Search: More advice on growing your own vegetables
As the credit crunch starts to pinch the purse strings of average UK households, there's never been a better time to consider growing your own.Not only could it save you money but with no harsh industrial pesticides and just a little effort, it can be a fun and rewarding way to a healthier lifestyle.
A Few Tips
For those of you with the space but no idea where to begin, we've called on the experts at The Royal Horticultural Society to share a couple of their most treasured tips and techniques:- Plan carefully where you are going to sow, especially if you are following a rotation system. Ideally, the same vegetables should not be grown in the same place for at least three years and root crops, such as carrot and parsnip, dislike growing in freshly manured soil.
- Planting in containers is a versatile way of growing edible crops in the garden, and is particularly useful where space is restricted... Aim for containers with a depth and width of at least 45cm, otherwise frequent watering and feeding will be needed.
- Any open, sunny patch of ground can be turned into a productive vegetable plot. As long as the soil is warm and moist, seed can be sown and it will germinate quickly.
- Vegetable plots are traditionally sown and planted around Easter, which usually gives the soil a chance to dry out and warm up after winter, and the gardener to cultivate it.
- Growing-bags are a cheap and effective way of cultivating vegetables in the smallest of spaces - balconies, mini-glasshouses, patios, porches and even windowsills.
Share Your Experience
Have already taken the plunge and started growing your own? If so, we'd love to know about your experiences to help others decide whether it's right for them.Do you agree with the tips above?
What preparation is needed?
How much can it really save?
How much effort is honestly spent tending to your patch?
How long before you started to see edible results?
What are the simplest things to grow in our climate?
What's best grown in a very small patch?
I was in horticulture for most of my working life and we used this a lot.
I only wish I had heard about this system years ago! I have (with help) built raised beds two foot eight inches high (if you want metric you will have to work it out, I still use proper measurements!) They are 4 feet square so that it is easy to reach the middle, and divided into one foot squares. By using the 'square foot' method I can get a 6 foot row of carrots in two squares. Get the book (Amazon) for more details. By making my beds 32 inches high I can sow, thin, weed and harvest without having to bend down, and the 'square foot method' gets a large crop in a small area. Shame it is an american idea, but they have to get some things right! !
It can be hard work with preparation and harvesting , freezing etc, but is well worth it.
Nothing better than to pick frsh and cook and eat straight away.
Keeps you active too.
Don't give up keep growing!
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