Okay, you would like to grow fresh veggies

in your own home garden and save a bundle! Well, we will tell you how!

We explained on our organic gardening page how important it was to mulch the soil. Now we can talk about a continuous garden, how one garden patch can produce enough fresh veggies for a family.

Apart from being a huge help to the household budget, home grown vegetables are so much tastier, and also, you know what has been sprayed on them as well! Next time you go shopping, just jot down what it costs you to buy vegetables that you could easily grow in your home garden. Work that out over a year. It’s a lot of money!

A garden plot measuring 20 feet by about 12 feet can easily feed a family of four. Structured along the lines of the organic garden we described earlier in our organic garden page, and bordered by planks or hay bales, the garden can be loosely divided into 6 sections. Access paths between each bed can be defined, and surfaced with wood chips or saw dust.

Preferred vegetables are planted in rotation. Say lettuce and beans in one bed, root vegetables in another, broccoli in another, and so on. Always plant herbs in amongst the vegetables, it helps keep the bugs away.

Crop rotation is important to prevent the spread of disease, and to ensure one vegetable doesn’t take all the nutrients for the soil, to the detriment of the next crop. Keep the companion planting principles in mind too, you can read about that on our companion planting web page.

Basically if you plant a root crop in one bed, when that is gone plant a leaf crop. Never leave uncovered soil, if you are not using a bed, plant a green manure crop, or just mulch it, and let the worms dig it up and manure it for you!

Abundant Earth in their Lawn and Garden section, have a huge range of natural home and garden products, including composters, vegan fertilisers, and an excellent book on organic garden pest control methods.

Turnips grow through cooler months. They like a limed soil, and lots of sun. Use them when they are still young. Swede turnips are stronger in taste, and taste great in stews and casseroles. They take about 16 weeks to mature.

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Tomatoes are a warm weather vegetable. They like lots of sun, and well-drained soil. There are many varieties, and if you have trouble getting them to ripen in cooler weather, there are plenty of small varieties that grow well in a sunny spot indoors in containers. They like rich well drained soil, without too much nitrogen. On large plants, the lateral shoots may need to be trimmed to allow more fruit to develop. The taste of homegrown tomatoes is so much better than the ones you will buy in supermarket, you will really be amazed.

*Tomato tips* To enhance the flavor of bought tomatoes, try adding a pinch of sugar when cooking them.* To ripen tomatoes, place in a warm dark place with a ripe tomato, a light place will only soften them without ripening.* To firm up soft tomatoes, place in a bowl of iced water for half and hour.*

Onions are easy to grow, but they take 6 months to mature. Onions are usually cheap to buy, so you will need to see if you have enough room. It may be more economical to plant broccoli or brussell sprouts, if that is what your family like. One advantage of having onions growing is you can always cut off a couple of leaves for use as spring onions! Onions like a limey soil, and lots of compost, otherwise they are easy to grow.

*Onion tips* To keep onions whole while baking, cut a small cross in the stems about ¼ inch deep.* To brown onions faster, add a little sugar to the pan.* To peel onions without tears, wrap in tinfoil of plastic and refrigerate them before peeling.* Or peel under cold water, or keep your mouth closed when peeling or chopping.*

Pumpkins are the Prince of Vegetables, and you can do almost anything with them. They will grow in any unused part of your yard. They need lots of room, and are probably too big to grow in your garden plot. The runners can be pinched back to stop them from spreading, and you can also wind them around the parent plant, and peg them in place with a stick. Some of the smaller varieties like butternut will grow on a fence or trellis. They like lots of sun and lots of compost. Frost usually burns off the leaves if they are sown too late in the year.

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Beans are great. They grow quickly, are tasty and nutritious, and there are many varieties that will grow almost all year round. Broad beans like limey soil.

Cauliflower varieties have been developed that will grow almost anywhere, even in tropical climates, and in small gardens. They require about 6 months to mature. They like rich soil, and compost is the best fertiliser. Brussel sprouts are similar, they need a long cool growing period.

