Great tasting vegetables, conveniently available right outside your door, grown organically and costing very little, the benefits of growing your own vegetables are certainly attractive. Many people have learned how to grow vegetables from their parents or grandparents, from following TV programmes or reading books and magazines and the popularity of the activity can be seen by the demand for allotments all across the country. Previously when people earned less and food less readily available, most people would have grown at least a few varieties of vegetables at home. Now that food costs are on the increase again, more and more people are attracted to the idea of growing their own.
It really ought to be easy enough to grow a few vegetables in your garden but for various reason, many people who try for the first time are faced with problems that affect the resulting crops and sometimes discourage them from trying again.. Weather has a big part to play with moisture levels and light both influencing the healthy growth of vegetables. Nutrition for plants is also key because all living things need fuel to survive and grow healthily and of course pest and disease can cause issues too.
In order to maximise the success of your first vegetable crop it pays to plan your schedule and workload carefully from the outset and try, as much as possible, to control the factors that have major influences.
One of the first things to consider is how you are going to get started with your new plants and whether you should grow from seed or started with small plants. Most seed varieties have a shelf life of at least 2 years (except parsnips) with some like cabbage and courgette able to remain viable in their seed packets for 4 or 5 years. Deciding which seed varieties to use can be overwhelming as there are so many options. Using a well known supplier and selecting a type that is well suited for your own growing environment will help you focus on some solid selections.
If for some reason you are not able to start with seeds, you have a couple of alternatives. Firstly potatoes, which are grown from seed potatoes that are stored upright from mid-February onwards for about a month to allow them to sprout. Most good garden centres will stock a small range of seed potatoes but for a wider choice visit one of the popular potato fairs that are held in various parts of the country. The other option for many varieties such as beetroot, cabbages and leeks is to start with a plug plant. These are small plants that have already been grown from seed by a professional nursery. They are an option if you don't have the time to sow from seed yourself, or you are making up time and are too late to grow from seed. Several companies provide plug plants in variety packs to give you a good selection of vegetable types for your garden.
Once you have your seedlings or plug plants outside in your vegetable plot the next challenge is to control the factors that will prevent the young plants from growing into healthy delicious crops over the coming months. In the early part of the year the weather will probably be your biggest challenge. In the UK an overnight frost can arrive almost unexpectedly right up to May, so keep a sheet of horticultural fleece or other suitable material to insulate the plants if a potential frost is forecast. Heavy rain or thunderstorm can also damage tender plants so afford your plot any protection you can if a storm is forecast. Most plants that are knocked down by rain quickly recover, but don't worry too much as they are able to continue growing as long as their roots are not exposed and you don't step on the saturated soil right next to them.
Finally, as the vegetable garden fills out with crops, your plants may come under attack from disease or pest damage. There are various manual ways of protecting your plants such as covering carrot seeds with fleece, secured at the edges by soil, to prevent the intrusion of carrot fly and putting up some slug defences if you are growing lettuces, cabbages, beans and many other vegetables. Not all slugs are out to eat your vegetables but those that are will need some discouragement if you are to keep your crop for yourself. All kinds of slug protection methods have been proposed, so if the one you try first is not effective, just try one of the alternatives.
Hopefully your first attempt to grow your own vegetables will be a successful one because the satisfaction of eating your own produce is very satisfying and very flavoursome too. But don't give up if you experience a few problems to start with. Keep trying and as you gain more experience your success rate will soon increase and before long you'll wonder why you waited so long to start your home grown vegetable garden.
Author Resource:-
The opportunity to grow your own vegetables is something many can take advantage of. Mike is gardener who has grown all kinds of vegetables in his own garden and offers some tips to those just beginning.
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