Succulent, crisp and delectable home grown garden produce can be yours. Food that you can pick when ever you want to. Herbs and veggie goodies in your own backyard that you can shop for at home casually strolling around feeling almost smug at how easy it all is.
Reasons to grow your own veg:
- Cost save $$$$$'s - veggies that are expensive in the stores can often be grown more cheaply
- Freshness and more flavor in home grown veggies
- Know exactly where your vegetables have come from
- Eat chemical free
- Grow the foods you enjoy and may not be able to easily buy
- Less wastage - pick what you need when you want it
- Gardening is relaxing and a profitable stress release
Small suburban garden plot prepared and sown with veggie seeds
Silver beet, parsley and rhubarb in the background
Cost of preparing a veggie garden can be large or small, in fact can be done for practically zero with a bit of forethought and innovation or it can be expensive with the latest of materials but you can easily grow your own veg even if all you have available is a pot. All you need is a bit of dirt and a bit of know how.
Organic gardening is a subject close to my heart. My mother who lived into her nineties and was gardening right up to the end of her life always used to tell us all that your garden is your health and you can't be healthy without one.
So, how do we grow our own veg and what do we do ?
We garden organically, we use companion plants,we use compost, animal manures, and natural alternatives and our best friend is hay, yep, glorious hay. And we have discovered a no dig system that works for us and works well. Basically we can set up a garden for hardly any cost, normally using what is laying around at wherever we find ourselves. We first discovered this system when we read Ruth Stout's book and became immediately inspired. At the time we had an intensive garden with intensive work ! This revolutionizes everything - just plant and pick - that's it !
The garden in the picture above was made quickly last season so we could plant straight away using a thick wad of newspapers, as a base. Some people use cardboard - packing boxes from your latest move will be excellent. We first discovered this method from Ester Deans who made a no dig garden way back when it was not fashionable and we can have a garden in and producing in a matter of weeks.
Ester Deans Gardening Book, Growing Without Digging
Add layers of organic rubbish like veggie peelings, some rotted down manure and some top soil from another garden pile. The wood surrounds were old pieces hauled out from under the house that someone else had left abandoned. Obviously it will be better if you can use rotted down and ready to go compost but it all depends on what is available.
One Stop Organic Gardening - Free composting guide here
Oh yes, we could win the penny pinchers award for garden design !
The point is, it works, and it doesn't need to be flash to grow your own veg - you can be up and running in no time and have silver beet with crunchy, health giving crisp green leaves or whatever else you fancy straight out of your own garden once you know what to do.
