Beating the Credit Crunch – Growing Your Own
April 28, 2009 by Jane Cooper RHS Dip Hort · 42 Comments
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Not only the credit crunch but the all time low exchange rate has made living in France a great deal more expensive and most of us are looking at our diminishing dollars and pounds and wondering how to make them go further.
Photo: Chris Bradbury
One option that is appealing to many people, particularly in the UK, is “growing your own”. The rewards are not only financial but also have health benefits especially if you are going to grow organically, but most important to me is taste. Unless you are about to venture into vegetable production in a big way, I don’t believe your finances will show a marked improvement but… your taste buds will; even the humble carrot tastes sublime when picked young and cooked straight from the garden.
You may have hectares to play with compared to your home country counterparts but in the first year, especially if you are unsure of your time availability and commitment to the project, keep it small and manageable.
It is also advisable to create new beds in the autumn.
Perhaps start with a herb garden or a few tomatoes in growbags. A wigwam of runner beans is easy and especially delicious when cropped young and tender, I pick the beans when they are no more than 20cms long. Courgettes grow big and fast, so fun to grow, or try a few potatoes, you can grow them in pots or bags rather than ploughing a field. A smaller project still, plant a few lettuce, radish or beetroot seeds or plants in your flower beds or plant pots for a taste of home grown.
So where does the enthusiastic new home grower start?
Firstly where in the garden should you site it?
It’s nice to keep it near the kitchen enabling you to pop out and pick, especially herbs for a fast crop to cooking pot. Vegetables require good light, the area needs to be protected from strong winds and must not be in a frost pocket. A source of water needs to be available.
The size of the plot obviously depends on how much you want to grow, which depends on how many people you wish to feed, the types of vegetables you like to eat, time availability, storage facilities, etc.
Better to have a number of small beds than one huge area.
Once prepared it is best not to walk on the beds. Make the beds about 120cms wide this enables an easy reach from either side when tending the crop. For plot length and number of beds see above but consider 3 to 4 metres in length.
Now consider the paths between the beds. They need to be wide enough for you and a wheel barrow and any other equipment you may wish to use. If they are to be left grassed they need to be the width of at least one sweep of your lawn mower’s cut. At this stage you may wish to consider raised beds.
Vegetable plots are usually run on a rotation system.
Pests and diseases are often crop specific and can remain in the soil in various stages within their life cycle. By moving crops to a different bed each year the pest life cycle is disrupted as it does not have its host plant to feed on. Crops also have different nutrient demands and if grown in the same area each year will cause fertility deficiencies.
Photo: Marj Joly
On the plus side the Legume group, peas and beans replenish the soil by fixing Nitrogen in their root nodules. Potatoes give a good all over coverage to the soil so therefore inhibit weed growth as well as breaking the soil up with their tuberous roots as do root crops. This improves soil structure.
Vegetables are grouped together as follows
- Brassicas – green vegetables – cabbages, sprouts. caulis etc and including radishes
- Legumes – peas and beans
- Onions – including leeks, shallots and garlic
- Potatoes – including tomatoes
- Roots – carrots, parsnips, Florence fennel
Lettuces, courgettes and marrows, aubergines, cucumber, pumpkins and squashes and sweet corn can be slotted in wherever there is a space. They will not interfere with your rotation system as they don’t have any specific pests or diseases that will build up in the soil.
Following is a rotation system. The ground should be prepared differently for each vegetable group I have indicated the preparation in year one only but this should obviously be followed in each subsequent year. Once the crop has been harvested and if the ground is not required for another crop the area can be sown with a green manure which will protect the soil structure and depending on the green manure may add nutrient.
| Bed 1 | Bed 2 | Bed 3 | Bed 4 | Bed 5 | |
| Year 1 | Brassicas
Add Nitrogen and lime |
Legumes
Add plenty of compost |
Onions
Add plenty of compost and may need lime |
Potatoes
Add plenty of compost |
Roots
No compost as this may cause the roots to branch |
| Year 2 | Legumes | Onions | Potatoes | Roots | Brassicas |
| Year 3 | Onions | Potatoes | Roots | Brassicas | Legumes |
| Year 4 | Potatoes | Roots | Brassicas | Legumes | Onions |
| Year 5 | Roots | Brassicas | Legumes | Onions | Potatoes |
You may wish to add further beds for the permanent crops which are obviously not included in the rotation system, such as asparagus.
