Vegetables

Dartmouth is situated in a fertile area of keen home- and market-gardeners. Winters are mild and short and early springs coax the year’s new crop of vegetables to maturity by late February or the first few days of March. Ivory-curded cauliflowers and tiny new potatoes herald the abundance that is to follow as days lengthen.

Whenever possible I use vegetables that are grown locally. With only a mile or two to travel from field to kitchen, they arrive in prime condition, having bypassed the damaging delays of long-distance travel and storage. Over the years I’ve built up valuable relationships with local growers, from Admiral Haynes, who grew sweet juicy tomatoes in his small garden, to the more commercial large-scale producers. At last I can buy courgettes a mere 7.5 or 10 cm/3 or 4 inches long with egg-yolk yellow flowers still intact, tiny broad beans and slender carrots tufted with feathery green fronds.