Top tips to help start your very own vegetable patch

There are so many benefits to growing your own vegetables. Not only is it a satisfying and rewarding hobby, it also saves you money, and is good for the environment too!

With spring upon us, it is the perfect time to start thinking about getting your garden ready for the summer months, and planning and sowing seeds for your very own vegetable garden. You don’t need a big space to start organic gardening and if you haven’t got a lot of room, don’t worry – vegetables grow well in pots too.

Growing vegetables in your garden has become increasingly popular with the likes of celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall advocating using your own freshly grown food to make delicious meals the whole family can enjoy. 

There is nothing quite like cooking up a fantastic meal made from produce you have lovingly grown yourself, and providing you do a little planning and take care of your veggies, you can look forward to a fantastic crop come summer. Bury Hill shares it’s tips on how to start your own vegetable patch.

Here are some top tips to help you create a fantastic vegetable garden

Select your ground

Vegetables need lots of sun in order to flourish properly, so make sure you find a bright and sunny spot to start your vegetable patch. Sun helps vegetables ripen too, making for sweeter flavoured tomatoes, onions and carrots – delicious!

Deep, rich soil is best for veg growing. If your soil is thin and dry then now is the time to boost it. Topsoils, composts and mulches will help improve your soil and make your garden perfect for planting veg, and a good soil conditioner can help break down heavy, wet soils which help your plants grow well. 

If your garden is paved you can still join in the fun, simply build some raised beds – these will actually help protect your veg from pests, and save them from being trampled on by children/ pets too! 

Raised beds also improve the soil drainage and elevate your crops further towards the light!

Protect from pests

Your plot is undoubtedly going to attract slugs and snails who will try to get a sneaky taste of your delicious vegetables. Make it difficult for them by keeping your plot clear of long grasses and weeds. Using natural slug pellets to keep them at bay is another good idea too.

Stick to the guidelines

It is tempting, when getting excited about growing your own vegetables, to ignore the advice on seed and plant packets and to try and start growing them before it is recommended to do so. 

Always wait until the dates stated on the packets. In fact waiting until nearer the end of the recommended start date is likely to give your plants the best chance of good growth. 

If you plant your seeds to earlier then you’re meant to, cold weather and a lack of light means it will be difficult for them to recover. 

What to plant

There are a huge range of fantastic vegetables that you can grow at home. If you are new to veg growing and not sure where to start, here are some of the easiest:

Salad Leaves

Salad leaves are great to grow in the garden, you can choose from a range of flavours and textures, and they grow quickly meaning you should be able to reap the benefits in just a few weeks!

Potatoes

Everyone loves the humble potato! Really growing potatoes simply involves keeping them well watered, and it is great fun rummaging in the soil to find them at the end of the season.

Peas

A fresh pea is truly delightful, and they are great for gardens that don’t get much sun as they will happily grow in cooler weather. You can plant them from March and they should be ready to pick from June through to August, and the more you pick them, the more they grow!

Herbs

A little herb garden is an easy way to grow some of your own food, and a great one for the kids to help out with. Mint, rosemary and tarragon all do well in moist soil, and with a decent amount of sunshine, they should flourish quickly.

Carrots

Since it’s international carrot day on the 4th April why not try your hand at growing your own carrots this year? Carrots need little water and like lots of sun, and you can do lots with them in the kitchen too!

Organically growing your own vegetable garden is lots of fun and even novice gardeners with only a modest outside space can still give it a go. 

So why not see what you can grow in 2016 and get planning your vegetable garden now? 

At Bury Hill we offer a wide range of garden solutions to improve the look and feel of your garden and help your plants and flowers flourish. For help and advice why not give our expert team a call on 01306877540 – we’ll be happy to help!