When thinking about which crops to grow, remember that the best value comes from crops that are expensive to buy in the shops, difficult to find, or simply have more vibrancy and taste when picked fresh. And these aren’t necessarily the most difficult to grow...
Often these crops are not grown commercially because they’re time-consuming to harvest, and difficult to transport or keep fresh. Such problems don’t apply at home. It’s a pleasure to nip out of the door, pick a few basil leaves or a handful of tiny currant tomatoes, and scatter them straight over your salad.
Where to grow
In containers
A whole range of useful herbs, salads, and vegetables grow well in containers, on a patio or balcony, backyard or alongside a path – and they look attractive, too.
Veggie bed
A small, neatly edged vegetable bed can be amazingly productive. Why keep looking at that tired flower bed or mowing that odd patch of lawn when you could be harvesting your own vegetables instead?
Around the garden
Many herbs will fit into ornamental borders, need very little care and can supply you with a range of aromatic leaves for the kitchen. Along a fence Fences and walls used as screens or boundaries can be covered with berried fruits such as cultivated blackberries, loganberries or redcurrants – they’re no more difficult to look after than ornamental climbers and use up very little space.
Seeds or plants?
Seeds are the best value for growing large quantities of closely-spaced crops, such as salads, carrots and beetroot. However, if you only want to grow a few plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, it’s not much more expensive to buy seedlings. The same applies to herbs and fruit that are perennials (that is, they grow year after year).
Where to buy
With grow your own back in fashion, seeds and plants of edible crops are increasingly easy to find at supermarkets and garden centres. Alternatively, order from garden catalogues and have them delivered – this is where you’ll find the more unusual varieties and greatest choice. Take a look at our directory, below.
Fruit, vegetables and herbs directory
Thompson & Morgan T: 01473 695225
Agralan T: 01285 860015
Jekka’s Herb Farm T: 01454 418878
Ken Muir T: 01255 830181
Harrod Horticultural T: 0845 402 5300
Welsh Fruit Stocks T: 01497 851209
Mr Fothergill’s T: 0845 371 0518
Suttons T: 0844 922 0606
The Organic Gardening Catalogue T: 0845 130 1304
Links
Planting in pots
Planting a veggie bed
Herbs around the garden
Growing along a fence
Planting guide
Grow Your Own in pdf format
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Case study
Anne and Phil Lythe have been growing veg for about three years, with some help from their son Sean, seven, and daughter Katie, four, in their garden in Kinnerley, near Oswestry in Shropshire.
Anne says: “When we moved into our house, our back garden looked much like anyone else’s – a lawn with a swing on it, that kind of thing – but over the last few years the veg patch has taken over. Phil started growing potatoes, which are a brilliant, easy crop for beginners; they’ll grow almost anywhere, and the plants actually clean up bad soil. We’ve had a few slip-ups, like the three tonnes of old horse manure Phil bought that turned out to be infested with weeds, but overall it’s been brilliant.
“We started growing our own because we were fed up with spending so much on supermarket fruit and veg that our kids wouldn’t even eat. Now, we pay nothing for our veg, we know exactly what goes into it, and the kids wolf it down. Katie will eat cucumbers from our garden like they’re sweets. It’s the same at dinner – the kids really notice the difference.
“The best thing about it is the time we spend together. Sean and Phil have competitions to see who can grow the best veg – Sean won the carrots last year; he grew sweetcorn, too, although when he tried it, he didn’t like it! I think the runner beans are our favourite because they have nice flowers, and they grow so quickly – Sean likes to measure them to see when they’ve outgrown Katie, then him, then me, then Phil.”
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