*Cooking Tips* To keep cauliflower white when cooking, add 2 tablespoons of milk to the cooking water, or a teaspoon of lemon juice, or a small wedge of lemon.* Lemon also reduces the cooking odours.* For brussel sprouts, try cooking them in chicken or vegetable stock for a different flavor.*

Zucchini, or courgettes, are very productive plants. They are easy to grow, and a couple of bushes producing fruit will supply the family for weeks. Pick when very small, and even the flowers are edible, dipped in batter and fried, or served in salads. When they are larger, several inches long, they can be stuffed with any sort of seasoning and baked, or split long ways, and filled and grilled.

Peas, including snow peas, are usually grown in the cooler months. While not as productive as beans, they are quite delicious. They need something to climb on, a trellis or similar. A tripod made from three tomato stakes is very good.

*Cooking Tips* When cooking peas, add a knob of butter and a little orange juice for a different flavor, or add a few pods to the pot to enhance flavor. DirectGardening.com - Offers quality plants at great prices, come see what we mean!

If you have the room, potatoes are very easy to grow. At one time, if you were putting in a new garden, potatoes would go in first, to break up the soil. Nowadays we often use worms! Potatoes can be grown in a large aerated container.

You peg circle of wire netting into the ground, say 2 or 3 feet across, and plant 3 or 4 seed potatoes inside the circle in good compost. As the potatoes grow, cover the plants with loose dry straw. Water from the bottom. Keep covering with straw until the potato plants have reached the top of the wire circle, When the top leaves are dying off, harvest, and you will find loads of clean potatoes inside the straw.

Even a few potatoes grown in 25 litre can drum can produce amazing quantities of spuds. If growing in the ground, plant in rows about 2 feet apart, and hill up the soil around the plants as they grow. Harvest when the leaves go yellow and start to die off.

*Cooking Tips* When grateing potatoes, grate into a bowl of iced water to prevent the potato turning pink.* To whiten old potatoes, add a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to the water.* To store potatoes, and stop them from shooting, or turning green, pack in a paper bag and put in a dark cupboard.* You can put many different herbs into mashed potato to give them a zesty flavor.* Try chopped chervil, garlic chives, mixed herbs, oregano, parsley, or a little grated cheese.*

Silver beet is great! Young leaves can be added to salads, the stalks are good chopped up in stir-fry, and as a vegetable, the steamed leaves are so good for you! Silver beet likes at least half sunlight, and good rich limed soil. Can be sown at any time, if planting in winter, soak the seeds overnight in warm water. 8 plants are enough for a family. Pick the outside leaves, leave at least 4 leaves in the center, and let the plant keep on producing. *To store silver beet, wrap in damp newspaper, and try to store standing up in fridge*

Sweet potatoes are delicious. Plenty of space is needed, and they need 5 months of warm weather between planting and maturity. Like potatoes, the soil should be hilled up around the roots of the plants, so the tubers are not exposed to sunlight. Harvest when the frost burns off the leaves.

Lettuce like lots of sun, but in very hot areas they can be grown in half sunlight. They like rich composty soil, and plenty of water. Different varieties mean they can be sown all year round. If grown quickly without setback, they will have a much bigger heart.

Water lettuce well, and mulch heavily. In hot weather, water from the ground, rather than sprinkling, to avoid wilt. Plant as many as you need, and replant every 4 weeks or so, to ensure you have a regular supply. Fresh lettuce from the garden tastes infinitely better in a salad than a shop brought one.

*Lettuce Tips* To remove the core from a lettuce, smack the core end hard against a bench top, the core will then twist out.* To revive limp lettuce, place in a bowl of cold water that has a teaspoon of suger added, and place in the fridge for an hour.* Or soak the in a bowl of cold water with a few slices of raw potato added* To store, place in damp newspaper in the fridge, and keep newspaper damp*.

There are many more vegetables we could talk about, and you will probably want to plant others that your family enjoys. These ones above will give you a good supply of fresh veggies all year round.

Happy gardening, Patrick

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