Hotbed of ingredients: spicy plants to grow in the garden

If you like food with a fiery kick, warm yourself from the inside out with these hot and spicy ingredients, all of which can be grown in the garden.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale)



Grow ginger root in the greenhouse or on a warm windowsill in large buckets. Take a root with a bud and bury in potting compost – the leaves are pretty enough to be grown as a houseplant. In his book Homegrown Revolution, James Wong tells us we can grow hardy Japanese ginger Zingiber mioga outside in this country – in plenty of organic matter, in sun or partial shade (from Edulis) – a beautiful metre-tall lily with bright pink buds that can be sliced and steamed in stir-fries and broths.
Make quick fizzy ginger beer by grating an inch of ginger, chopping a couple of inches of lemon grass, add sugar to taste, then blitz. Strain and top up with sparkling mineral water, add ice and lemon verbena leaves. I drink hot lemon juice every morning, with a sprinkling of turmeric, a spoonful of honey and a little shaved ginger.
Keep your ginger root in the freezer for a longer life. Read More