Preparing the Soil
As with decorating and renovating your property, the better the preparation of your new “potager”, the better the result. If weeds proliferate it is not only you who fight them, so will your vegetables for light, nutrients and water and they will be less successful as a result.
Clear the ground by removing the turf and digging out all the perennial weeds, or use a herbicide. If you decide to use the latter look for a product with Glyphosate as the active ingredient. It is a systemic herbicide so when you spray the leaves of the weeds it will enter the tissues and be circulated through the plants vascular system taking the chemical right down to the roots for effective results, however it is inactive once it touches the soil. Do follow the manufacturers instructions, chemicals must be applied correctly.
If you remove the turf stack it in piles up to 1 metre high upside down for 6 months and this will rot down to a wonderful sweet loam.
I don’t dig unless absolutely necessary.
If you have removed the turf and dug out the perennial weeds the soil will already be loose and I would give the ground a good forking over before adding copious quantities of manure or compost in the autumn. If you suspect a soil pan then you will need to dig to break it up.
I weed on my hands and knees with a thin trowel – I almost never hoe, unless it is really hot and dry the seedling weeds will re-grow, their seeds will germinate and some will even continue to flower and produce seeds while lying on top of your soil. Perennial tap rooted weeds will be severed and instead of one crown you will end up with multiples.
My method is time consuming initially… but after the first season the weeds will be sufficiently reduced that you will be weeding less regularly and you will not have the problem of ever stronger docks and dandelions.
Compost
Composting is another area where I differ from many gardeners. I have two types of compost at the estate where I have been employed for many years.
Photo: Net Efect
- The first includes everything you would expect in regular compost and is working well and decomposing quickly, but when we weed the resulting plant matter is not allowed to enter this compost.
- The weeds are put on a separate pile with any residual soil within their roots and occasionally we will add more soil and any turf that has been removed within the garden. This second pile, once it has rotted down, is used for filling any dips and hollows in the lawns and rough grass areas.
The reason I do this is that unless the compost reaches a really high temperature, high enough to kill the weed seeds and tap roots you are spreading weeds around your garden each time you spread your compost and I feel sure that, like me, you will only want to remove the weeds once.
Behind the scenes at Kew Gardens I saw two large tractors turning their huge compost heaps and the steam the compost produced was clearly visible. If your compost heap works this successfully, congratulations and add whatever you wish to it!
Watering – a final tip.
Whenever you water plants think of them as pint drinkers and not sherry sippers.
Plants will fare better if watered less often but when watered they want to have a really good long drink. The reason being that if you sprinkle them with water on a daily basis their roots will grow upwards towards the regular but minimal supply, if however you water them and soak the ground or the pot well and then leave them until the root ball is dry again the roots will grow deep down to find that water that has soaked through the soil.
Growing your own is great fun and very rewarding… do have a try, it’s very easy.
Definitely a catchy title … here I thought I was going to read a post about a credit tactic and next I’m planting beans, tomatoes and herbs!
Rest assured, Europe is not the only place where “beddings” are on the rise, they are here in the US as well. Fantastic post with a complete list of tips to help all of us “budding” gardeners get a “legume” up so to speak … sorry couldn’t resist and in all honesty it really is full of great info …. Thanks! Jim
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Thank you so much for such an informative article on making a vegetable garden. In time of need, I am sure many, many more family’s will be making their own garden to grow their own vegetable and fruits. The prices in the grocery stores have increased and watching your own grow would be a wonderful experience.
Very interesting and informative article. I learned a lot. I am the person who generally kills her indoor plants. In college I brought my near dead plant home for a little TLC from my Mom. I never could grow anything. In fact I was excited when my children flourished
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This is very comprehensive material.. like a mini course in healthy gardening. I like the idea of growing healthy food to eat because it tastes so much better, and the organic and environmental considerations that you included. You are right that there are definite rewards in terms of good health when you actually know where your food came from and that it is safe and full of nutrients.
