General

Starting a veggie garden.

14
Jun

There are so many benefits of having your own vegetable garden or fruit trees:

  • It’s much easier to walk outside and pick your own fruit or veggies out of your garden than it is to drive to the shops (and use up your fuel, which is like liquid gold these days).
  • It’s also healthier for you as you know what you are spraying onto your veggies and what is in the soil you are using too.
  • When fruit and veg are conveniently there, you will find yourself eating it more often.
  • And your children can have fun picking their favourite fruit and veg from the garden with you.

So, when is a good time to start a veggie garden? Anytime, right! And what veggies are good to grow? You can grow nearly anything, but it depends on how cold our Winter becomes. Was last year a fluke with that cold spell, or will KZN become colder in winter?  Who knows! The climate seems to be changing slightly and warm, sunny KZN seems to be getting a little cooler over Winter.

When starting a veggie garden from scratch, there are a few things you need to consider.

  1. You need to plan it well, be prepared and think about what you would like to grow and how much space you have.
  2. Choose your veggies carefully, depending on the amount of sunlight they need and where your garden is going to be situated. Do some research before rushing off to purchase your seeds.
  3. Prepare the soil and make sure you use a great, organic, weed-free fertiliser and topsoil, like our Living Earth weed-free, organic compost, a few days before planting.
  4. Make sure you have enough space for what you would like to plant, once again, do research on how far apart you need to plant them and consider how big the veg will be when fully grown. Rather start off small and you can always add to it at a later stage.
  5. You don’t have to grow from seeds, buy seedlings for a quicker plant to table time.

If you are eager to get your vegetable garden started, here are a list of fruit and vegetables that you can grow in Winter: Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, microgreens, carrots, broad beans, kale, Swiss chard, snap peas, pak choi, apples, pears, peaches and nectarines.

If you are unsure, then always check with a garden center where you decide to purchase your seeds from and make sure you have the right amount of sunlight and space available for them to grow and thrive.

Enjoy getting your hands dirty in your garden and get ready to start enjoying a farm to fork lifestyle!