Growing vegetables for yourself can be an interesting hobby as well as having positive benefits including better food (knowing where it’s come from), working outside and exercise. It can also be a lot of fun and something all of the family can get involved in, including the children and is a great way to help them understand how nature works.If your garden area is limited, there are plenty of options you can investigate for growing your own that can still offer lots of hands on fun. Growing tomatoes, for instance is perfect if space is at a premium, so long as you can plant and keep them in an area where they have plenty of direct sunlight on them and shelter from the sun. They can be grown in growbags, and a great time to plant is early Spring. Start them nice and early from seedlings in small pots indoors in early February and ‘pot them on’ when their first leaves appear, before finally planting them out when they are approximately twenty five centimetres tall.
As your plants grow ensure the soil is watered little and often and that they have plenty of support from canes to ensure strong growth. You will find that when they are ready to harvest and you try a perfectly homegrown ripe tomato they are very different from the variety you buy in the shops!
If you are looking for a small simple option for growing, why not consider a herb box? You can grow a variety of herbs in one small area of the garden or box which will offer you a superb choice to cook with and smell fantastic when you are anywhere near them.
Growing herbs can be done anywhere. Even if you live in an apartment, a window box can be utilised for growing herbs such as Basil, Chives, Thyme and Parsley. Most herbs can be sown indoors in small pots in late winter or early spring and when hardy enough be re-planted out, into an area of the garden or a herb box, which will provide colour, smell and beauty to any garden area.
If you want to grow sufficient vegetables to provide enough to use on a more regular basis, you will need to consider how much of your garden you wish to set aside for growing. Once you have this established, you can think about the options you have with regards to environment, soil conditions and drainage. Some varieties of vegetable will grow better than others, based on these conditions. During late autumn and winter months, you may want to consider vegetables such as Broad Beans, Asparagus together with Onions, whilst during summer months Potatoes, Carrots and salad based veg such as lettuce, radish, and cress are very popular.
Growing your own veg offers many benefits to shop bought produce both in terms of taste and family interaction and before long you will find yourself becoming more self sufficient thanks to the unique fresh taste growing your own offers.
