How many of you have this resolution stuck on your fridge at the dawn of a new year: “Grow some fruit and vegies.”? Lots of you, I hope, because of all the resolutions you could possibly make, home growing is not only one of the most do-able, it’s also one of the most exciting. There’s the promise of basket loads of delicious food for starters, which I can guarantee will be better tasting and infinitely fresher than the stuff on offer at the supermarket.
But there’s more to it than just physical pleasure. For me, home growing is one of the most deeply satisfying things I do. This is due in part to the nature of the work, whereby good stuff is produced through gratifying toil, but even more profound is the sense that you’re tapping into ancient rhythms. With lives dominated by a 24 hour news cycle rather than the cycles of night and day, full moon and new, summer and winter, the choice to take up home growing is a choice to reconnect.
Ahead of you then, new home growers, is an exhilarating, and occasionally frustrating journey. The best advice I can give is to start out brimming with enthusiasm. Let no one temper it. You’re right to be excited, and the best way to get started is to simply get stuck in and have a go. Vegetable growing isn’t as difficult as some gardeners claim, so chances are good that your initial efforts will be rewarded with admirable results. In turn, these results will spur you on to a new level of competency.
In practical terms, how should you actually make a start? Well, the very first thing you ought to do is spend some time laying out your plot. Make it as simple or elaborate as you wish. Perhaps start small and leave room for expansion, but don’t feel that you need to skimp on design just because you’re planning a vegetable patch. Make it beautiful and functional. Once the layout is in place it’s time to work on that most miraculous building block of life, the soil.
The very best thing you can do is improve existing site soil by adding plenty of compost and rotted manure, checking to make the pH is neither too acidic or too alkaline. If you’ve built raised beds and need to bring soil in, try to buy real soil rather than one of the soil-less mixes. Either way, get plenty of organic matter into your plot for good long term results.
Now that you’ve improved the soil, it’s time for plants. This is where most new home growers totally lose the plot and buy a boot load of this, that and everything else. Well, so be it. Who am I to tell you shouldn’t go a bit overboard in your first season? Kylie and I did. We grew lots of things we didn’t really eat, but the experimentation was brilliant fun and what we didn’t like using ourselves got donated to friends and rellies. I’d call that a good outcome, wouldn’t you. I repeat, let no one temper your enthusiasm.
Try growing some crops from seed. Some easy plants to start with are beans, corn, rocket, beetroot and pumpkin. Sow just beneath the surface of finely prepared soil, and keep evenly moist until seedlings appear in about seven days. When they’re up and have grown a second set of leaves, thin the seedlings out to the spacings recommended on the packet.
Now comes the trickiest part – maintenance. Some garden writers will tell you that vegetables are prone to all manner of pests and diseases. This is only half true. For a new garden’s first couple of seasons, pests will be yet to really discover your plot. In subsequent years this will change, so use the opportunity now to practise some organic control measures. Most importantly, don’t flip out every time a hole appears in a leaf. Most problems aren’t serious and can either be controlled or ignored. Keep the soil well fed and well watered. My approach to pest control is a combination of prevention, building biodiversity, treating acute problems, and practising the fine art of turning a blind eye.
Above all else, go for it! You’re about to take up one of life’s truly noble pursuits, a source of endless joy and boundless satisfaction. Tune into the seasons, don a straw hat, take up a spade and start digging. Long live the home grower!
First published in The Chronicle 16th January, 2010. Photo by Justin Russell.
