Growing your own food at home can be so satisfying. As well as saving a few quid it can even taste all the better for being totally home grown and organic. You don't have to have a great big garden either, from a simple balcony with a grow bag or pots, to fully dedicated veg patches, we can all get growing and if we're quick, we can harvest our goods to enjoy in the summer sunshine this year.
Growing plants and food with kids can be great fun too, they love getting their hands dirty and it's a great way of learning where their food comes from and makes them much more likely to eat their greens if they've watched them grow. Here's 6 delicious and healthy foods you can grow at home right now...
Salad leaves
Salad leaves are super easy to grow at home from seed. Within just three weeks you can be eating your own home grown salad. Simply plant in pots, keep well watered and trim leaves when you need them. Salad leaves will grow again and again until late autumn.
Tomatoes
Plant tomatoes now and you can harvest from July onwards. These are great to grow in hanging baskets or pots and a really good starting point for any young growers or those new to gardening as they grow quickly and you can soon see your progress. Tomato plants need a little water and maybe even some plant feed for a little boost and you'll soon see your first crop growing.
Potatoes
If you get planting now, you'll be able to harvest your very own potatoes in late summer. Simply grow in sacks, bins, pots or straight in the ground, add a little extra soil when the shoots start to show and dig up your potatoes when the foliage begins to die off 10-20 weeks later.
Runner beans
Runner beans are great plants to grow and need plenty of height (unless you opt for a dwarf variety). Train the plants to grow up canes and simply keep well watered. As your crops are ready to pick, remove them for eating and the plant will continue to produce crops all season.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers can be planted right now indoors or in a heated green house, but if you want to sow the seeds outdoors then it's best to wait until May/June. Keep the soil evenly moist, adding little often and if you want to skip the seed part, you can buy already established plants around now in garden centres.
Carrots
Carrots can be grown straight in the soil, but if it's too hard, clay ridden or rocky, you may be best to grow in deep pots. If you want a little more fun, you can grow purple carrots or even round ones which would be great if you have kids. Sow your carrots in sunny well drained areas from around April time and these can then be harvested around 12 weeks later.
Planting some salad and veg would be a fun activity to do with the kids this Easter, it's cheap to get started and so rewarding. When it comes round to BBQ season, you'll already be half way there with your salad and potatoes at the ready!
Do you grow your own food at home?
