Vegetables are a way to liven up your garden and get you more involved in the whole process of cultivating plants. They give an incentive to put work in, and act as an easy way to measure your success as a gardener too. This doesn't mean entering your marrow in a local contest, but rather the reward of having something fresh and organic to put on the table. If you're considering taking on this new area, there are some things that it helps to know.
If you've got even a relatively small patch of earth your can grow potatoes. You do this by buying a batch of seed potatoes from your local garden centre and setting them deep in earth. It helps to have good rich soil for this, so either buy some or use some good soil from your compost heap. Bare in mind that these won't grow into very large potatoes, but you will have some really tasty additions to summer salads.
Carrots need depth, so if you can't devote a deep pit of good soil to them you need to think of alternatives. The best solution is to get a tall container, so you can pack it with soil and plant the carrot at the top. This way they'll grow to their best length and they'll be easy to harvest too.
If you're just starting out with veg growing then don't be too ambitious. There a re plenty of vegetables that you can buy, but not all of them are suited to every garden. A good example of this is sun-loving plants like peppers and tomatoes, so don't spend a lot on these unless you're got a greenhouse, or a space with lots of sun.
One of the most satisfying vegetables to set loose in your garden is lettuce. This salad favourite isn't too fussy about where it grows, and it allows you to snatch bits of the plant for food while leaving the rest to grow. Get lolla rossa for a red, peppery lettuce that's even more hardy. Watch out for pests with these though. Determined snails can decimate a lettuce crop, so if you see them about move them away, or if worst comes to worst you can consider culling them.
If you've got even a relatively small patch of earth your can grow potatoes. You do this by buying a batch of seed potatoes from your local garden centre and setting them deep in earth. It helps to have good rich soil for this, so either buy some or use some good soil from your compost heap. Bare in mind that these won't grow into very large potatoes, but you will have some really tasty additions to summer salads.
Carrots need depth, so if you can't devote a deep pit of good soil to them you need to think of alternatives. The best solution is to get a tall container, so you can pack it with soil and plant the carrot at the top. This way they'll grow to their best length and they'll be easy to harvest too.
If you're just starting out with veg growing then don't be too ambitious. There a re plenty of vegetables that you can buy, but not all of them are suited to every garden. A good example of this is sun-loving plants like peppers and tomatoes, so don't spend a lot on these unless you're got a greenhouse, or a space with lots of sun.
One of the most satisfying vegetables to set loose in your garden is lettuce. This salad favourite isn't too fussy about where it grows, and it allows you to snatch bits of the plant for food while leaving the rest to grow. Get lolla rossa for a red, peppery lettuce that's even more hardy. Watch out for pests with these though. Determined snails can decimate a lettuce crop, so if you see them about move them away, or if worst comes to worst you can consider culling them.
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