Goals: Grow food

One good plant in a 40 cm pot out-yields four crowded ones. Stake it early.

One plant on a sill supplies a household, and crops for two years.

Feathery-leaved and drought-hardy; one grafted tree feeds a household through winter.

The black nightshade of monsoon fields — a leafy green in the east, a weed elsewhere.

The same trick as turmeric, in slightly more shade and slightly less time.

A curcuma that smells of raw mango — the pickle rhizome of the east.

A slight winter annual of dry western fields, grown for the husk of its seed.

Fine blue-white flowers over ferny leaves, then the black seed of the spice box.

Feathery winter foliage, then umbels that hoverflies and small wasps work all day.

Bolts in heat, thrives in the cool months. Sow every fortnight for a steady supply.