Garden To Table

Growing your own veggies can be extremely satisfying and it gives you easy access to fresh and fl avoursome produce. So why aren’t you doing it?

- Karen Booth

Homegrown produce has so much to offer — greater flavour and freshness, the chance to eat veggies grown without chemicals (if you choose to go organic), and the opportunity to get in touch with the rhythms of nature and feel a connection to the earth. Basically, it’s good for you and for the environment. And don’t forget the sense of satisfaction you’ll feel when you see your patch flourishing and your family tucking in to the meals you’ve prepared using produce harvested that day.

Every vegetable has its own requirements, so it’s impossible to list them all here, but the basic principles — such as good soil preparation, only planting veggies suited to your climate and ensuring they get the right amount of sun and water — are the same. To give you a sense of what’s involved, we explore some of the fundamentals of choosing, planting, caring for and harvesting veggies.

PLAN YOUR PLOT

Planning a vegetable garden takes a bit of time, but it is time well spent. Step one is to determine how much space you can give to your new veggie plot. Step two is to carefully consider how many hours a week you are prepared to spend tending your veggie patch. Growing vegetables can be quite time-consuming, so until you’re sure about what’s involved and how committed you are, you might want to begin with a small plot and expand later.

Whatever the scale of your initial patch, you need a level, open area that receives at least five or six hours of sun every day. This means you don’t want an area shaded by hedges or fences, or overshadowed by trees. Having chosen the best spot, prepare it by deep digging to 25-30cm and adding lots of organic matter.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER