For me, vegetables are 'the glory of the garden'. This phrase is always at the back of my mind; it's from the poem by Rudyard Kipling which, among other things, celebrates the real work of gardening.
Some of my favourite parts of a garden are the 'tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of it all' and 'the cold-frames and the hot-houses', because these often carefully hidden spots are where the vegetables start and are nurtured as seedlings and young plants and some, later, as tender, mature plants. I like the mix of pragmatism and mysticism which pervades sowing and germination and pricking out and potting, all of which is then forgotten when the vegetables turn into sturdy plants, all hale and hearty and clearly able to fend for themselves in the garden.
Maybe it's this air of robustness and ordinariness which makes some people overlook, or perhaps take for granted, the sheer beauty of vegetables. I am constantly delighted by their wonderful colours, shapes, textures and growth habits and it's good to know there are other enlightened souls who enjoy the sight of courgettes and borlotti beans, artichokes and radishes as much as I do.
