Inspiration for Grow Your Own

7 April 2009

I have always enjoyed growing vegetables for cooking. I think there is something deep seated in all our psyches, akin to the first hunter gatherer who decided that growing his own made a great alternative to all that rushing about.

My first attempt coincided with my desperation as a teenager to become an entrepreneur. I had the idea to rent a number of OAP's gardens, convert them into huge vegetable patches and then give the owner a cut when I sold the vegetables for a profit.
 
My friends though it wasn't that cool to grow vegetables, and I had to agree when in late September one of my clients, slightly short sighted, mowed out an entire crop of early carrots.

Thankfully, growing your own vegetable is enjoying something of a renaissance and is not only fashionable and great for the environment (think of the reduced food miles for a start), but also helps us escape from the day to day stresses. It is also a great way to engage the whole family in a fun, outdoor activity.
 
If you are starting from scratch, don't feel you have to rush to rip out the entire patio. Start simply. Try integrating vegetables into your flower beds. It sounds crazy but they have done it very successfully at Kew.

Try Swiss chard and rhubarb as colourful structural, edible plantings, and it's quite easy to train runner beans up a bare fence or trellis. You don't need masses of space; many plants thrive in pots, try sowing lettuces fortnightly through the summer for a regular supply of fresh salad till late autumn.

Tomatoes, courgettes and cucumber placed in the sunniest most sheltered part of the garden will give you a good dose of anti-oxidants, not to mention the satisfaction that you have grown the wonderful food sat on your plate.

Some of the gardens in our area have challenging thin sandy soils. Try creating raised beds with softwood railway sleepers and bringing in some decent loam to give you every chance of success.

For a new plot, an application of Roundup will remove those difficult perennial weeds, while double digging and a layer of manure in each trench is the perfect preparation prior to sowing or planting.

Potatoes in the first season are a reliable starter that also help to break up the soil and make it easier to work in subsequent years.

So, whatever your plot size there is always a place for a few edibles. If you are a real couch potato start delegating and get your kids to sow mustard and cress on the window ledge, it never fails.

Tony Richards