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Growing Your Own Vegetables and Fruit

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By Litany Notch


With the current economic climate, choosing to grow your own food makes very good sense. As well as saving money, there are health benefits to eating fresh, home grown, organic produce.

If you’re not much of a gardener but want to start your own vegetable patch, the first thing you need to do is come up with a list of what you and your family want to eat. Otherwise, it can feel quite confusing looking at the vast array of seeds and types of vegetables available for you to grow.

You need to start at the beginning…don’t be tempted to just run out and buy loads of seeds. List all the fruit and vegetables that your family likes to eat, then eliminate the ones that you are not going to be able to grow. If you have very sandy soil, cauliflowers and cabbages don’t do well, but carrots and parsnips should. Some veg such as sweet peppers and aubergines need pampering and can be difficult to grow. They could be something to leave until later when you’ve got the hang of the basics.


Potatoes are Easy

On the other hand, potatoes are quite easy to grow and are great for your soil, but you will need to have enough space to store your crops over winter. Grow a couple of rows of new potatoes for their wonderful flavor – and when you see the price of the first new potatoes in the shops, you’ll find they taste even better!

Absolute beginners should try salad leaves, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, beetroot, string beans, radishes, courgettes, peas, onions, tomatoes, sweetcorn, spinach and broad beans. Some fruit can be quite complex when it comes to pruning, so it’s best to try strawberries first. Pick five or six varieties you would like to start with and you can always try growing other sorts of fruit and vegetables in the future.


Growing Vegetables in Containers

Lots of new varieties of vegetables do well in containers, so no matter how limited your space, there are still vegetables that you can grow.


  • Winter storage

    [Backpost for Dec-14-2009] Snow’s here—it’s definitely overwinter storage time! Winter storage is a little different every year, as needs, facilities, and plans change. This time around, a fair bit of gear is in the 20′x32′ (~6×10 m) hoophouse, with its full sun exposure and fairly extreme temperature spread (from double-digit subzero at night, to 80-100°F/25-38°C [...] - 2 weeks ago

  • Snow pile

    A familiar season-marking sight for anyone in snow territory, this is the start of what may turn out to be a growing, winter-long snow bank. The mini-blizzards of the last couple of days laid down at least 7-10 cm (3-4″). Road clearing mixes up dirty snow in hard-packed windrows, and driveway clearing creates mini-mountain piles. [...] - 3 weeks ago

  • Chickens: ranging too far

    [For Jul-8-2009] These guys, the White Rock Cornish X meat birds, have free-ranged too far, making it to the edge of the veggie garden in the big field. Luckily, although it looks good in the photo, this all-lettuce mesclun is done, cut at least twice and now too full of damaged and crowded, stretched leaves [...] - 3 weeks ago

  • Front yard farming!

    Often heard about, never before seen first-hand, this is front-yard tiny farming in action—late fall edition. I’m at the home of Andrew and Sue and Margo, in a town of 70,000, leaning on the front porch rail on a residential street lined with single homes on small lots. Typical front lawns all along. Except here, [...] - 4 weeks ago

  • In the cold garden

    [From 24-Nov-2009] The star by far of the last planting of brassicas, that mostly didn’t size up in time for market or CSA, is without at doubt this unusual Nero Di Toscana strap kale. This Italian heirloom, apparently from Tuscany, is hardly better looking than the cold-beaten rest of the motley-looking crew: tiny cauliflower, mini [...] - 4 weeks ago

Containers for Growing Strawberries or Tomatoes

PLAYFUL BIRD STRAWBERRY OUTDOOR YARD PLANTER PLANT POT PLAYFUL BIRD STRAWBERRY OUTDOOR YARD PLANTER PLANT POT
Price: $16.59
List Price: $39.95
Stack and Grow Self-Watering Strawberry Planter, Stone Stack and Grow Self-Watering Strawberry Planter, Stone
Price: $34.95
List Price: $39.95
Playful Birds Atop a Strawberry Pot Playful Birds Atop a Strawberry Pot
Price: $20.49
List Price: $39.95
Stack and Grow Terracotta Planter with 20 Planting Pockets Stack and Grow Terracotta Planter with 20 Planting Pockets
Price: $44.95
List Price: $60.00
Planter: Strawberry Barrel Planter: Strawberry Barrel
Price: $45.00
List Price: $52.95

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Growing Your Own Food - Your Comments

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Gypsy Willow profile image

Gypsy Willow  says:
7 months ago

Excellent hub. Tha rewards are endless both mentally and physically. Thank you!

agrande profile image

agrande  says:
7 months ago

very nice and informative hub on growing your own vegetables and fruit

badcompany99  says:
7 months ago

Nice hub moi friend and how dare you question my piracy ; )

R. Blue profile image

R. Blue  says:
7 months ago

I grew up on a farm....when Spring comes I just have to plant something.

Montana Farm Girl profile image

Montana Farm Girl  says:
5 months ago

Nice hub~~ this year our summer just arrived...until about a month ago, we had freezing temps during the night, many of us lost all our veggies we had planted in the ground or containers!! Last year at this time, I had tomato plants 6 feet tall...this year, I have three little scraggly plants, with a few on them...sad!!! No one has a good crop this year! Most people don't plant outside til after memorial day, but this year it was much later and we are all suffering for it :-(. OUr remedy in case this happens again: My husband and I are building a nice greenhouse (out of old paned windows :-)~~ I could not even plant my window boxes this year, as no one in town brought in flowers til late and did not reorder...sad!!!!

Litany Notch profile image

Litany Notch  says:
5 months ago

@ Montana Farm Girl

Having freezing nights during June is tough! Our main problem this year with a warm wet Spring has been slugs! Thousands of 'em. I won't put any poison down as I try to stay organic and also I worry about the birds.

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