My husband has the green thumb in our house so this article will be forwarded to him.
I love gardening, my first couple years I bit off more than I could chew, and planted a very large garden. It was hard to manage. I like your idea of keeping it in smaller sections. Also, my new plan is to have a slightly raised garden, more pots than straight on the ground.
I have gained a lot of good information and ideas here, pleasantly surprised by your title! Thanks!
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My darling husband has discovered that vegetable gardening in the tropics is a tad different to doing it in New Zealand. He planted a lovely array of carrots, onions, tomatoes, beans and some rock melons. Unfortunately we got to eat one melon, the size of a large tomato only…I shall pass on your information and see if that works. I have also suggested we do the pot plant veg garden which apparently does work well here in the tropics because of our extreme dry period of 9 – 10 months of the year, then flooding for the other two, small scale makes it easier to maintain a proper and effective fertisling regime.
Like the others I too thought I was going to read another blog about ‘money’, how not to lose it, save it, spend it…pleased to discover gardening techniques instead, thank you
I love gardening – it’s a huge stress reliever for me and there is just something to be said when you prepare a meal and know exactly where the veggies came from and what was used on them (no pesticides for me). I had to move a few years ago to a different city that meant I had to say good bye to my beloved garden in exchange for a small cement patio. I had never thought of using “flower” boxes to grow my vegetables – it’s a great idea and just in time for planting season. Thanks!!
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Very nice article, but I feel the greatest obstacle is – time! When employed, you want to work harder to show your importance to your employer, when unemployed, you want to devote time to search.
On the other hand, gardening can be great relax. Especially for people with tiny or no garden, who never thought about gardening before – why not to try hydroponic farming for example??
Take care
Elli
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Glad I found this post. Thanks for so much usable information even though I do not live in the UK.
I LOVE fresh vegetables so I read it with much interest. I have grown my own for many years using many different methods. I personally liked what used to be called the “square foot gardening” method because I was able to use a very limited space to grow 3-4 times as much as I used to. And I enjoyed it more too! Less work, more veggies.
Thanks again!
Rob
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Great article on growing your own produce, granted it probably won’t save you a fortune however the satisfaction and huge improvement in taste compared with supermarket produce make it more than worth while. There’s also the added benefit of getting fresh air and exercise too.
Hi Jane! Thanks much for this really informative piece. We live in Texas and know so many people that are actually turning their pools and hot tubs into gardens (much to their kids’ chagrin) because the larger the family, the more they seem to profit from their gardens all the way around. Your information was thorough and concise…my favorite kind of info ~ thanks again, and Happy Planting! kk
Hi Jane,
You have lots of good information here. It had never occurred to me to keep the residual soil with the up rooted weeds. I’ll have to remember this. One thing most gardeners, and industrial farmers for that matter, have forgotten is the wisdom behind allowing the soil to lay fallow each 7th year. While this is commonly known as the “Sabbatical Year” it simply makes good agricultural and ecological sense. I suggest trying it.
I appreciate you,
Bill Tessore
BillTessore.com
Thanks for the great gardening tips. I’m in Colorado, where the climate is hot and dry in the summer. We compost which works great. We usually have a lot of success with pumpkins, squash, watermelon, green beans ( although they are stringy some years), and peppers.
I’ve had a lot of trouble with tomatoes the last few years. We usually have a frost before they ripen, or they rot in the middle before they are ripe. I’ve been thinking about trying those upsidedown hanging tomato plants. Do you have thoughts on that?
I thought I’d also do some research online to see if epsom salt or coffee grinds might be good for the garden.
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Very helpful information on the rotation system. We’re in Florida, just south of the Georgia border, and we have 2 vegetable gardens. One has 7 easily navigable plots, where we grow bell peppers, radishes, cabbage, jalapenos, red leaf lettuce, and sometimes (not now) tomatoes.
The other is about 40′ x 40′, for corn, squash, green beans, & zucchini. Later in the summer … pumpkins. My wife also has herbs in pots on the kitchen windowsill.
