Fresh Veg

Cucumber, Cucumis sativus, is a warm season, vining, annual plant in the family Cucurbitaceae grown for its edible cucumber fruit. Wonderful in just about anything that needs a cooling crunchy effect

Labour-intensive to grow, asparagus are the young shoots of a cultivated lily plant. They’re considered to be one of the delicacies of the vegetable world, with a price tag to match, and have a distinct, intense savoury flavour. Sprue is the term for young, very slender asparagus. While French asparagus is purple, the British and American varieties are green. In contrast, Spanish, and much Dutch asparagus, is white because it’s grown beneath the soil and cut just as the tips emerge. All types pack a nutritious punch, with high levels of vitamins A and C, potassium, iron and calcium.

Also known as scallions or green onions, spring onions are in fact very young onions, harvested before the bulb has had a chance to swell. Both the long, slender green tops and the small white bulb are edible, and are good either raw or cooked. They have a similar flavour to onions, but are much milder.

Radicchio’s red and white leaves add colour and a bitter flavour to salads. An Italian relative of chicory, radicchio is a forced crop and has distinctive red and white leaves. The exact nature of its colouring depends upon how much light it has been exposed to when growing – if none at all, the contrast between the white ribs and the deep red leaves will be very strong. If it has seen some light, the white and red will be softened with patches of green or copper. Shaped like a small cabbage, it’s mainly used in salads, and its bitter flavour contrasts well with milder leaves such as rocket. The leaves themselves are tender but the heads are sturdy enough to be cut and grilled.

Fine beans are the unripe, young fruit and protective pods of various cultivars of the common bean.

New potatoes have thin, wispy skins and a crisp, waxy texture. They are young potatoes and unlike their fully grown counterparts, they keep their shape once cooked and cut. They are also sweeter because their sugar has not yet converted into starch, and are therefore particularly suited to salads.

A pointed cabbage has a milder flavour and tender texture than other cabbages. Can be eaten raw in many fresh tasty salads, steamed, stir fried or pickled.

Savoy cabbage is a large and dense, loose-headed green that is round to ovate in shape, distinguished by its heavily textured, crinkled leaves. Considered one of the best cabbages to cook with

Red potatoes are small to medium in size and are round. When cooked, Red potatoes have a waxy and dense texture with a mild, buttery, earthy flavour.

Portobello Mushrooms are richly flavoured, meaty, with a large, flat, dark brown cap that grows up to 5 inches in diameter when mature.

Broccoli – full of nutrients, easy to prepare and an excellent source of iron

The fact that the parsnip is a member of the carrot family comes as no surprise – it looks just like one, aside from its creamy white colour. It has an earthy but sweet flavour and is great used in hearty winter roasts, soups and stews.

Carrots are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially biotin, potassium, and vitamins A (from beta carotene), K1 (phylloquinone), and B6.

Aubergines are an excellent source of dietary fibre. They are also a good source of vitamins B1 and B6 and potassium. In addition it is high in the minerals copper, magnesium and manganese.

Red onions are crunchy, pungent, sweet and slightly spicy when raw and when cooked their flavor lessens and grows mildly sweeter. The intensity of the pungent flavor varies depending on age and variety

Spice type chillies. These are generally small-fruited and thin fleshed and hotter than vegetable type chillies. They are used to add heat dishes rather than bulk and are ideal for drying and milling into powdered spice. Many varieties make great edible ornamentals.