some herbs then how do we organise them into groups or families so we know how to cultivate and manage them.
The following families summarise it nicely:-
- Beetroot family
- Potato family
- Carrot family
- Onion family
- Marrow family
- Pea & Bean family
- Daisy family
- Cabbage family
- Miscellaneous for those odds and sods