We’re one-pot gourmet gardeners

Inspired by a clever new book, we’re attempting to grow a whole meal in one pot. ‘One-pot gourmet gardener’, written by Cinead McTernan and published by Frances Lincoln, contains a bunch of tasty looking recipes where all the ingredients for each dish can be grown together in a single container. Not only does the author provide instructions on how to cook the veg, she also explains how to grow them, making it a one-book-stop for the amateur gardener / cook. And with flowers often used among the ingredients, the growing pots look every bit as appealing as the resulting meals.

The recipes are divided into five chapters (picnics; soups and salads; quick suppers; tasty accompaniments; drinks and puds) and although some of the meals look a tad ambitious for our ‘rustic’ approach to gardening and cooking, there are more than enough recipes for us to adapt.

In fact, we’re so impressed with the ideas that we’re not simply going to look at the pictures before adding it to our collection of never-used recipe books. Oh no. Instead we’re each going to attempt to grow one pot from the book and see if we can make a meal out of it.

I’ve opted for a courgette and fennel tart, which will involve growing courgette, fennel, onion and marigold in a fairly large container. Rich has gone for more of a fancy, herby arrangement with a ‘lemon verbena, rose geranium and thyme posset’, which includes lemon basil and lavender alongside the ingredients listed in the recipe.

Such is the attention to detail, the book even recommends veg varieties. Having already purchased most of our seeds we’ll be straying slightly from some of the exact varieties, but hopefully when it’s cooking time we won’t have to stray from the recipes to make up for any growing failures.

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