Growing your own produce

Turning a patch of garden over to vegetables and fruit growing can bring great rewards. It can save you money and be an opportunity to try new foods.

You can start your growing by keeping it simple; growing herb seeds in a recycled yoghurt pot on a windowsill or move your skills on and grow potatoes in a bag outside.

Here are some simple tips for starting your growing experience.

1. Grow something you love to eat.
2. Choose seeds suitable for the time of year and container or ground you have.
3. Follow instructions on the seed packet.
4. Look after your seedlings and keep the soil moist.
5. Harvest and eat all the produce, using recipes or by sharing with others.

There are plenty of free websites online that can give step by step instructions on sowing seeds in trays. Check out this one here: Sowing seeds in trays

Growing your fruit and vegetables can be started off with a seed in a toilet roll tube. Once the seedling has got to the second set of leaves, they can be transplanted into the grow bag, garden pot or the ground.

Your growing journey can be as adventurous or simple as you like. Starting to grow tomatoes can be really rewarding and you may soon want to try planting cucumbers, peppers or maybe spice it up with some chillies!

Potatoes are another simple option for growing, many varieties of potatoes can be planted through a season, starting in February and harvested throughout the rest of the year. These can be a joy to grow with children, as they feel the excitement of pulling up the potatoes. To get yourself started, take a look at the Growing potatoes

For more advice on choosing and growing fruit and vegetables visit:

RHS Gardening – Getting started with vegetables

Thrive – Easiest fruit and vegetables to try growing

Using your products

Once your fruit and vegetables have started to grow, you can start planning how you might want to use them. If you have been growing tomatoes, you could think about using them in a tomato salad, or a bolognaise sauce.

For inspiration on how to use these fruits and vegetables in your cooking visit:

BBC Good Food – Recipes and cooking tips

BBC Good Food – Tomato recipes

Allotments/Community gardens

While taking on an allotment may be your goal, it is a big commitment. Getting involved in a local growing community project, where you could learn the basics amongst other food growers, may be a more manageable first goal. If you are looking to increase your growing capabilities and take on the space of an allotment, there are several routes you could choose.

For more information visit:

Somerset Council – Allotments

Somerset Food Projects Map