Edible gardens: Greens for winter

Chinese brocolli, choi sum and pak choi. Photo / Nicola Topping

Now that daylight saving has arrived, plant some easy-to-grow winter greens like pak choi, pictured, mizuma, fennel, endive, rocket and spinach. You'll love growing them too, because there are few bugs around in winter and you don't need to water. The plants will just grow untended - so long as you've given them rich soil.

If you'd like something crisp and brightly coloured for your winter salads and stir-fries, try radicchio - it still hasn't found its way into our supermarkets. It's a tight ball of red and white leaves with a bitter flavour. Seeds are available from the Italian seed company, Franchi. Sow some now and in mid-winter you could be tucking into exotic salads like Julie Biuso's radicchio, capers and parmesan.

Another winter vegetable not often available in supermarkets is fennel. Very easy to grow, it will reach 1.5m high, with feathery leaves, in 100 days. The seeds and leaves have a distinct aniseed flavour. Stir-fry the white, swollen stem. One stem will last for several meals this way or you can braise the whole stem in chicken stock and wine. A great treat after an afternoon in the winter garden.