If you have always had a green finger but have never tried your hand at growing produce, now is the perfect time to give it a go.
When you are new to fruit and vegetable growing, it can be a little intimidating, but don’t let that put you off. After a few days of nurturing your produce you’ll get into the swing of it.
Despite what you might have heard, growing your own fruits and vegetables isn’t too difficult. In fact, if you know what you are doing, it’s pretty simple.
To help you learn all the basics of growing your own produce, we have put together this guide, complete with lots of handy tips and advice.
Quality tools are a must
The first thing you need to know is that when it comes to growing your own produce, quality gardening tools are important. It might seem a little expensive investing in all the right tools, but if you plan on growing lots of yummy produce, it’s worth it.
Using old or broken tools will make it much harder for you to properly prepare your soil, as well as take care of your produce as it grows. Working with old or broken tools will mean more work for you, so it’s a good idea to invest in some good quality tools to work with.
Think about where to grow your produce
When it comes to planting vegetables, there are two options available – in ground patches and raised beds.
For fruit, where you grow each type will be different. For instance, strawberries do better when grown in planters, while fruit trees can be grown in the ground or in containers.
High-quality soil is important
All successful produce growers know that the key to success is having high-quality soil. If the soil you grow your fruit and vegetables in doesn’t have all the vitamins and nutrients it needs, it won’t grow properly.
To check the quality of your soil, you can pick up a soil checking kit from your local garden centre. If you find that your soil is of a low quality, there are lots of things you can do to improve this, so don’t panic.
Choose what to grow
Don’t make the mistake of attempting to grow too much at once. Start off growing just a few things, and as you improve your skills and knowledge, you can then grow lots of different things.
The fruits and vegetables you choose to grow will depend on what you and your family enjoy eating. If you have a favourite fruit or vegetable that’s expensive to buy, why not attempt to grow that? Whatever you choose to grow, just make sure to invest in high-quality seeds, seedlings, or fruit trees.
You have the equipment, have picked a location and have picked up your seeds, now all you have to do is get growing them. Remember that different plants have different needs, so it’s important that you know how to take care of each one properly.
Take care of your seedlings and fruit trees properly, and in a couple months, you’ll have lots of lovely produce to enjoy.