Grow Your Own Vegetables
Good News and Bad News
Many people at some time or other want to try their hand at growing their own food. The bad news is that you need a substantial area of land and a great deal of hard work to become self sufficient throughout the year. The good news is that it is possible with even the smallest of gardens or yards to enjoy the occasional meal that includes vegetables that you can claim are home grown in the strictest sense of the term. For example, you can grow peas in a large pot, tomatoes in a growbag and potatoes in a bucket
Make most of what you have
Many people don't think it's worth the effort of growing food that you can purchase easily and conveniently at the local store. This is especially true if your home grown crop is ready for harvesting at the precise time that shop prices are at their lowest.
The trick, therefore, is to grow vegetables that are not readily available in the shops or to select varieties that crop earlier or later than those produced by commercial growers. Growing your own also means that you can enjoy varieties that commercial growers never entertain and there are many such varieties available to the enthusiastic gardener. For some varieties it is difficult to satisfy the supermarket's stringent standards for size and shape. In other cases, there is simply too little demand to interest major growers. There are even European regulations that do not allow some older varieties to be grown commercially.
All of these constraints on commercial food production are good news for the gardener who can experiment to find something that is really different and special. Obviously, the less space you have, the more worthwhile it is to be selective in what you decide to grow.
Special flavour of home grown
Even varieties of vegetables that are readily available from the local shop have inevitably been grown and harvested to satisfy the large food retailers and that can often mean sacrificing something of the true flavour, either through the use of pesticides or because of the demands of transport and storage.
There is something a bit special about going into your garden to harvest just enough to cook for your next meal. There are many vegetables that have distinctly superior flavour when you are able to eat them only an hour or so after they have been harvested. If you have the opportunity, try something like beans, asparagus or even sweet corn that have been prepared in this way.
Improve your chances of success.
It has to be said that some vegetables are a good deal easier to grow successfully than others. If you are an experienced grower then you can try your hand at anything, but if you are just starting out or perhaps you simply want to experiment, then it is worth steering clear of some crops that are more challenging. Amongst those that are easier to grow we would suggest you try:
| Beans Beetroot Broccoli Brussels Sprout Cabbage Chicory Courgettes |
Kale Leeks Lettuce Marrow Onions Parsnips Pumpkin |
Potatoes Radish Shallots Spinach Swede Sweet Corn Turnips |
Having stated that these vegetables are easier to grow does not necessarily mean they can be left to their own devices. Some require that the soil be suitable for their cultivation, whilst others require special attention to harvesting, for example. It is always wise to carefully read what it says on the seed packets and follow the instructions as closely as possible. If you are so inclined you can try a bit of experimentation once you have built up a little of your own experience.
Similarly it is not our intention to put anyone off from trying some of the other vegetables that we haven't mentioned in the list above such as peas, cauliflower, cucumber or tomatoes. There is no reason why anyone should not be able to grow these successfully by following the instructions on the packet. It is simply that the beginner is that much more likely to be successful by starting with the crops mentioned above.
Read more about Vegetables |
Read more about Plants |