The rising costs of veggies in the market and increasingly poor produce often prompt people to look for other options. Growing your own vegetables is an excellent idea for people who have a green thumb. It is also an excellent project to undertake if you happen to have kids in the house. You can spend some happy hours with them toiling away at your veggie patch under the afternoon sun.
If you are intrigued by the prospect of growing your own vegetables and avoiding the pesticides and growth stabilizers in market produce, you can read on.
DECIDING VEGGIES AND HERBS TO GROW:
One of the first things you need to decide is the kind of veggies you want to grow. Although it can be intriguing to try out the likes of pumpkins and broccoli; it would be wise to start off with plants that are easier to grow. Tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and even carrots are easy to grow and they are consumed quite frequently by most households making them an excellent choice.
You can also consider planting a few herbs as a part of your veggie patch to supplement the food. Everything from oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil to lemongrass are viable options. Make sure you decide to plant veggies that you will be interested in consuming to avoid wastage.
ALLOTTING THE SPACE IN YOUR VEGGIE PATCH:
The next step is to evaluate the available room in your garden and decide on the area you are going to use. The number of plants you have decided on will lay a big role in this, as will the areas in your garden that receive harsh sunlight. You must place shade loving plants in areas that receive sparse sunlight in your garden or terrace and those that need a lot of sun in the sunny parts.
You will need to pick out large pots to grow tomato and eggplants in. Alternatively you can also construct a large space with a retaining wall that you can grow veggies in.
THE INITIAL INVESTMENT:
If you already have a garden with decent soil, you will simply need to bring home a few different seeds to start off with. The initial investment can be as little as a few hundred rupees for you. You can choose to use household vegetable, fruit peels and other organic waste to create a compost pit. This will eliminate the need to purchase fertilizers to enrich the soil. If you wish to minimize costs you can water the plants with a pail instead of purchasing watering cans.
All you need is a little bit of space in your yard or even terrace and a willingness to experiment with various plants. You can then savor your juicy tomatoes, delicious cucumbers, home grown lemons and other veggies all year long.
