grow your own, you will be hooked into growing even more! Many of us will remember growing vegetables as children with our parents and grandparents and even mustard and cress grown on blotting paper is a great way to get children interested in growing things and started on the lifelong hobby of gardening!
Although many gardeners spend a lot of time indulging in their hobby, good results can be gained from spending as little as half an hour each week if your plot is a manageable size.
Below are some helpful hints to get you started:
Start small. Don’t take on a huge area of garden or allotment and expect to cultivate it all in the first season. Perhaps begin with a couple of raised beds or a small area of your allotment. Gradually cultivate more ground as you need it or feel that you can cope with it.
Be mindful of the weather and work around it. Don’t put off tasks when the weather is on your side – especially if you have limited time or days off to tend your patch.
Plan what you want to grow. Ask your family for input on this – which vegetables do you like to eat? Grow these and perhaps try some new varieties each year.
Research varieties. Use the Notcutts website at www.notcutts.co.uk to look at the varieties of seed available. Visit your nearest branch to look at varieties of seed potatoes, onion sets, shallots and garlic and research these to make sure they are suitable for your area and soil type. If you are not sure, ask a fellow allotment holder or vegetable growing neighbor to find out which varieties are successful.
Don’t sow too early! Wait until the soil has warmed up – weed seeds germinating are a good indication of this. Crops sown or planted too early in the year will not thrive and it’s easy to get disheartened if you are new to vegetable gardening and make this mistake. Follow the instructions on the seed packet but make allowance for adverse weather conditions. Later sowings almost always catch up or overtake those made too early in the season.
Sow fast maturing crops such as salad leaves, radish and soft herbs little and often to try and avoid a ‘glut’. Often short rows of only a meter are enough – just sow more seeds at two or three week intervals. Visit your local branch of Notcutts regularly to top up on seed or take advantage of the ready grown young plants that are available through the season to top up your plot!
Buy a hoe and use it regularly when the weather allows to keep those pesky weed seedlings at bay! A few minutes of regular hoeing will save a lot of work weeding your plot later in the year.
Learn how to use gluts of produce. Even the best planned plot will produce gluts. Think of ways to use these by freezing, preserving in pickles and chutneys or learning how to use vegetables in different ways. There are plenty of recipes available online. Experiment!
Finally enjoy your plot. Gardening should be a hobby not a chore and that includes growing your own!
