All life is bound together by microbes, the invisible glue that sustains the living world. Trillions of microbes inhabit the air, soil, plants and all animals, including us. These microbes are essential for life, particularly those in the human microbiome, a complex community of microorganisms residing in our digestive tract, on our skin, in our hair and throughout our airways. They play a crucial role in digestion, immune function, and both physical and mental health.
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What is a microbiome?
Supporting our microbiome starts with our diet, and the best approach is to consume a diverse mix of plants. Studies recommend eating at least 30 different plants per week – more is even better. Gardening provides a hands-on way to achieve this by growing fruit or vegetables or by making use of other edible plants. You might be surprised by how many edible plants are commonly grown as ornamentals and are likely already growing in your garden.
Simply spending time outdoors can greatly enhance your microbiome, boosting health and wellbeing
To understand our microbiome and how we can choose foods that support it, it is helpful to undergo a microbiome test and have it analysed by a microbiome specialist. This will give you an idea of the health of your microbiome and what foods will be most beneficial to you. What is good for one person is not necessarily good for another. A microbiome specialist can provide specific recommendations to support the good microbes in your gut. That said, there are general things we can do to support our microbiome.
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The health of the human microbiome starts with the health of the soil. There are trillions of microbes in the soil that are vital for plant health. They nourish plants with nutrients from the soil in exchange for sugars from photosynthesis. When plants are grown in healthy, nutritious and biologically active soils, they offer both prebiotics and probiotics for our microbiome. Prebiotics are the food for the good microbes in our microbiome and probiotics are the microbes known to have beneficial effects on our health.
Growing and harvesting edible plants not only offers the nutrients and health-boosting properties for our microbiome, but also helps transfer beneficial microbes into our gut. This is because there are billions of microbes living in our garden, and harvesting edibles helps increase the diversity of our own microbiome.
Very colourful fruit and vegetables tend to be high in polyphenols, good for our microbiome
Research indicates that gardeners typically possess more diverse and healthier microbiomes than non-gardeners, thanks to their exposure to soil, plants and outdoor environments. Simply spending time outdoors can significantly enhance your microbiome, making gardening a rewarding activity for both health and wellbeing.
Eating a wide variety of plants is essential for our health. The different properties of plants interact during digestion, providing greater health benefits than if eaten alone. A good mix of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and beans offers all the necessary ingredients to keep our personal microbes healthy, which in turn keeps us healthy.
Very colourful fruits and vegetables tend to be high in polyphenols – plant defense properties that are particularly good for our microbiome. Currants, beetroot and blackberries are good examples. We also need to consume high-fibre plants such as grains, beans and root vegetables to keep our microbes happy and our digestion functioning well. Jerusalem artichokes, broad beans and buckwheat are all great fibre sources.
When creating an edible garden, we can be imaginative with the layout. There’s no need to stick to regimented lines, as often seen in vegetable gardens (unless that is what you want). We can mix edibles and colourful vegetables among existing ornamental plants. We can layer our plantings to mimic how plants grow in nature. You could add edible wildflowers to an existing border, combine them into a wildflower meadow or design an edible meadow.
Chicory, musk mallow and bistort are some of my favourite edible wildflowers for a wide range of growing conditions and offer health-boosting harvests. Chicory has edible leaves and roots, which are high in the prebiotic fibre inulin, and it produces beautiful, light blue flowers on tall stems. I like to grow it in naturalistic plantings, among ornamental grasses or within wildflower meadows.
If you have an existing mixed border or space for a new bed, you could build up layers of an edible forest garden with a groundcover of low-growing plants such as strawberries and clumps of edible perennials such as Jerusalem artichokes and asparagus, and add fruit-producing shrubs such as currants, gooseberries or raspberries. Grow these around an apple tree and you have the structure of an edible forest garden.
Creating a microbiome garden is a journey that invites creativity and exploration. Start simple, experiment with combining edible plants in your garden, and gradually build a diverse, thriving community. Not only will you benefit from the nutritious harvests, but you’ll also contribute to the health of the wider ecosystem.
How to create a gut-friendly garden
Go no dig
Protecting and nourishing the soil microbiome is crucial for cultivating healthy plants that yield nutritionally dense crops. Start by laying down a thick layer of overlapping cardboard, then cover it with 10cm of compost or wood chips. This method builds soil, provides a habitat for the soil microbiome, and suppresses weeds, reducing the gardener’s workload.
Here is how to get started with no-dig gardening.
Layer your plantings
In nature, plants grow in interconnected communities with multiple vertical layers. By mimicking this system, you can create diverse plant communities that require less maintenance, support increased microbial life and offer varied harvests. Begin with a few different types of plants, and gradually build diversity over a period of time, learning and growing with your successes.
Use groundcover plants
Establishing a successful groundcover is one of the most effective ways to reduce ongoing maintenance and create unity within your garden. The repetition of one or a few groundcover plants throughout a bed not only calms the visual aesthetic but also makes your garden feel cohesive and well integrated.
