Grounded advice on growing your own vegetables

Onions and shallots drying in the sun in the garden of Trevor Sargent, County Dublin.

At this particular time of the year my thoughts turn to the glories of the kitchen garden and I wonder if, in these days of designer dominated gardening, our energies aren’t somewhat misplaced?

When I look around and see the beauty and satisfaction of a well-managed kitchen garden my attempts at ornamental gardening pales into insignificance. But perhaps I just find the skills displayed in the growing of fruit and vegetables more enviable than the ability to mix flower colour and leaf texture.