In developing the garden at St Paul’s, we have discovered that a ‘problem’ space in the garden can become a success if we look at it through a different lens.
One of our vegetable growing beds has the challenge of having least light out of all of the beds in a garden that belongs to the London Plane trees that surround it. Last year we did some research into combining what we could eat with what will grow happily in lower light conditions and would be fun to try out. We came up with a bed full of Wasabi, edible ferns and miniature raspberry bushes.
After a year, they have all settled in and in many ways, it is as beautiful to look at as the harvest will be to eat. Wasabi requires a bit of patience as it needs 2-3 years for the roots to mature, after which you lift and harvest a bit like you would with horseradish. The leaves can be eaten too – they have a gentle wasabi like flavour to them. The Fiddlehead Ferns can be steamed and eaten that way. And the raspberries are going into one of our home-made ice creams later in the summer.
