After what we can all agree has been a challenging winter, it’s time to get out into that spring air and do something different…and we have the perfect activity.
There are many benefits to having a vegetable patches in your home;
- They save money on buying produce from the shops
- You know their history and that they haven’t been sprayed with any preservatives
- Maintaining your vegetable garden is so much fun and provides a great sense of achievement
- It’s environmentally friendly and
- Vegetables grown at home last longer, thus reducing food waste.
Have we convinced you?
Vegetable patches are also straightforward to create as long as you get the foundations right, so here are a couple of items you will need to consider before you get the gardening gloves on:
(1) Map Your Vegetable Patch
First things first, get a pen and paper and map out the vegetables you are going to plant. This time of year, the best veggies to grow are; carrots, parsnips, leeks, beetroot, lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes – plenty in there to make a delicious summers day salad.
Vegetable patches thrive on sunlight, so it’s vital to ensure that they will receive between 6 – 8 hours of consistent daylight.
You also want to make sure that one plant will not be blocked from the sunlight by the other, so take account for this in your plan and give each plant space between each other.
(2) Build a Raised Bed
Many gardeners recommend building a raised bed for your vegetable patches as they offer numerous benefits:
- Protect your vegetables from house pets trying to take a bite!
- Reduces weed growth as the beds are raised from the main ground.
- Raised beds offer easier maintenance for the gardener.
We wrote a blog last year on building raised beds – you can check it out here.
(3) Make Sure They are Easily Accessible
Vegetable patches need to be tended too regularly to ensure they are well watered and not compromised by nasty weeds. With that, many recommend that you place your vegetable patches where they can be easily seen from the kitchen so that you can keep an eye on them and be reminded to water them regularly.
(4) Consider Your Soil Selection
It’s essential that you give your vegetables a cosy bed of nutrient-rich soil to breath and grow in – you can read more about the benefits of topsoil here and don’t forget that we have a range of topsoil available to purchase and deliver directly to your door to help you get started.
When you do have your vegetable patches created be sure to tag us in your social media snaps @growprotopsoil
