Grow Your Own Vegetables if Possible

Growing your own vegetables is a therapeutic and cost saving hobby. You can go organic' and have spray-free foods, or at least know what sprays you have put on your plants. You also benefit from the convenience of harvesting your own food just a few steps away from the kitchen.

Time is saved (less trips to the supermarket) and you get the food really fresh.

In Marlborough the climate is so good you get quick results.

All you need is a sunny spot about 3.0 metres square to supply an average family of four people with a year round supply of home grown vegetables. Even a much smaller space, like a sunny corner of a garden bed will enable you to grow enough vegetables to keep a household of one or two people supplied with home grown produce.

If you live in a flat with a sunny balcony, you can grow vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, lettuce and radishes in pots. Buy a bag of good potting mix and a bag of animal manure from a nursery and mix the two together to make a suitable planting mix for your vegetable seedlings.

If you have sufficient space in your backyard for a vegetable garden, measure out your plot and begin by digging over the topsoil. Add organic material such as animal manures, straw, mushroom compost or sawdust. Rake the soil out and leave the bed to rest for about a week.

Your vegetable garden is then ready to plant.