Would you grow your own vegetables? — Scope | Disability forum
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Would you grow your own vegetables?

Tori_Scope
Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
edited December 2020 in Coffee lounge

What is World Soil Day?

Today is World Soil Day. According to the UN's page on World Soil Day:
This year, by addressing the increasing challenges of soil management, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) campaign "Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity" aims to raise awareness of the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being.

By encouraging people around the world to engage in proactively improving soil health, the campaign also aims to fight soil biodiversity loss. If we do not act soon, the fertility of soil will continue to be adversely affected at an alarming rate, threatening global food supplies and food safety.

'Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity'

https://youtu.be/hbdsHOnd_gw

Growing your own vegetables

In the spirit of World Soil Day, we thought we'd discuss growing your own veg.

If you have a garden

Growing your own veg can be pretty easy if you have a garden. The Royal Horticultural Society have a list of veg you can grow easily in your own garden, each with their own 'grow guide'. These include courgettes, peppers, and carrots.

If you don't have a garden

If, like me, you don't have a garden, you might think it's impossible to grow your own veg at home. However, this isn't the case. The Guardian have a list of fruit and veg you can still grow if you don't have a garden, including chives, strawberries, and beetroot. The BBC also have a page on growing veg in small spaces, including windowsills and balconies.

Another potential option is getting an allotment. You can read about allotments and their accessibility in Chloe's post, and Sam's post

Do you grow your own veg? Would you like to start growing your own veg? Is there anything holding you back from growing your own veg? 

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Comments

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    I hate any form of gardening si not for me. 

    I can kill any plant you care to give me 
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Oh no @janer1967 :D I'm not great, but I did once manage to grow a huge courgette and pumpkin. I've also kept my Dad's runner beans and peppers alive for him before. Do you think you could manage a herb garden? Apparently they're quite easy.
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  • leeCal
    leeCal Community member Posts: 7,550 Disability Gamechanger
    edited December 2020
    Air plants must be easy @janer1967 perhaps a bit boring though?

    in my opinion growing veg is a lot of work for very little, but definitely fun if you enjoy a hands on experience.

    “This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” 
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Scope Member Posts: 1,411 Disability Gamechanger
       I have been trying and failing miserably to grow coriander in a pot.... any tips would be very helpful  :)
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    I hate fresh coriander @vikingqueen, so I don't have any advice for you :D I found some tips on the RHS website which might help? 
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  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    There is a wealth of info here: https://www.realseeds.co.uk/
    Everything a beginner needs to know (https://www.realseeds.co.uk/beginners.html ) with the recommendation 'befriend the oldest gardener you know.'
    Everything is trialed by themselves in Wales first, & they sell the usual vegetable seeds (some heirloom), & some very unusual ones, & a few flowers, some of which are edible.
    I've been using this company for about 7 years, & keep trying various things. Lower P&P if you have a reduced income, & you can save the seeds for another year.
    Their 'Mortons Secret Mix' of lettuce is something easy to grow & really tasty.
    I just got sidetracked looking at their online seed catalogue! :)
  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Scope Member Posts: 1,411 Disability Gamechanger
           Thank you @Tori_Scope, I have tried everything, my little babies begin to sprout and grow...then it all goes to pot  :s, someone out there will know what I'm doing wrong
       I wouldn't mind I hate the stuff as well but my other half would eat it with everything if I let him  :#
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks for sharing @chiarieds! Lots of useful resources there.
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  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Yep, someone with greener fingers than me will know @vikingqueen
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,519 Disability Gamechanger
    edited December 2020
    I've loved gardening since I was a lad and we have a decent sized but easy to manage garden now, however growing veg for some reason has never appealed.
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  • Cress
    Cress Community member Posts: 1,012 Pioneering
    I'd never be able to grow my own veg...I like to buy it in a shop where it just appears and I dont have to think about it being in the ground with creepy crawlies all over it!
    Never forgave an uncle who gave me a box of veg from his allotment...it was on the kitchen counter and within minutes there was every kind of bug crawling out the box all over the counter....I couldn't bring myself to prepare it! 
    In my perfect world, everything would be grown on some cotton wool, like the mustard and cress we used to grow in primary school lol!
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    I think growing veg appeals to me more than general gardening @woodbine, as there's a definitive end-product. 

    What plants do you like to have in your garden? 
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  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    Cress said:
    I'd never be able to grow my own veg...I like to buy it in a shop where it just appears and I dont have to think about it being in the ground with creepy crawlies all over it!
    Never forgave an uncle who gave me a box of veg from his allotment...it was on the kitchen counter and within minutes there was every kind of bug crawling out the box all over the counter....I couldn't bring myself to prepare it! 
    In my perfect world, everything would be grown on some cotton wool, like the mustard and cress we used to grow in primary school lol!
    Hehe :D:D
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,368 Disability Gamechanger
    edited December 2020
    My family used to have an allotment but we found it was very expensive - we could have purchased not just supermarket but organic farm shop vegetables for the same money.

    It wasn’t costly to rent the allotment, that was surprisingly cheap, but to buy everything required. I know most of the purchases are one-off purchases, like spades and rakes, but there always seemed to be another one-off purchase we needed to make - in reality there is no such thing as a one-off purchase!

    Also it needed tending to probably every day or at the very least every other day because otherwise the weeds would become too much. Very hard to do when working full time.

    Animals were also a big pest and took a lot of the produce. Also gypsies temporarily moved into the field next to our allotment and they have to put it politely a liberal attitude to the concept of ownership of possessions.

    Now my family members have a bit more time on their hands it might be a good idea to start it again but I think they have been put off of the idea.

    That said it was good fun and the food we got from it was delicious. :)
  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,519 Disability Gamechanger
    I think growing veg appeals to me more than general gardening @woodbine, as there's a definitive end-product. 

    What plants do you like to have in your garden? 
    This year has been difficult but we ended up with sunflowers/sweet peas/geraniums/marigolds/ amongst others
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  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Sounds good @woodbine! My Dad always grows geraniums in his garden and a couple of hanging baskets. He said they're quite easy to look after, is that right? 
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  • Eliz31abeth
    Eliz31abeth Community member Posts: 34 Courageous
    Hi
    My best returns have been on small fruit bushes raspberries blackberry blueberries. I wash/freeze them and we have a daily smoothie from the fruit we collect over summer.i havent a very big garden but i position them in a raised bed so i can walk around to pick
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    I bet those smoothies taste delicious @Eliz31abeth :love: 

    We had a blackberry bush in the house I grew up in, and my Dad would make apple and blackberry crumble. So tasty.
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  • Eliz31abeth
    Eliz31abeth Community member Posts: 34 Courageous
    Sounds good @woodbine! My Dad always grows geraniums in his garden and a couple of hanging baskets. He said they're quite easy to look after, is that right? 
    Hi i grow lettuce in hanging baskets to stop the slugs/ snails! I do the cut and come variety so they keep growing.. ..i was forever throwing shop bought salad away! 
  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,519 Disability Gamechanger
    Sounds good @woodbine! My Dad always grows geraniums in his garden and a couple of hanging baskets. He said they're quite easy to look after, is that right? 
    Yes they are mainly because they are fairly drought resistant and can go without water for upto 10 days and they will flower right through October.
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