Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
TROPICAL VEG IN LONDON
Niru Patel is experimenting with Asian vegetables in her London garden.
– Okra: More tricky to grow, but worth persevering with. Attractive plants with stunning hibiscus-family flowers and, hopefully, some pods.
– Colocasia (Taro): Grow from corms called eddoes, easily available in Asian grocers. Whole plant edible when cooked. Corms can over-winter in the ground. Tropical leaves impress visitors.
– Chickpeas: A legend of a plant! Grow from dried red and white chickpeas bought for cooking. Cold tolerant, nitrogen fixer, pretty edible foliage, self-supporting and self-pollinating. Sow indoors and transplant outside in mid-March at 10cm height. Great to grow next to other crops like cabbage or tomatoes.
– Ginger & turmeric: Soak and leave half covered in compost. Even without a harvest of rhizomes, the plants are beautiful with edible leaves.
Learn more about her experiment in our latest issue of Permaculture magazine, PM128: shop.permaculture.co.uk/products/permaculture-magazine-128-single-issue
TROPICAL VEG IN LONDON
Niru Patel is experimenting with Asian vegetables in her London garden.
– Okra: More tricky to grow, but worth persevering with. Attractive plants with stunning hibiscus-family flowers and, hopefully, some pods.
– Colocasia (Taro): Grow from corms called eddoes, easily available in Asian grocers. Whole plant edible when cooked. Corms can over-winter in the ground. Tropical leaves impress visitors.
– Chickpeas: A legend of a plant! Grow from dried red and white chickpeas bought for cooking. Cold tolerant, nitrogen fixer, pretty edible foliage, self-supporting and self-pollinating. Sow indoors and transplant outside in mid-March at 10cm height. Great to grow next to other crops like cabbage or tomatoes.
– Ginger & turmeric: Soak and leave half covered in compost. Even without a harvest of rhizomes, the plants are beautiful with edible leaves.
Learn more about her experiment in our latest issue of Permaculture magazine, PM128: shop.permaculture.co.uk/products/permaculture-magazine-128-single-issue
