Grow your own good life

Cultivating fruit’n’veg is easy and satisfying, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

OF all the many things I enjoy about gardening, I think the thing that gives me the most satisfaction is growing our own fruit and veg.

Let me count the ways! The fact that homegrown crops taste infinitely better than shop-bought ones, the sense of pride that comes with nurturing something from seed to cropping; the luxury of picking fresh berries for breakfast or to fuel a session in the garden; knowing exactly what has gone into the growing – no chemicals, air or road miles.

It all means so much, which is why at AG we like to encourage as many people as possible to grow their own – starting today, for some maybe, with free ‘Gardener’s Delight’ tomato seeds.

The next couple of months will be busy ones for anyone growing their own. There is soil to enrich and dig over, seeds to be sown and plug plants to be hardened off before planting out.

This week the ‘Aquadulce’ broad beans I sowed back in December have been planted out. They grew well in the unheated greenhouse and I hardened them off in our mini greenhouse before setting them in a raised bed.