Baby or mini vegetables are what the modern household requires – small, but perfectly formed vegetables.
Baby or mini vegetables are becoming very popular and there are good reasons for growing them:
- space saving ideal for window box, containers, patios or raised beds
- easily grown – vigorous & quick growing
- fast to mature – encouraging to harvest within a few weeks!
- great introduction to vegetable growing – easy to see results
- grow closer together – more production & less weeds
- provide regular supply – sow little & often every 3 weeks
- early harvesting – mini veg mature early so extending the season
- provide small portions – ideal for contributing to a selection of veg or for small households
- appeal to children – because small & perfectly formed! Good for kids to grow and eat
- pests & diseases reduced – most mini veg grow quickly and have a short growing season
Mini veg are produced in several ways:
- plants which naturally produce tiny fruit like cherry tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
- harvesting vegetables when young – such as carrots
first carrots
- planting seed close together – such as Leek King Richard, which can be direct sown closer together, without the need to transplant for mini leeks
leek plants
- special mini cultivars produce baby fruit from compact plants
- examples include:
- baby sweetcorn – minor
- beetroot – pablo
- broad beans – stereo
- broccoli – kabuki
- cabbage – shelta
- carrots – Mokum
- cauliflower – avalanche
- chard – duo
- courgette – black forest
- cucumber – fanfare
- leeks – lancelot
- lettuce – mini green
- pepper – mohawk
- radish – rougette
- runner beans – summer medley Hestia
- salad leaves
- spinach – galaxy
- tomatoes – Vilma
- turnip – primera
Gone are the days when a cabbage or cauliflower lasts a week – with sections being cut off and cooked each day. Now these vegetables have varieties which will mature quickly and produce a very small specimen, just large enough for one or two people to eat in one meal. Or, their compact size means that they can be mixed with other baby mini veg to provide a selection of fresh veg for one meal.