It’s that time of year again. Christmas decorations have been replaced with garden supplies and the shop shelves are filled with rows and rows of seeds. If you browse these isles, dreaming of growing your own, but aren’t sure where to start I’m going to show you how. These are my 5 steps to help you plan your own family vegetable garden.
1. DECIDE WHAT VEGETABLES YOU WANT TO GROW
I love browsing the seed isles and picking out a few new vegetables to try, but to make your garden the most successful and to work for you, you need to grow vegetables that your family will actually eat. There is nothing more soul destroying than watching your hard grown produce wither and die before you have had a chance to eat it.
The first thing you need to do is to write a list of the vegetables that family eats. This is usually the vegetables that you buy each week on your weekly shop. So for us this is:::
Spinach
Butternut Squash
Mongetou
Broccoli
Peppers
Lettuce
Onions
Potatoes
Spring Onions
2. BE REALISTIC
If you are just starting out don’t grow anything too taxing. You want a garden that is easy to care for, that doesn’t require too much work and that fits in around family life. There is no point growing a rare vegetable which requires a lot of care and attention that you can’t give.
I have been growing my own vegetables for a few years now and I have learnt the hard way what I should and shouldn’t grow. I am a lazy gardener and if it requires too much work I ‘aint interested. Broccoli, for example, we eat a lot of broccoli and I would love to grow it, but I can’t… Every year I have tried I have been plagued with white cabbage butterfly. I have tried everything. I have wrapped up my beds in every different type of netting, I have made my own white butterfly out of milk bottles to scare them away, I spent hours cellotaping caterpillar eggs off of the leaves of my plants but it was futile. The butterfly ALWAYS wins. I accept this, I no longer grow cauliflower or broccoli. It is worth the 49p it costs me to buy it from the supermarket each week.
3. DECIDE WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO| GROW YOUR VEGETABLES
Are you going to grow your vegetables is pots, raised beds, a vegetable patch or an allotment?
I only have a small garden so I grow my vegetables in 2 x 1 meter square raised beds. You’ll be surprised about how much you can grow in there! I follow the square foot gardening method as I find that it enables me to grow the most I can in my small space. By following the square foot gardening method I could grow up to 18 different type of vegetables. I won’t grow this many because we wouldn’t eat it all but I will grow a few different things.
4. ARE YOU GOING TO GROW FROM SEED OR BUY PLANTS?
Despite doing so the last few years, I have made the decision that I am not going to grow from seed this year. I do not have a glass green house and in the past I have grown from seed on my windowsill and transferred my seedlings to a plastic greenhouse shelf that I have in the garden but it’s not ideal. The seedlings do grow and they have produced vegetables but I have found that they are slow. The fruit takes a long time to ripen and last year I was left with a lot of green tomatoes.
This year I am going to buy my plants from the garden centre. I do feel like a major cheat! There also won’t be as much choice as I will only be able to grow what plants they have for sale. If I buy my plants early I’m hoping I can get all I want.
5. PLAN YOUR GARDEN OUT
Draw a plan of your garden. Sketch it out on a piece of paper, or if you are lame like me you can make up a fancy one on your computer. I find it really helpful to visualise what my garden will look like. It also means you can identify your seedlings before they are fully grown. This is not really a necessary step but it’s something I like to do and that makes me happy.
You can watch my how to plan your family vegetable garden video over on my youtube channel. That’s it! All you need to do now is start growing 🙂
16 Comments
Zoe Forde
15th April 2016 at 7:52 AMFabulous post! I have actually just been thinking about how I would have my own garden once I get my own house. Really love the idea of growing lettuce and spinach so I have a near constant supply x
Sarah Cantwell
15th April 2016 at 8:26 AMThank you Zoe. I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you grow in pots you can start now and take them with you xx
Vikki Holness
15th April 2016 at 9:02 AMGreat post, can't wait to see how it all turns out! We actually decided the other day that we were going to turn a plot of our garden into a vegetable patch so these tips will be super handy as i am NOT green-fingered in the slightest and have no clue what i'm doing! xxx
Sarah Cantwell
15th April 2016 at 4:05 PMYou'll be fine! Just get stuck in. My philosophy is plant it out and see what happens. Good luck! ? Xx
Cardiff Mummy Says
15th April 2016 at 1:34 PMIt's so much fun to grow your own fruit and veg, isn't it? We grow tomatoes every year and they always taste incredible. I must admit, with three small children and two jobs, I struggle to grow much more, but in the past we have grown some lovely strawberries and mange tout. Good luck with this year's crop! x
Sarah Cantwell
15th April 2016 at 4:08 PMThank you lovely. It's so satisfying to grow your own vegetables isn't it? Potatoes are really easy so perhaps give those a try. I don't really do much else apart from water my veg, it's takes abit of time to plant them out at first but once that's done that's it xxx
Joanna Victoria -x
15th April 2016 at 2:27 PMGreat post one so say I'd love to have a place with a garden and be able to grow my own fruit and veg.
Sarah Cantwell
15th April 2016 at 4:09 PMYou can always grow in pots if you only have a small space, it's so versatile xx
Rebecca U
15th April 2016 at 9:16 PMwe grow a few things at the moment but want to grow more and more veg – it is so satisfying!
Sarah Cantwell
16th April 2016 at 9:13 AMI love it! It's amazing how much you can grow in a small space. What are you growing this year? Xx
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
16th April 2016 at 5:51 AMGreat idea! I would love to have a veggie patch.
Sarah Cantwell
16th April 2016 at 9:14 AMDo it Jemma! If you havnt got space for an actually vegetable patch you can grow in pots or small raised beds 🙂 xx
Jodie Fisher
16th April 2016 at 6:37 AMMy grandad has an amazing garden with vegetables and fruit growing. He inspires me to be brave one day when we have a garden for ourselves.
Sarah Cantwell
16th April 2016 at 9:16 AMYou just got to jump in and do it Jodie. I always think what's the worst that could happen. If it doesn't grow I just buy it from the supermarket as usual. I am always surprised how much actually grows! Xx
Blogging Mummy
19th April 2016 at 7:53 PMWe love growing our own veg. We have an allotment and the boys love going down there at weekends. Homegrown veg always tastes better 🙂 x
Sarah Cantwell
19th April 2016 at 9:33 PMOoo! Your hardcore! 🙂 it's so much fun isn't it? And like you say it always tastes better too! Xx