Cheryl & I grab a cup of coffee and walk out to inspect the gardens each morning. They can’t grow fast enough for me. It’s a lot of work getting them ready. Just like you, I pulled weeds in every square inch of the big garden, on my hands & knees. But it’s also fun to work it together. (Cheryl is much more of a gardener than I am. I am an eater.)
Thanks for this article. Sure made me smile, and I got some very helpful tips.
Thank you for such a practical post. I really like the idea of growing some of our own food for many reasons. One great benefit has been the simple enjoyment of watching something go from seed to food. I also appreciated your suggestion of multiple beds as opposed to one large single bed. Thanks!
Hi five folks … I reckon if any one got even a little land they should be at least having a go at growing a few salad veggies … I’m unlucky not having a garden were I’m now living but in my time in properties I’ve lived in with gardens Ive always grown vegetables I cant think of any thing better than growing cooking then eating fresh food this way especially at family gatherings Sunday lunch is exceptional when all the produce is plucked from your very own blood sweat and tears well stocked vegetable plot…
Food at its best for the best
Phillip Skinner
We have gardens. Beds are near the house for easy watering and maintaining. We plant tomatoes, peppers, egg plant in those and we have 2 large gardens down near the creek where we plant corn, okra , beans And potatoes. I totally agree we need to grow our own. There is nothing better than a home grown tomato picked fresh off the vine in the hot summer and eaten right then. My children love them too. My 2 year old eats more than she saves of course. We also have blue berries and raspberries too. I cant wait for them to ripen every year.
Great tips. I’ve successfully grown vegetables in tubs for many years. I use large garbage cans for my potatoes and they work really well. It doesn’t matter how little space you have it is still possible to grow some fresh produce for yourself. When I lived in an apartment with no garden I used to grow herbs in a small window box. Adding fresh herbs to your cooking is fantastic.
I’ve been growing my own organic veggies for many years and every word you have here is right on. It’s good advice to have several smaller beds, rather than one huge one. I did ‘huge’ a couple of years before I learned my lesson. When there is work to do in the middle of a large bed and you’re completely surrounded by other plants, it’s not fun. At least it wasn’t to me.
Another thing I really dislike is weeding. I’ve used several layers of newspaper and soil to keep down the feeds, which can grow as big or bigger than the plants we really want. I get rid of weeds and then put my tomotoes in pots on the soil and they’re much easier to care for and to control.
I much prefer cool or cold weather, but the one advantage of hot weather is the luscious availability of fresh veggies. Yum. Just talking about it is sending me to the frig.
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Wow, this is definitely a very in depth article on growing your own with a lot of tips I hadn’t known before. Excellent tip on how to water properly! Thanx
Okay, I thought I was going to read about the credit market but came across a geniune surprise. It is nice to see information so easily digestible and real solutions. Now that the farming industry has destroyed our soil, this is a great way to grow our own and really taste quality herbs and veggies. Yummy. I live in NYC so my garden will have to be very tiny! Thanks for your thoughtful and informative article.
Debra
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Informative and timely article.. make sure you use non-hybrid seeds when planting.
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For people like me who love vegetables and want to get them as fresh as possible, this article will surely help us in growing our own vegetables in our own garden! Just think of having vegetables straight from the backyard and serving them to the whole family! You can be sure that what your family is eating is safe and pesticide-free so you get nothing but purely vitamins and minerals and savings on our budgets too. Plus it also gives us tips on how to manage our crops to maximize the soil’s fertility all year long!
Very nice post for beginners, especially with the focus on organic gardening.
I find gardening relaxing and it’s better than running on a treadmill.
Plus, you get to eat all those yummy fresh vegetables. I just wished I lived in an area where the growing season wasn’t so short.
Gardening is definitely on the rise in the US too! Our community garden plots in my town have seen a huge increase in demand. I guess that’s one positive thing to come out of this financial meltdown.
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Hi Jane,
I really enjoyed reading your article. You write from the heart, from personal experience being down in the dirt, experiencing gardening all the way from soil preparation to cooking in the pot!
I love your vocabulary too… I had to go to the dictionary to find out about Courgettes. They seem to be zucchini! I’ll never forget now.
