Community & Business
17 June, 2022
Perfect time to grow your own vegetables
WITH the price of vegetables going through the roof, it’s the perfect time to start growing your own veggies at home, and the winter months in our region are ideal for planting and growing a number of different varieties that you probably use every week.
With iceberg lettuce hitting the $6 mark up here and up to $10 down south, and even the humble capsicum costing around $3 each, why not use some space in the backyard and set up your own growing beds that will be able to accommodate quite a number of vegetables used in most meals – lettuce, capsicum, tomatoes, beans, corn, egg plant, and all the usual herbs.
You don’t have to be a green thumb to make a veggie garden a success but there are key things you should consider before you start.
The first and most important decision is where to set up your garden beds.
Pick a place that gets direct sunlight for up to six hours a day and you can grow just about anything.
To allow you the flexibility to pick the right spot, it’s best to use raised garden beds which make it easier to control the soil quality and lifts the plants from ground level where they are most likely to be attacked by animals.
Once you have the bed sorted, invest in some quality soil and add organic matter which can be laid on the soil surface.
This will improve the soil structure over time and should be renewed at least once a year.
Now you’re ready plant.
Make sure you don’t overcrowd beds, so give plants a reasonable area to mature in and to ensure you have a constant flow of vegetables at hand (and not too much of the same), plant around six of each, then a few weeks later, plant another six of each so there’s always vegetables available.
This is often referred to as succession planting.
For the first few weeks at least, you need to water the plants regularly - it’s better to water heavily, once a week, than a little every day because this forces roots to reach further down into the soil to seek moisture, improving their self reliance.
As the seedlings pick up, fertilise regularly to ensure they get a great start and will produce well.
And don’t let weeds get a hold – get rid of them as soon as you see them as they will take away from the nutrients the vegetables need.
If you don’t have the room in your yard to set up garden beds, then don’t be deterred – you can grow a lot of veggies in pots such as tomatoes (the cherry variety is particularly good in pots and produces well), lettuce, capsicum and, of course, herbs.
Growing veggies not only saves you money, it’s rewarding, the produce always tastes better and is much fresher than you will get in a supermarket.
