Five of the best: restaurants that ‘grow their own’

The Star Inn

A magnificent garden that grows not only beautiful flowers to decorate the restaurant’s tables but also edible ones for the Michelin-starred menu. Fruit trees, beans and peas, brassicas and salad leaves thrive too. A wide range of herbs is at hand which chef/director Andrew Pern picks just before service, meaning they’re full of flavour and spanking fresh. Diners are welcome to have a postprandial wander.

Harome, nr Helmsley, North Yorkshire YO62 5JE; 01439 770397; thestaratharome.co.uk

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The Nut Tree Inn

At Mike and Imogen North’s pub, home-grown vegetables and herbs are joined in the kitchen by home-made breads, home-smoked salmon and meat from their herd of Gloucestershire Old Spot and Tamworth pigs, which live at the bottom of the garden. All this effort has garnered them a Michelin star. Some of their produce, such as breads, sausages and pies, is available to purchase and take home.

Main Street, Murcott, Oxon OX5 2RE; 01865 331253; nuttreeinn.co.uk

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Pied à Terre

At just six by four metres, Pied à Terre’s rooftop plot isn’t massive, yet this tiny space is home to nearly 200 individual plants. The beds produce herbs, cornflowers, nasturtiums and blueberries, which are all used downstairs in the kitchen. The garden is also one of London’s growing number of bee-friendly oases, and there’s a small beehive for them; in return they help pollinate the plants.

34 Charlotte Street, London W1T 2NH; 020 7636 1178; pied-a-terre.co.uk

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Deeson’s Restaurant

Deeson’s has a daily supply of fresh produce from its own five-acre smallholding just outside Canterbury, growing fresh vegetables such as chard, courgettes, runner beans and beetroot, as well as a range of fruits. It’s also home to pigs such as Oxford Sandy & Blacks and Gloucestershire Old Spots, as well as poultry including Norfolk Black turkeys. Owner Sam Deeson gets up early to feed the pigs and pick the best of the crop.

25-27 Sun Street, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2HX; 01227 767854; deesonsrestaurant.co.uk

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The Crooked Billet

“Wanted, local produce. Swap for lunch” reads the sign on the door – and this is the place to barter anything you have grown yourself or foraged. In the past, owner and head chef Paul Clerehugh has accepted gluts from gardens, wild crayfish and foraged mushrooms. Clerehugh lives on a smallholding nearby and supplies his own beef, lamb and mutton.

Newlands Lane, Stoke Row, Henley On Thames RG9 5PU; 01491 681048; thecrookedbillet.co.uk

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Andrew Webb is author of “Food Britannia” (Random House)