Veg I don't buy

home grown spring onions

Picked

• spring onions

I am sure you have a list of veg that you never buy.  In my situation, there are two reasons why I never buy some veg. One reason is because with little planning and effort, I always seem to manage to keep myself supplied  from the garden.  The other reason is because I can't imagine ever eating the shop bought version and am therefore happy to only eat seasonally and  when they come from my garden.


Veg I manage to keep myself supplied with

Spring onions
I always have spring onions on the go in the garden.We do make lots of food that uses spring onions and they are so lovely fresh. Their long leaves are always round and fat with air and sound lovely when you brush them beside each other. I confess, I have only so far grown them from nursery bought seedlings, but I have ordered some spring onion seed and am going to try from seed  very soon. Does anyone out there have advice on growing spring onions from seed?

Beetroot

spring onion, with parsley and eggplant

I love beetroot but not every day and so it is easy to keep yourself in them.  One glut every now and then is enough and if you can't wait for them to get to a certain size, then you can always eat the baby ones... and their greens.

Rocket
It is pretty easy to keep us in rocket too.  It grows so quickly that constant picking, even when very small is essential to keep on top of the supply.  And nothing ever goes wrong with rocket.  It just grows!

Chillies
I always grow enough to have a stash in the freezer.  That never seems to run out before I start picking fresh ones and I always preserve lots of chillies in various forms each year to tie me over even if the frozen ones run out.

Lemons (but you said veg, lemons are fruit)
Yes, you are right but they are another of those thing I manage to keep myself in.

Other things I never buy are herbs like, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, mint and Vietnamese mint

Things I can't even imagine buying and am happy to eat seasonally

Snow peas

tonight's spring onion pick

Home grown snow peas are a treat to anticipate. I cannot imagine eating the ones I see in the shops that are almost always grown on too long for my taste and often look pale. I can deprive myself of snow peas until I pick my own easily. I will stagger my crop this year so that my supply lasts longer. I have some up already and when they start to flower I will get another batch in. When the crop is ready to pick  I pick snow peas every second day. Sometimes they don't even make it to the back door. I often eat the pick in the patch.

Lettuce
I like all sorts of lettuce but cannot imagine eating the shop bought ones which are always floppier than the home grown. You also can pick off individual leaves as they grow so you don't have to wait till the plant is mature.

I have noticed that the list of things I don't buy is not really very long and will be aiming to increase the number...

What do you mange to keep yourself supplied with? What can't you bring yourself to buy?