I've been growing vegetables from seeds here in the west of Ireland for four years now, I am no expert at gardening, but I've learned one thing for sure - something will always grow, even in the muddy, waterlogged, boggy, or poor soil. Growing salads, herbs, and delicious greens like Kale and Pack Choi or Swiss Chard is easy. And Ireland, with its high humidity and rainfall, is heaven for leafy greens and salads.

This year, we've had an unusually hot couple of months, with very little rain and I wanted to share some photos of my garden and perhaps give some ideas of what to grow.

I have five raised beds outside and a large polytunnel with four raised beds.

Lush greens in the poly tunnel - tomatoes, melons and borage coexist next to each other

Most of the vegetables I grow in my garden I started from seed around February and March. I bought seeds from Irish Seed Savers Association, Brown Envelope Seeds, Quickcrop, and The Organic Centre.

1. Cucumbers

Cucumber Wautoma from the Irish Seed Savers Association is in flower now, and tiny cucumbers keep popping up daily. I have five plants and they require daily watering to maintain constant moisture around the plant.

2. Tomatoes

I love tomatoes and I have five different varieties growing in the polytunnel - they take up almost two entire beds and create a total tomato jungle. Tomatoes need strong support to remain upright and I used bamboo canes, which I harvested from my garden.

Sideshoots on tomatoes need to be pinched and I also remove all the leaves below first fruit to create better air circulation and reduce the possibility of blight and fungus. Tomatoes do not need as much watering as cucumbers do.

Once tomatoes flower, they require occasional feeding to replenish nutrients. I use Irish Seaweed Tomato and Fruit Feed from Quickcrop on all my tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines.

Here are the different tomatoes I grow:

Sungold F1 from Quickcrop is one my favourites and is incredibly resilient and hardy tomato. I managed to grow it outside in Ireland for two years previously, but this year the five plants in the polytunnel look prolific. They are already fruiting! This is a cherry tomato with an orange colour and is very sweet. Seriously, just delightful.

Caro Rich and Cherokee Purple Tomatoes from the Irish Seed Savers Association - This is my first time trying these exotic varieties and I have five plants of each type. They are now producing fruit, so we shall see how well they do under my care. Cherokee Purple Tomato is an heirloom of Cherokee Indian origin, and it is a large beefsteak tomato that ripens to dusky dark purple/pink/brown. Caro Rich is a large tomato that has orange fruits.

Garbacho Negro Tomato from the Irish Seed Savers Association - the name means 'the black french Guy'. The Fruit is supposed to be dark red oval. I am very excited to be trying this variety out. I grow four plants of this variety.

The plants are really huge! I cannot believe that I only sowed seeds in February and transplanted seedlings at the end of April!

Tomatoes are growing fast in the polytunnel

Polen Tomato is another one I am trying out for the first time, is a cordon variety with small golden sweet fruits. It is an heirloom from Poland. I have two plants growing in a grow bag.

3. Sweet Peppers

I decided to try three different varieties this year - Marconi from Quickcrop is a long red variety, Bell Boy from Quickcrop is a green variety, and Sunnybrook the Irish Seed Savers Association is a deep scarlet sweet pepper. All seeds germinated well and I even gave away some plants to friends and neighbours. Bell Boy is about to flower and I can't wait to see how well they fruit.

4. Aubergines

I have never tried growing aubergine because they are very tender plants and require high temperatures, but the five plants I have in the polytunnel now are doing very well. The variety I have is Black Beauty from Quickcrop.

5. Courgettes

Courgettes are remarkably easy to grow in Ireland indoors and outside. With so many varieties to chose from, I decided to try three different kinds - Ambassador F1 is a waxy green variety, Parador F1, a long yellow, and Floridor F1, a round yellow courgette. All seeds came from Quickcrop and were fast to germinate and easy to grow. I have three plants in the polytunnel and another six outside in a raised bed (yes, I adore courgettes). Although all seedlings were transplanted to their final locations at the same time, those in the polytunnel are growing faster and I'll be picking courgettes in the next few days.

Courgettes are easy to grow in Ireland outside and in the polytunnel

Ambassador F1:

Parador F1:

Floridor F1:

6. Melons

I have never tried growing melons before, but couldn't resist trying the Green Nutmeg variety from the Irish Seed Savers. I mean, why not try? I feel that although planning and thinking are important in gardening, sometimes you just have to risk it and try things out. Green Nutmeg is a 1850s heirloom variety and it's doing very well in my polytunnel. In fact, there are so many flowers on four plants that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

There are male and female flowers and I decided not to hand pollinate them because my polytunnel is open and insects are free to roam.

7. Lettuces

I grow lettuces to fill the space between slower maturing plants in the polytunnel and outside. I discovered that the best way to grow them is to sow seeds every 3-4 weeks to ensure a continuous supply of greens. I eat a green salad every day and for this reason, I grow a lot of lettuce. The varieties I am trying this year come from the Irish Seeds Savers Association.

Forellenschluss Lettuce is an heirloom from Austria and the name means 'speckled like trout'. It is a gorgeous looking plant and the flavour is so buttery and juicy.

I also grow Red Rapids Lettuce, it has crimpled red and green leaves and is also delicious. And there is Grandpa Admires Lettuce with crisp juicy leaves and is very hardy.

Growing lettuce in Ireland requires no work at all

8. Edible Flowers

I enjoy having some flowers in my salads, they add flavour and just look nice and summery. For this reason, I grow a lot of Borage, Calendula and Nasturtiums. All my flowers come from The Organic Centre.

