When talking about home grown food, many people assume that a home vegetable patch involves turning over dozens of square meters of garden space and continual back breaking work throughout the year come rain or shine.
In reality, a home vegetable garden can be as big or small as you like – I personally know someone who has a 4 foot square patch that is divided into four 2 x 2 foot squares and manages to grow a reasonable amount of home grown produce each year.
You don't need a farm sized garden to grow your own
Nothing can beat the satisfaction of pulling your own carrots, onions and potatoes from the ground, ready for cleaning, peeling and cooking in just minutes. In addition to the sheer convenience and satisfaction, you’re very unlikely to experience the kind of smells and tastes from the supermarket equivalents.
Even if you’re not privileged to own your own garden space with soil, a whole host of fruit, vegetables, salad crops and herbs can be easily grown in window boxes, patio areas and plant pots. Even potatoes can be grown in a large plant pot, bucket or even a strong bin liner filled with compost.
So why not give it a go, start small scale and be amazed – Before long, you’ll be looking at every available space to see what can be grown where and eagerly planning ahead for an even more varied and versatile harvest next year.
In the words of one of my favourite tracks by Eric Clapton – ‘Let it Grow’.
This is exactly how i started out, one raised bed measuring 4 X 8 feet. Now have 4 of them at home and an allotment, i’ve got the ‘grow your own’ bug.