You can also use the tubers chopped and shredded in a salad (lightly steam them first) or in soups. Not only are their bewitching blooms drop-dead gorgeous but they’re also edible, as are the dahlia’s fleshy underground tubers, which can be used to make dahlia ice cream, dahlia crisps, dahlia chips, dahlia soup, dahlia rostis or even grated into cakes in much the same way that you might use carrots, parsnips or beetroot. Yes, I know I’m a bit obsessed with these showy, floriferous plants, but with very good reason. Very easy to grow from a packet of seeds sown directly in a pot or hanging basket at this time of year, this cheery, undemanding, fast-growing annual will produce an abundance of brilliantly colourful, pollinator friendly flowers throughout the summer and early autumn months.ĭahlia’s fleshy tubers can be used to make dahlia ice cream, crisps, chips, soup, rostis or be grated into cakes. Recommended varieties include the sugar-snap variety known as ‘Oregon Sugar Pod’. Tender, sweet and intensely flavoursome, these taste delicious in a stir-fry or added to a salad or even a sandwich.

Within a couple of weeks, you should be able harvest young pea shoots (use a sharp scissors to snip the tips off).

Place somewhere bright but not too warm (a windowsill is fine). While you may not have the space to grow these tall climbing plants to the point where they’re laden down with pods, all parts of the pea plant are edible so you can still enjoy that delicious flavour of freshly harvested peas by soaking the dry, wrinkled seeds in water for a day and then densely sowing them into a shallow tray filled with just 3-4cm of compost. Short of growing space but still hungering to cultivate a little of your own food this year? Here are some useful suggestions for easy-to-grow, tasty and productive food crops happy to grow in a pot or hanging basket.

Salad pot luck containers