Grow your own in a small garden
If you have a small outdoor space and would like to grow some of your own veggies and fruit, then you can!
Here’s how:
- Make the most of limited space by growing things that give you a quick return but don’t get too big such as dwarf French beans, spinach, spring onions, radish or kale.
- Sow seeds of lettuce and cut-and-come-again style salad leaves every month from spring to autumn. Then you’ll have continuous crops to nibble.
- Also sow some rocket, which grows speedily and almost like a weed, needing little attention. It is a very trendy salad ingredient and if you buy it in the shops already grown and in a bag then it can be expensive.
- Grow some edible flowers like marigolds, nasturtiums and pansies in pots as they not only look good but taste good too.
- For fresh summer fruits grow strawberries in pots, raised beds or a grow bag in a sunny spot.
- Potatoes will also produce a good crop grown in a big pot, bucket, dustbin or black plastic bag.
- Keep production going through to the autumn and winter, and beyond, with kale, chard, mizuna and winter purslane, which will survive in a sheltered spot.
- Remember though that you don’t need to aim to be self-sufficient. Great taste and freshness are key. Also growing your own can be very rewarding and nothing beats pottering around in your outdoor space after work.
- All the above can be grown in the ground or in pots in a sunny or half sun half shady location. Water well when dry and feed regularly with any good fertiliser.