The cost of living has skyrocketed over recent years and it has undoubtedly had a knock-on effect on all of our budgets. From energy bills to the weekly food shop, we’ve all had to find new ways to save those extra pennies!
Even day-to-day items in your local supermarket such as your basic fruit and veg have risen in price, so there really is no better time to start looking into growing your own food.
It can actually be a lot easier than you would first think. A lot of novice gardeners even started growing their own food in lockdown!
Find out why you should consider growing your food shop (or as much of it as possible) and what benefits this could have.
Can Growing My Own Fruit & Veg Really Help Me Save Money?
In a word, yes! Growing your own fruit and vegetables at home can save you even more money than you might first think.
It doesn’t cost a lot to invest in the things you need to start growing vegetables at home and once you have it all set up, it’s easy to continue.
Start by finding a sunny and sheltered space in your garden. You then just need to decide which fruits or vegetables you want to get started with!
Seeds for all different types of fruits and veg are easily available in shops and are so much cheaper than buying from the supermarket. For example, a small pack of asparagus can cost £2-£3 in the supermarket but you can find seeds from as little as 90p from stores like Seed Pantry!
What Are the Other Benefits of Growing My Own Fruit & Veg?
It’s Much Fresher!
It's such a treat when you go out to a restaurant and get the best, fresh vegetables. Or buy local, in-season fruit on holiday.
By growing your own fruit and veg at home, you can have this luxury every day!
Fresh fruit and veg also make such a big difference for home recipes.
It Promotes a Healthy Diet
If you have homegrown fruit and veg easily accessible every day, then you’re much more likely to eat them often.
As home-grown fruits and veggies from stores such as Cherry Lane tastes that much better too, you can incorporate it into more of your daily recipes and eating routines.
This all helps towards building a healthy diet!
It’s More Convenient
It can be such a pain when you’ve done the weekly shop and forgotten that one key ingredient you need! Or if you’re looking to try a new recipe but happen to be missing half the vegetable list.
Having your own home-grown fruit and vegetables or fruit trees in your own back garden means you can just pop outside and pick what you need. You can grow your own plum trees, cherry trees or raspberry bushes by planting seeds and bulbs from stores like You Garden.
It’s More Environmentally Friendly
Supermarkets importing fruit and vegetables in from overseas, or even transporting within the UK, has such a negative impact on the environment.
Aside from the carbon footprint this causes, by growing your own fruits and vegetables at home, you’re also saving all of that unnecessary packaging being used!
It’s Good For You
Not only does eating all that fresh fruit and veg help maintain a healthy diet, but growing your own can help in other ways too!
Being out in the garden maintaining your crops ensures you get that vital dose of Vitamin D.
The work involved in growing your own veg also keeps you active, without it feeling like exercise.
What Do I Need to Get Started?
If you’re wanting to get started growing your own vegetables at home, there are a few things you’ll need to get started properly.
It’s not an expensive hobby to get started with and once you have bought all the equipment once, you won’t need to buy most of it again!
The absolutely essential things you need are:
- Spade – As with all gardening, you need the basic tools to get your vegetable patch started, you may even already have a spade forgotten in the back of the shed!
- Soil – Soil is the most important part of growing anything, there needs to be enough to go around so your plants grow strong.
- Pots – If you don’t want to dig directly into your garden, or the soil isn’t of a good enough quality, pots can be great to get your vegetables started.
- Water – A key part of making your home-grown vegetables successful is regular watering. Make sure you water enough to make healthy plants without drowning the roots.
- A designated area in your garden – To start your own vegetable patch, you need to pick a place that doesn’t get much footfall and that your pets can’t get to!
- Sun! - Vegetable plants need about six hours of full or partial sunlight per day so it’s crucial that you pick a sunny space in your garden.
You can get all the soil, pots, gloves and spades you need from stores like Keen Gardener and it won’t break your budget, then you can dedicate an area of your garden to growing your own fruit and veg!
What Are the Easiest Types of Fruit & Veg to Grow?
Just like growing flowers, some vegetables require more care and attention than others.
There are plenty of fruits and vegetable seeds and bulbs from stores like Dobies that are very easy to grow and are a must for beginners!
The below vegetables are known for being low maintenance and a great place to start your own vegetable garden. They are also great for growing in the UK.
- Lettuce
- Green beans
- Radishes
- Tomatoes (bush variety or cherry are easiest)
- Courgette
- Peppers
- Beets
- Carrots
- Chard, Spinach, or Kale
- Peas
How Should I Care for My Fruit & Veg?
It’s important that you know the basics of what your fruit and vegetables need to grow successfully.
Once you have a routine sorted, you’ll find it easy to manage and can enjoy the rewards!
The two most important ones are the sun and water. If you don’t have a garden hose or an accessible tap for a hose, pick up a watering can from a store like Original Organics to make sure your fruit and veg get plenty of water. For any plant to grow well, it needs to get enough sunlight to survive.
Luckily, most vegetable plants grow well in the UK climate and you don’t need to be too concerned. The only plant we would recommend growing under cover is tomatoes as they need a warm temperature!
If you’re unsure about how to get started, you can begin with some herb plants on your windowsill and go from there...