You live in France. I live in Montana, USA. It’s cold here for about 7 months out of the year. So our summertime garden hasn’t really sprouted yet. We have some cool weather crops like salad greens, kale, chard, garlic, beets coming up. And around the perimeter, we have bulbs like daffodils and tulips.
Our perennial flowers like columbines, bee balm, special tall yellow daisies and many, many others, are up and flourishing. We love the flowers and the vegetables.
So you are tending the grounds/gardens of an estate in France! Sounds so beautiful inside my mind. Congratulations for being a gardening kind of person and I wish you well in the online world. May people find your presentations refreshing and useful…
You know it is so refreshing to hear this type of commentary and solution to a problem that so many people face. Simply being more resourceful is a big part of the problem, and so many wouldn’t ever think of solving their problems with such a practical solution.
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So where does the enthusiastic new home grower start?
Answer: Not in Texas!
Do you have any advice for people (like me) who have clay for soil and who’s poor plants have to survive the searing summer heat?
I loved your crop rotation idea…do I need to rotate to another part of the country?
Thanks for a fascinating post
I Have just taken up beach fishing the last real way to get free food. and by growing your own what a great pairing. I love the idea of working out the seasons and feeding grounds of all the different types of fish. getting back into contact with this way of life has more to offer than lots of other past times
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Great article. This is completely in-sync with what I’ve been thinking lately. That our culture is going to return to an agrarian state, where we’re forced to cultivate a community of gardeners so we can EAT. And I think that will happen as a result of social media – weird? Things will turn inside out – where we form relationships and culture on the web, which will teach us how to form these connections in our communities.
Eric Walker
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An excellent article. The tips are well worth the read. I think more and more people are churning out home gardens not just to save money but also as a way to relax. You can enjoy the fruits of your labor in a nutritional, cosmetic and monetary sense.
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Nice use of the page title as people have already said
. There is a lot of scope for people to be more resourceful in all aspects of their lives. The current situation as been caused by excess. Be nice to see people get back to caring about things that actually matter …
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Excellent article! As a nurse, I can tell you that promoting health and wellness has never been as profitable as it is today. Organic gardening is the perfect beginning because the other thing most of us are missing is besides nutritional foods is the great outdoors. Your article makes both sound very doable.
Many people are turning their gardens over to home-grown produce. It is reminiscent of the war years, but we’ve some way to go before sports fields are dug up to make way for potatos and cabbages.
Nice post. I’ve been a small time organic gardner for many years and can heartily recommend home grown produce. Nothing tastes better than a meal of freshly grown vegetables from your own garden.
What an excellent idea for saving money, eating healthier and enjoying more taste in your food. It’s a win-win-win situation.
I especially liked all the detailed information about exactly how to plant your garden. The rotation schedule is a great idea, making sure the soil is properly used.
I was also glad to get the information about proper watering techniques. Without it, I expect I would be watering every day.
Thanks for the excellent post.
Steve DeVane
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Awesome tips! I have a large garden out back and I often wonder if I’m doing everything to the best of its potential.
The watering information is much appreciated.
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This is cool. I think when 2012 comes, this will be the citizen of the world survival guide.
Very detailed and comprehensive. I’m printing this out… just in case computers cease to exist and I can’t find this post.
-Ferny
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Right on!
I think the kitchen is a great place to start, and quite fun as well. I’ve had some experience growing all types of fresh herbs and it’s really a great experience.
Lots of great information here, it makes sense what you said about watering…
Thanks for the insight!
-Kevin
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Great idea using the dual compost, usually the weeds would just end up in the organic trash (separate pickup from household trash here), I hadn’t thought about using them separate from the garden.
The rotation should work well here in Florida. I’ve had decent luck separating into 2 gardens. One for the sunny front yard, one for the shade near the kitchen.
Great timing. At the cost of produce at the market we decided to renew our gardening experience. We have great soil and have practiced composting for many years. Our problem in the past were to eat the vegetables before the slugs and wildlife, usually not successful. We’ve planted twice as much this year, half for the slugs and the rest for us. This is a great way to cut on on the grocery bill. There is nothing like fresh vegetables.
Excellent tips. I will keep visiting your blog. Keep up the great work.
Just wanted to say thanks for this