Growing your own food can be hugely rewarding and tasty! Here we will be sharing tips on growing your own vegetables and linking in with other expert sites.
There will also be monthly gardening updates in the calendar section.
Getting Started
There are so many brilliant resources out there to help you get started with your vege gardening.
Size, shade and soil will dictate what will grow best in your vege patch. You could also start off in pots if you don’t have much outdoor space. Tomatoes and strawberries can be grown from hanging baskets.
If you do have some outdoor space or an allotment, dig the soil thoroughly and remove weeds and large stones. Add compost if the soil is lacking in nutrients. You can also make your own compost and fertiliser.
One of the permaculture tips is to look around and notice what’s growing well nearby- as the soil will be similar. What are the neighbours growing successfully in their backyards? Over time you will figure out what grows best, but it might take some experimentation and time.
You can sow some seeds direct into the soil from March onwards. Beginners might want to start with crops that require little maintenance, and are ready to harvest within a short time, such as lettuce, courgettes, beans, beetroot, rocket, radish, chillies and potatoes. If growing from seed it is sometimes beneficial to start them in smaller pots before planting out.
Choose a sheltered, sunny spot for growing vegetable if possible, although lettuce can bolt (go to seed) in full sun.
The space you have will determine what you can grow there. Potatoes take up a bit of room, but you can grown them in bags, if you don’t have much space.
When to plant
There are lots of resources and vegetable planting planners out there, so sit down and plan out a map of your garden before you start planting.
Here are some more useful online resources:
https://giy.ie/veg-directory/
https://www.bordbia.ie/gardening/tips/
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2017/Veg_Growing_Guide_Edition_8.pdf
https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/starting-a-new-vegetable-patch/