The key to growing your own food

Growing your own food can be a great way to be more sustainable, reduce your food miles, and promote biodiversity in your own garden! Growing some of your own fruit and vegetables can be a great way to help the environment.

Through growing your own produce, you reduce your carbon footprint (by using food grown locally), you waste less, and help your garden flourish: improving soil quality, pollination, biodiversity and much more.

Here are some tips and suggestions for managing your own low maintenance veg plots

1. spreading black plastic mulch on bare areas and around crops to reduce weeds and pest/slug damage

2. grow other 'companion plants' to attract pollinators and further promote biodiversity in your garden

3. try using compost and other forms of organic fertiliser

4. do research on your plants (if you are unsure of how to care for them and when to harvest them

5. make sure to water your crops regularly

6. remember you can plant indoors (in pots) if preferable

Some fruit and veg which are easy options to grow are-

courgette, beetroot, squash, chillies, beans, potatoes, strawberries, radish