A Veggie Garden - Where to begin
Growing your own food is life changing…. big call I know, but that’s how I feel. To go from being completely dependent on a system, to realising you are no longer reliant is very empowering. And growing your own food is a skill that every single person would benefit from.
But where to begin? The answer is small. Even if you have a tonne of space its good to take it slowly and its also good to start with what you have. Perhaps you have some spare pots or part of an existing garden bed that you can spare. That’s amazing and the perfect place to plant your perennial herbs. Check out our blog post on the 6 Perennial Herbs that should be in every garden to see which herbs are no brainers.
Once you have your perennial herbs in, you might like to try some salad greens. Depending on your climate, these grow well from seed or seedlings, in part shade. (They don’t like frost) My favourite thing to do, as I’m actually a pretty lazy gardener is to scatter a bunch of rocket seeds, usually a good handful over a 50 x 50cm area. Sprinkle some soil over the top, water them in and wait for the magic. These will only take a few weeks and you will be able to come out with scissors and harvest some baby rocket over and over again. Yum! We always have a steady supply of different varieties of lettuce, rocket, chards and herbs in our garden. One of the things that costs so much at the shops is actually so easy and cheap to grow.
Once you have had a good go at these you might want to start thinking about planting seasonally, as not all veggies do well throughout the year. For example tomatoes, zucchinis, beans and cucumber are all summer crops, while peas, cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are winter crops.
Now this is where the fun really starts. You can of course grow your vegetables from seed, however when you are starting out it might be best to go for seedlings. Planting seedling cuts out a good chunk of the growing time, meaning you will be harvesting your produce quicker. I find starting from seed is more difficult and I would hate for you to be put off growing your own food because of some temperamental seeds.
So depending on what season you are in, go ahead and grab some seedlings. The great thing about gardening and growing your own food is that it’s all an experiment, and an opportunity to learn something new.
Every growing season will come with its challenges and inevitably some disappointment. But the wins are so sweet because of this, growing your first beefsteak tomato, creating a meal entirely out of produce you have grown yourself is so satisfying and dare I say… Life Changing!
