From Dobbies - It’s becoming ever more popular to grow your own fresh fruit and vegetables and nothing beats the taste of home grown vegetables.
Contain It You also don’t need a big garden. Hugely practical, vegetables can be grown in containers, window boxes, grow bags and even hanging baskets. You can then position your mini garden on a balcony, patio, porch or window sill. Salad DaysWhy not try growing delicious cut-and-come again salads that are ideal for providing a succession of leaves. Suitable types to try include beetroot leaves, chard, chicory, Chinese cabbage, endive, kale, lettuces, pak choi radish leaves and spinach. Choose a nice sunny spot with good drainage, avoiding windy areas or those with overhanging tree branches or hedges. If you’re planting in a container a depth and width of at least 45cm is ideal or if you’re using a grow bag, simply cut a panel along the top to create a shallow bed and plant in groves around a fingers width apart. Seeds should also be sown around 1cm apart then cover with compost and then water. Ongoing TLCWeed, water and feed regularly as edible crops are especially hungry and thirsty when they’re growing. Just give everything a good soak in the morning or evening when needed and feed every couple of weeks with nitrogen-based fertilisers to help them thrive. Although unlikely as your crop will grow so quickly, keep your eye out for any pests and diseases and treat immediately. You local garden centre will be able to help you diagnose the problem and find a solution. Reaping the RewardsGather leaves as soon as they are a good size with either scissors or by snapping off the outer leaves at roughly 2.5cm (1 inch) from the base. Leaves will re-grow again from the base and you can get several crops from one plant. It’s also worth bearing in mind, many garden centres now offer half finished vegetable plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines, so even if you’ve left it too late to start from scratch, you can still plant these out and start reaping the rewards almost straight away!
Contain It You also don’t need a big garden. Hugely practical, vegetables can be grown in containers, window boxes, grow bags and even hanging baskets. You can then position your mini garden on a balcony, patio, porch or window sill. Salad DaysWhy not try growing delicious cut-and-come again salads that are ideal for providing a succession of leaves. Suitable types to try include beetroot leaves, chard, chicory, Chinese cabbage, endive, kale, lettuces, pak choi radish leaves and spinach. Choose a nice sunny spot with good drainage, avoiding windy areas or those with overhanging tree branches or hedges. If you’re planting in a container a depth and width of at least 45cm is ideal or if you’re using a grow bag, simply cut a panel along the top to create a shallow bed and plant in groves around a fingers width apart. Seeds should also be sown around 1cm apart then cover with compost and then water. Ongoing TLCWeed, water and feed regularly as edible crops are especially hungry and thirsty when they’re growing. Just give everything a good soak in the morning or evening when needed and feed every couple of weeks with nitrogen-based fertilisers to help them thrive. Although unlikely as your crop will grow so quickly, keep your eye out for any pests and diseases and treat immediately. You local garden centre will be able to help you diagnose the problem and find a solution. Reaping the RewardsGather leaves as soon as they are a good size with either scissors or by snapping off the outer leaves at roughly 2.5cm (1 inch) from the base. Leaves will re-grow again from the base and you can get several crops from one plant. It’s also worth bearing in mind, many garden centres now offer half finished vegetable plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines, so even if you’ve left it too late to start from scratch, you can still plant these out and start reaping the rewards almost straight away!
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