Here are great groundcover plants
Grow edimentals
There are tens of thousands of plants that are both edible and ornamental, often referred to as edimentals. A quick search online might reveal that many of the ornamentals in your garden have a rich history of use as food. Incorporating these plants into your diet is a simple way to support your microbiome with a diverse range of ingredients.
Cultivate edible wildflowers
Many native wildflowers are not only edible but also beneficial for wildlife. Plants that retain their wild genes tend to be richer in properties that support our microbiome. Incorporating these wildflowers into your garden provides healthy harvests while promoting biodiversity.
Grow a variety of colours
Embrace the ‘eat the rainbow’ concept by growing a colourful array of plants. Brightly coloured berries, purple carrots and rainbow chard, for example, are packed with polyphenols that feed the beneficial microbes in your gut, helping to support overall health.
The best plants to grow for a gut-healthy garden
Hemerocallis ‘Ariadne’
Day lilies prefer well-drained soil and full sun to part shade. They have edible flowers, leaves, roots and shoots, and are high in mucilage, which helps transfer probiotic microbes to the gut. Height and spread: 90cm x 60cm. RHS H6†.
Vicia faba ‘Crimson Flowered’
Broad beans prefer well- drained, fertile soil and full sun. The beans are great fresh or dried. They are high in fibre and plant protein that supports probiotic microbes in the gut. This heritage variety is highly ornamental. 1m x 30cm. RHS H6.
Malus domestica ‘Laxton’s Superb’
Apple trees prefer well- drained, fertile soil and full sun. The fruit, eaten fresh or cooked, is a great source of fibre and polyphenols. This dessert apple has a sweet flavour and firm flesh. 6m x 6m. RHS H6.
Beta vulgaris ‘Alto’
Beetroot prefers fertile, well-drained soil and full sun. Both leaves and roots are edible. Rainbow colours indicate high levels of polyphenols, which feed the gut microbiome. ‘Alto’ has cylindrical roots. 30cm x 30cm.AGM*. RHSH3.
Helianthus annuus ‘Alchemy’
Sunflowers prefer well- drained soil and full sun. Seeds are edible raw or roasted, and are high in prebiotic fibre. Stake tall cultivars to prevent wind damage. ‘Alchemy’ produces masses of vibrant blooms on bushy, branching stems. 1.5m x 45cm. RHS H4.
Foeniculum vulgare
Fennel thrives in well- drained soil and full sun. The leaves and seeds are edible; it has antimicrobial properties that help maintain a balanced gut microbiome and aid digestion. 1.8m x 45cm. RHS H5, USDA 4a-9b.
Helianthus tuberosus
Jerusalem artichokes thrive in full sun and well- drained soil. The knobbly, elongated, pale-cream tubers are high in the prebiotic fibre inulin, and can be roasted or made into soups. 3m x 1.5m. RHS H5, USDA 3a-9b.
Bistorta officinalis ‘Superba’
Bistorts thrive in moist, well-drained soil and part shade. Leaves are high in plant polyphenols, and can be eaten raw in salads; older leaves need cooking. 90cm x 60cm. AGM.
RHS H7, USDA 5a-8b.
Rubus fruticosus ‘Loch Tay’
Blackberries prefer well-drained soil and full sun. The nutritious berries are high in prebiotic polyphenols. ‘Loch Tay’ is a thornless, upright, compact cultivar. 2m x 2m. AGM. RHS H6.
Ribes nigrum ‘Big Ben’
Blackcurrants prefer well- drained, fertile soil with a pH of 6-6.5. The tart, nutritious berries are high in polyphenols. ‘Big Ben’ produces a sizeable, early season crop. Prune annually in winter. 1.5m x 1.5m. AGM. RHS H6.
Cichorium intybus
Chicory prefers full sun and well-drained soil. The leaves can be cooked or used fresh in salads, and the roots can be used as a coffee substitute. Thrives in dry, sun-baked conditions. 1.2m x 30cm. RHS H5, USDA 3a-8b.
Malva moschata
A beautiful wildflower with pale-pink or white blooms, musk mallow prefers well-drained soil and full sun. The leaves are high in mucilage and both leaves and flowers are edible. Grows extremely well from seed. 90cm x 60cm. RHS H5, USDA 3a-8b.
Fagopyrum esculentum
Buckwheat prefers well- drained soil and full sun. The seeds are edible and can be eaten as a whole grain or ground into flour. This fast-growing crop is a source of prebiotic fibre, and is also used to improve soil health. 60cm x 30cm.
Where to see and buy
- Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens Clacton Road, Elmstead Market, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex CO7 7DB. bethchatto.co.uk
- Chiltern Seeds Tel 01491 824675, chilternseeds.co.uk
- Frank P Matthews Berrington Road, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, WR158TH.Tel01584812800, frankpmatthews.com
Kings Seeds Monks Farm, Coggeshall Road, Kelvedon, Colchester, among ornamental grasses or within wildflower meadows. Essex CO5 9PG. Tel 01376 570000, kingsseeds.com