I’m taking a look at the world of vegetables this month and some of the ways that plant breeders are working to bring improvements for commercial growers and home gardeners.
You can of course just grow ordinary lettuce for instance as baby leaves, but much work has been done specifically to breed miniature vegetables that make them ideal for this particular use.
Many of these improved salads are now used in supermarket baby leaf bags, but you can grow the same thing in a seed tray on the window sill or sown in the garden from a packet of seeds. You can achieve three sowings/crops from as little as £1.29 per packet. That’s value! Compare that with the price of a supermarket bag of salad – and yours will be ‘harvest fresh’ straight from the garden.
Breeders are now trying to breed in pest and disease resistance into our favourite vegetables with the aim of reducing pesticide use – that’s got to be good news for gardeners and consumers alike!
My final suggestion for developments in the pipeline is that of breeding to increase vitamin content of fruit and vegetables. Not only does this improve the flavour, but it also means that our food will become more nutritious!
Exciting times ahead for home gardeners!
Happy gardening in your May Garden!