I find that all edible flowers grow well inside and outside in Ireland. Like salads, they can be grown between tomato and other slow maturing plants. Calendula and Borage might benefit those plants because they attract pollinators and repel certain pests. My calendulas and borage are still seedlings because I started them from seed a bit late, but here are my borage flowers in the polytunnel.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Borage flowers are excellent for insects and bees

9. Herbs

I grow a lot of herbs, inside and outside, in pots and raised beds. I bought many of the herbs as small plants from the local garden centre, but some I grew from seeds, like this Sweet Mona's Dill from Irish Seed Savers Association. I think it is the most delicious dill I've ever tried, so sweet and not bitter, tender and looks lovely in salads. I grow it next to cucumbers.

I also grow chillies, it is a Mixed Chillies packet from Brown Envelope Seeds in West Cork and is a mix of Padron, Lemon drop, Chech Black, and Manzana chillies. Many of the seeds did not germinate, and I find them rather slow to grow even in the polytunnel.

I also have Red Stemmed Leaf Celery from Irish Seed Savers Association - I use it as a herb in salads - another great wee addition for planting between tomato or cucumber plants.

Bronze Fennel is another herb I am trying this year. I am not a big fan of fennel, but absolutely love the taste of this one, it is sweet rather than aniseedy and goes very well in salads and pesto.

There is one plant that I adore and I have bunches of it growing between all my tomato plants - it's the Sacred Basil from Brown Envelope Seeds. It is an amazing basil, while I never seem to succeed with the other varieties of basil, I've had amazing success with this one. I think it will grow well outside too. It tastes divine.

Other herbs I have are Golden Oregano, Mint, Thyme, Rosemary, Chives, and Tarragon - I bought these as small plants from a local garden centre. I mix herbs for delicious pestos and just add them to salads and while cooking.

On my potting bench inside the polytunnel, I have Rainbow Chard seedlings from Quickcrop, Calendula, Nasturtiums, Lemon Balm, Kale, and Brussel Sprouts, which I plan to transplant outside in the next few days.

10. Beans and Peas

This year I am trying two several varieties of climbing Beans from Irish Seed Savers Association - Slovenian Climbing French Bean will have beige flowers and yellow-green flat pods and Bannette Climbing French Bean is from Alps long thin green beans. I grow both of those in my raised beds outside. Beans need support, so I made a wigwam with bamboo canes from the garden.

My neighbour gave me three broad bean plants in exchange for some tomato and other seedlings I gave her. Growing vegetables from seed often creates this sort of informal barter system where people swap surplus of their seedlings and receive something they might lack. I didn't sow any broad beans this year, so I was delighted to receive mature seedlings and they are gorgeous!

Outside I also grow Pea Bingo against a home-made support system I made from bamboo canes.

11. Brassicas & Greens

I am a big fan of green colour on my plate - I love eating green vegetables and therefore I have a lot of different greens in my raised beds outside.

I just planted Kale Nero di Toscana in one of my raised beds, I love this hardy variety of kale and it does well through the Irish winter too. This year I also tried new kale from Irish Seed Savers Association - Uncle John's Kale. It is defintely my favourite kale and so easy to grow! It has tender leaves that are also crispy and retain their texture when cooked, it melts in your mouth and tastes amazing. This kale is becoming my obsession. It is also very hardy cropper and an heirloom saved in Cork for 50 years.

I also grow leaf celery in between kale plants.

Kale is probably the easiest vegetable to grow in Ireland

I will be planting out some brussel sprout seedlings, the Balbriggan Brussel Sprouts. Again seeds came from the Irish Seed Savers, and this variety is an old Irish landrace. I hope we'll be eating those over winter.

Of course, I have Purple Sprouting Broccoli growing outside too. It is very easy to grow from seed and mine is already huge. I grow lettuces in between large broccoli plants.

Pack Choi Joi Choi is generally something that most gardeners grow in winter, but I love this vegetable and decided to grow it now. I use it for stir-fries and will make a bucket of wild fermented kimchi soon. It is absolutely delicious and very easy to grow from seed.

Then I have Spring Cabbage from Brown Envelope Seeds, which is a native to the Cork city area, and hardy. The plants are looking good already.

12. Beetroot, carrots, squash, and leeks

I have Squash Winter Golden Hubbard, which is a heritage variety. It didn't look like it was going to survive when I transplanted it, but now it is looking good.

One of my raised beds has Beetroot Pablo F1 and Carrots Coloured Mix, both are from Quickcrop. It is the best variety to grow, in my opinion - hassle-free, delicious and leaves can also be picked for salads and soups. I sowed it recently into the raised bed, but not all seeds came up initially probably because I used old seeds. But I added few more seeds to the bed today and hope they will come up soon.

I know nothing about these carrots, just that they are supposed to be different colours, which is exciting! I've never grown carrots before, but it seems easy so far.

In the nearby bed, sharing space with cabbages, are my leeks, the King Richard Leek from Irish Seed Savers. They look happy enough.

I think that the most important thing about gardening is to grow what you like to eat and then it will be easy because you'll feel motivated and excited to look after it.

I use the no-dig system in my garden and try to mulch whenever possible, but I do some weeding occasionally too. I am also thinking of installing an automated watering system in the polytunnel to reduce the amount of time I spend watering plants in hot weather.

Growing vegetables is an incredibly empowering process - to be able to create something from practically nothing, from a tiny seed, feels magical every time.

Happy gardening friends! x

What to grow in Ireland