Your garden is not only a place for your own relaxation, there is the opportunity to grow your own food. Growing your own produce doesn't have to be a huge undertaking and you don't need to have a big garden. Even a small change like growing your own tomatoes could help reduce your carbon footprint as well as saving you money. Local produce doesn't get more local than your own back garden!

No Matter How Much Space You Have...

If you only have a window ledge...you can start with a few empty yoghurt pots, soil and seeds and start your own kitchen herb garden.

If you have a window box...you can expand your herb garden or experiment with lettuces and a variety of salad leaves.

If you have a small patch...you can simply grow one type of vegetable, perhaps potatoes, onions or beans.

If you have a standard garden...perhaps instead of digging a vegetable patch you can plant fruit trees like apple and pear trees.

If you have a larger garden or an allotment...you can plant a variety of vegetables and fruit trees.

What To Grow

The best thing about growing your own vegetables is that you can grow what YOU like. Choose your favourite vegetables or perhaps grow a few vegetables you've never tried before. You can choose from hundreds of varieties of fruits and vegetables and can grow vegetables you wouldn't normally find on a supermarket shelf.

If you are a novice then perhaps try a vegetable that is notbaly easier to grow, for example;
- cherry tomatoes
- cress
- lettuce - radish
- spinach beet
- potatoes
- courgettes
- carrots

Composting

Composting your own food and garden waste is cheap, easy and transforms waste into a nutrient rich way to help your vegetables on their way. Composting at home for just 12 months can save enough greenhouse gases to equal the CO2 produced from powering your kettle for a year.

Items you can put in your compost bin include;
- tea bags
- grass cuttings
- old flowers
- nettles
- vegetable peelings
- coffee grounds
- salad leaves
- fruit
- cardboard
- egg boxes
- leaves
- bark, twigs and branches

Items you can't compost include;
- cooked vegetables or fruit
- any dairy products
- weeds
- plants which may have disease
- animal feaces (incl. cat litter)

Perhaps look at how much waste you throw away that you could be composting...it may be worth your while!