In years gone by, I’ve enjoyed pottering in the garden and growing my own food. Last year was a bit different as Carla moved in during April which meant that our time was spent making the home ours and getting used to new routines. There was very little time for planting seeds, although I did manage to grow some tomatoes.
This year we’ve decided that we’re going to grow as much of our own food as possible. We both love being outdoors and now we have Dolly, we’ll be spending more time at home.
I’m actually quite excited about our little project. Growing our own food together, rather than being a solo project, will be fun.
The tiny veg patch
The veg patch is only 1/3 of the size now as we had a garage built this year. Admittedly, I haven’t used it to its full capacity for a few years now, so in some ways, it’ll help us stay focused.
It’s already home to three rhubarb plants – if you love rhubarb, I highly recommend investing in a crown (or finding a neighbour who will split an established one with you). As long as you remember to water it, it’ll grow like a weed. We love rhubarb crumbles -rhubarb vodka isn’t bad either, although the rhubarb curry was a bit unusual.
We’ve also got a few strawberry plants in there too, so space for new crops is quite limited but we have a plan…
Maximising space with pots and trays
I’ve always grown potatoes in bags or tubs, so we’ll do that again this year. The kitchen is currently home to a box full of chitting potatoes which we’ll get planted out this week. We’re also going to plant carrots in tubs to avoid carrot fly, along with spinach, chard and kale, all of which are ‘tub friendly’. We have some broccoli seeds too, but they’ll probably be planted in the veg patch.
We tend to go through lots of salad leaves in the summer, so we’re going to plant cut and come again salad leaves in trays. We’ll plant some radishes too, along with a selection of tasty herbs.
And the greenhouse…
Ah, the trusty greenhouse, how could I forget. We’ll be using it to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. I might even throw a few chillis in for a bit of heat, but we’ll see how much space is left first.
In previous years, I’ve grown aubergines and melons too, but I’ve found it slightly too cold for them and they’ve been very labour intensive for very little fruit (think hand pollination). So we’re just sticking to the things we know grow well.
The invisible raised bed
It’s invisible because we haven’t built it yet. But we’re thinking about turning one of our flower beds into a raised bed. I’ve been ‘sun watching’ and it looks like it gets plenty of sunshine. So if we have time we’re going to give it a new lease of life. The area is a bit neglected at the moment as it’s in a ‘stand alone’ spot, so it’ll be perfect as a little growing area.
The chooks, trees and canes
I’ve kept chickens now for over a decade so we’ll have a plentiful supply of eggs from the girls – they’re hilarious to watch too. We also have an apple tree and various fruit canes and bushes.
In the past, it’s been difficult to get to the berries before the birds snaffle them but this year will be different. Firstly, because there are two of us, but also because I now work from home, I can sneak out midway through the morning to go fruit picking.
Let’s get growing!
I’m so excited about growing our own food this year. We’ve set ourselves a challenge to grow as much as possible in the space we have available to us. I’m so excited to see the results. We’ve got a few seeds to use up but we’ve also bought new ones from The Real Seed Company. I’ve used them for years and have always found their seeds to be excellent.
So far, I’ve got some tomato seedlings growing, pepper seeds germinating and potatoes ready to plant. I love being able to use homegrown goodies in my meals, so I’m excited to see what garden offerings we get this year!
Do you grow your own food? I’d love to hear from you. And if you don’t, I recommend you give it a try. Start small with some herbs or a tray of cut and come again lettuce – in no time you’ll be addicted.
Image courtesy of Markus Spiske