Grow to Eat

Grow to Eat is the definitive seasonal guide to edible gardening in South Africa, brought to you by your favourite gardening magazine, The Gardener. A practical, non-nonsense guide, Grow to Eat is filled with growing, harvesting and cooking tips for seasonal fruit, vegetable and herbs.

Can you put a price on homegrown?

Grow to Eat

Ferndale’s flourishing kitchen garden • Tucked away in a quiet Jozi suburb, this vegetable garden is a testament to patience, ingenuity and a deep love for fresh, home-grown produce.

Impressions from Chelsea • In 2025, a focus on edible gardens remains a priority, with edible perennials, vegetables, and fruits being planted together to form an ornamental garden that is also productive. In some ways, food gardens are traditional, and in others, the rule book is thrown out to create something new and exciting. These are some of the marvels from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show that caught our eye.

When only the best will do • Designed and manufactured with durability and quality front of mind, Fiskars loppers and pruners make pruning easy and precise.

Growing cherry tomatoes

September

It’s pumpkin time • Pumpkins, with their sweet, creamy texture, bring a touch of homey goodness to any meal. A warm-weather crop, they require a long growing season of between 90 and 120 days.

Orange-infused Pumpkin and Pecorino Salad

5 tips for growing rosemary • In a warm, sunny climate like ours, rosemary is one of the easiest plants to grow, and yet there is always something to learn to make it even better. These are five tips for the best rosemary.

Jane’s Delicious September Calendar

Moon Guide for September

So many vegetables – where do we start?

Asparagus crowns

Veggie Sowing Guide September

How to make sundried tomatoes

Fruits to harvest now

Ask Anna Anything

October

Melons a fruity delight!

Spanspek ice lollies

5 tips for growing the best coriander

Jane’s Delicious October Calendar

Moon Guide for October

Potatoes

Colcannon • When it comes to preparing potatoes, the Irish have perfected the art. They go so far as to serve differently prepared potatoes in one meal…

Veggie Sowing Guide October

Amaranth

Plant violas and pansies for colour • Take a note from a restaurateur’s kitchen garden and plant violas and pansies to add colour to salads, cocktails and sweet and savoury dishes. Plus, a bed of colour is so pretty in the garden.

Ask Anna Anything

Battered Oyster Mushrooms • Vegans use this recipe as a substitute for chicken, but they also make an excellent snack food or side dish for any savoury meal.

November

Growing Eggplants • The eggplant, also known as brinjal or aubergine, is a versatile and nutritious vegetable that shines in a variety of culinary traditions, from Mediterranean to Asian cuisines, down to the hearty breakfast of egg, bacon and brinjal.

Melanzane alla parmigiana

The types of parsley

Jane’s Delicious November Calendar

Moon Guide for November

Chives • If you need an all-round plant, chives are just the thing.

Stuffed zucchini flowers

Veggie Sowing Guide November

Spinach types

The king of herbs – getting the best out of basil • These are five things to know to get continuous sweet basil plants throughout the season.

Ask Anna Anything

December

Growing Corn • Growing the best corn starts with sowing in warm conditions, planting in blocks, keeping the plants hydrated, applying plenty of highnitrogen fertilisers, and harvesting when the silks turn brown.

Corn Ribs with Smoky Mayo

Jane’s Delicious December...