Easy veg for beginners

For those of you who have never grown your own veg before it might feel a bit daunting but It’s really not that difficult, so long as you don’t try to run before you can walk. Here are a few tips to help you get started;

• Get a good book or read up on what you fancy growing on the internet. You tube is great to learn anything from.

• Choose easy veg to start with such as carrots, parsnips, radish, lettuce, Beetroot, onions and potatoes.

• Read the labels on the seed packets before you buy to make sure your seeds are suitable for sowing outdoors as some need the warmth of a greenhouse or warm window sill to germinate. All seed packets will have instructions on when and how to grow.

• Don’t sow all your seed at once, sow carrot and lettuce at fortnightly intervals to avoid a glut of produce all at once.

• Be brave when it comes to thinning out seedlings or you will have very small veg.

• Use the edge of a straight piece of wood to make neat straight seed drills, this is not only for aesthetics, but it will make weed seedlings easy to identify.

• Improve the soil with a bag of compost before you begin, fork it in thoroughly and it will help keep moisture in the soil, provide nutrients for your plants and make weeding a lot easier.

• Sprinkle a few handfuls of granular or pelleted fertiliser evenly over the surface of your plot and then lightly fork it in for season long feeding.

• Pull out weeds when they are small, never let them stay there long enough to produce seed.

• Water directly to the root of your plants are to conserve water and keep the weeds down.

• Plant a few marigolds amongst your veg to brighten things up and attract the insects that eat pests.

• Sink a few small tubs of beer in the soil to attract slugs, they love beer and will drown happy.

Basically, don’t be afraid to just have a go. You will learn so much just by getting it wrong first time, learning from mistakes and trying again, hopefully with better success.