Semi-ornamental edibles...

There is a recipe on the bbc good food site for pickling courgettes, which I can recommend.

Are we all avoiding the elephant in the room - chillies?!!
If we were to grow just one variety, it would be Patio Sizzle, one of the wilko seeds. Just £1 per pack, with enough seeds for a few years, so v reasonable. The plants grow well, about 12” high, and are covered with upright-pointing 1” conical chillies, which go bright red. A good hot chilli! We have stored them successfully both as frozen and dried...

We wouldn’t be without our thymes, both “standard” and lemon. The lemon thyme is fantastic in cooking!

We grow an old variety of miniature tomato, our “yellow pear”. I think someone said that our variety sounds like their Ildi? It grows as a very vigorous cordon, so we train it against the wall on a trellis, zig-zagging it back and forth, so we can end up with stems that are over 10 foot long. Good cropping, and of course the little hanging yellow pears are v pretty. Happy to send you some seeds...

 

Chilean Guava (Ugni molinea) is a decorative edible berry; supposed to have been a favourite of Queen Victoria.

 

@Fat Controller I grow it in a mixed bed that gets some shade. Like a lot of plants in my garden it took a while to get going. Came through the "Beast from the East" unscathed. Here for some more info Ugni molinae - Growing Guide - Burncoose Nurseries
Seeds are relatively large compared to the fruit size, but the flavour makes it worthwhile.

 

I’ve not been very successful with sweet peppers outside. I get 1 maybe 2 peppers per plant, which isn’t really a good enough return for the space. However, I’ve grown a chilli pepper called Aneheim (sp?) a couple of years now. It crops quite well on a compact plant, and is a large, mild, yet tasty chilli, with a thick flesh, and turns a lovely deep red. I’m definitely putting it on my “get more seeds” list.

 

I have recently acquired ugni (the seller called it myrtus ugni - the 'Kapow' variety). The fruit are tiny but very tasty. I'm not sure whether you are supposed to peel them but I've just been eating them!

 

I have just found the website www.lubero.co.uk when searching for grafted versions of pawpaw. They have some very tempting ornamental edibles...

 

That's because I'm an idiot and actually typed it. Wrongly. http://www.lubera.co.uk/

 

I just eat them straight off the plant, too small too peel.

 

Yes, that’s them! I got my seeds from Chiltern Seeds, but it’s the same one. As you can see in the description, not very hot, but you get the broader, richer chilli flavour, as distinct from a sweet pepper.

They are very attractive, and also suitable for stuffing, if that’s your inclination!