Fresh-cut lettuce, whenever you want it, and you don’t even have to step into the garden . . . sounds good. As Hilary Fannin points out, there’s a feel-good factor to growing your own food, but if you want fresh-picked flavour without any effort at all, Superquinn’s potted lettuces are the business. Each pot contains three types of leaves – Lollo Bionda, Lollo Rossa and Oak Leaf Red – which can be picked as required. They are grown by Mark Long of Long Life Plants in north Co Dublin, and are on sale for €2.99.
A little more effort, but not a lot, is required with these herb garden and chilli mixture pots from www.pressieport.ie. Each box (€18.99) contains all you’ll need to start growing your own herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, chive and rosemary), and chillies (Tabasco, Demon Red, Hunagrian Hot Wax, Jalapeno, and Anaheim varieties).