The space available does matter but for this particular thread we'll make the assumption that you have some space in your backyard for a garden. The purpose of having your own vegetable garden is to save money you would have spent buying vegetables in your store. Choosing the right kind of vegetables to grow is therefore crucial if your gardening is actually going to save you money. The following are just a few of the things that you should do: - Plant vegetables you like eating. Don't plant something that you'll only enjoy looking at. - Plant vegetables which can be stored for a long time after they've been harvested. - Plant only vegetables which cost a small fortune at the stores. This would save you a lot of money.
That's a very good tip you got there! Unfortunately, I don't have a big space for gardening but I still try my best to plant some vegetables so we don't have to do the shopping every single weekend. We have fences all around our house so I planted long beans and french beans next to them as they would need something to climb on to support their growth. I also recycled our unused water bottles, cut them in half, filled them with soils and planted garlic and spring onion My husband loves all these vegetables and he thought my idea was very "sexy" as he has always lived in a city and knew nothing about planting
You also have to take growing conditions into account. For example; celery requires long, cool growing seasons and would not do well in southern states. Peas are cool-weather vegetables and can be tricky to grow in some areas if fall/spring temps vary significantly.
We have very big garden so we love to grow many vegetables like Broccoli, Peas, Beans, Tomatoes and Carrots.
Yes, that's an interesting concept, growing vegetables that you don't like to eat. I am sure some do it for the exercise and experience alone, and then hand the harvest over to their neighbours. To add to the above mentioned tips, I would also suggest that you spare the quantity of your future harvest a thought. How many seedlings do you want to plant and how much space do you have available? If you prepare your soil well and add plenty of organic materials, you can have a lot of vegetables and herbs growing close together, provided that they are companion plants.
As you say, the best thing to do is to plant vegetables that you actually eat! Anything else is just a bit of a waste of time and money if you ask me. Also, always have a few herb plants around the kitchen, just in a plant. Fresh basil and mint is just delicious, and they don't take much work to keep healthy either.
Interesting tips. The thing about gardening is that if you're not doing it for pleasure, you won't be doing it for very long. It's a lot of work to maintain a garden and growing food, while rewarding, requires a lot of time, work, and patience. Vegetables should be chosen based on the time a person has to garden, the space they have in which to garden, and how much time they are willing to wait to harvest a crop. That said, some combination of seasonal and perennials would be best.
Planting herbs is the best bang for your buck, because they are so expensive in stores and always go bad before you can use them all. I am growing lemon balm, mint, thyme, sage, chives, rosemary, and African basil. Most of them are hardy plants and easy to grow in containers. I am also growing lettuce because that is another one that always goes bad too soon. It gets eaten by snails, though. I just heard you can put a line of crushed up egg shells around your plants and it will deter slugs and snails. Worth trying out!
Egg shells do not deter slugs and snails. I want to try copper as it is supposed to give them a little shock, but I have been having trouble finding a roll of mesh locally. There are a lot of things you can try, (including pennies) but in city gardens it's fairly easy to remove them by hand.
Some people will grow plants they do not like to eat to share with the local food bank, and other people that can use the fresh food. Also people will grow plants to turn them back into the ground to help but nutrients in the soil. Using containers around the house to grow plants is always fun. I like to save milk containers, jars and cans to put plants in. Taking a toilet tissue roll putting a little dirty and seed into it the whole thing can go into the ground and grow.
