With unnecessary trips out seeming unwise, and delivery slots a scarcity, there’s never been a better time to start to think about growing your own. Supermarkets are definitely a huge asset (and hats off to them all at the minute), but it’s important to remember that fresh food doesn’t start on the shelves – it starts outdoors – and there’s no reason why it can’t start from your own garden!
At first this may all seem a little daunting – “how do I begin?”, “what can I grow?” and “where can I grow it” seeming like the questions of the day! Well this article aims to answer a few of those, and show how you can grow successfully in a container garden or raised bed, wherever you live.
Choosing what to grow?
First things first, the most important part of growing in raised beds is making you sure you have a proper cropping schedule; keeping a steady supply of fresh salad & veg year-round is possible, but you’ve got to think hard about what crop (and as importantly, what variety!) you’re choosing to grow. This in itself can be a minefield: for instance, did you know there are nearly 200 varieties of carrot?
With the pace of things at the moment, it’s tempting to dive straight in, to browse the many seed sellers’ sites and buy a handful of at random without a thought to where they’re going to go, whether their suitable for the season, or even if they can share the same space! To simplify this, we recommend thinking about what you cook most with and prioritising those; for example, it’s great having asparagus in the garden, but as it takes three years to crop it may not be the best choice right now! Growing your own can be so rewarding, but you’re most likely to keep up with it if you’re able to make constant use of what you grow. For this reason, we think seasonal herbs are a great choice (they can be used in almost every meal), and likewise spring onions and spinach which are extremely versatile.
How long with my veg take to grow?
Next on the list to consider is how long the crops take to grow. Purple sprouting broccoli is fantastic, so are parsnips, but at six and five months respectively there are better options right now. When it comes to container gardening, and growing in raised planters, its best to keep in mind the days something takes ‘till harvest, not the months (we think 100 days is the maximum!) This criterion not only means you’ve got less time to wait, but still leaves you with plenty of choice; line lettuces, pak choi, spinach and chard are all worth a deeper look!
What can I do with what I grow?
One of the best things about growing your own in raised beds is that it lets you be more creative with cooking your produce than normal, and eat parts of the plant that you never would’ve considered! The tops of lots of root vegetables (radish and turnip etc.) can be eaten, but in supermarkets these are often removed for ease of packaging and to prevent deterioration on the shelves (the leaves draw water from the root, leading to them becoming fibrous, soft and pithy). These leaves can be used to make smoothies and pestos, and in America turnips are often grown only for their leafy tops.
Example cropping schedule:
If you’d like a little guidance on what’s suitable for growing this March, then here are a few of the most reliable choices that we’ll be growing ourselves in the Ergrownomics raised vegetable garden. More information about this is available on our Instagram, and in our own technical blog uploaded weekly to this site. If you sow immediately, then the days indicate how long you can expect to wait until harvest, but if you choos to sow later (and the weather keeps up) you can expect to see quicker results!
- Radish ‘Redhead’ or ‘Cherry Belle’ (49 days)
- Turnip ‘Tokyo Cross’ or ‘Armand’ (56 days)
- Spring onion (salad and bunching onions are the same thing) ‘ New Holland Blood Red’ or ‘Ishikura’ (91 days)
- Carrot ‘Sugarsnax’ or Purple Haze (105 days)
- Pak Choi ‘Green Revolution’ or ‘Red Choi’ (56 days)
- Spinach ‘Toscane’ or Red Kitten’ (49 days)
- Lettuce ‘Salad Bowl’, ‘Salad Bowl Red’ and ‘Lettuce Oak Leaf’ (many summer lettuce mixes contain a combination of these lettuces – the Franchi Seed ones are the most suitable) – (49 days). Avoid mixes containing Rocket and Mizuna – they don’t like even moderately high temperatures and bolt (run to see and flower)!
- Summer Savoury, French Parsley, Dill and Coriander (Cilantro) (‘Confetti’ or ‘Leisure’) - (42 days)
Why grow in raised planters?
You’ll no doubt have seen plenty of staged photos of planters in your time, photos of flowers intermingled with carrots and crowned with an iceberg lettuce! Unfortunately, these don’t make up any sort of guide on how to do it properly! Spacing is key, as is picking the right crop variety, and choosing what to grow alongside. You’ll also need to maintain this spacing by actively thinning your crops. If you’ve got a spare planter you can always choose to transplant these across, but otherwise you can do much worse than using the shoots to accompany a salad (roots and all, they're incredibly nutricious!)
It is possible to grow you own in almost any pot or container but the results will often be hit and miss and rarely contribute to reducing reliance on supermarket produce. At the other end of the spectrum, large and elaborate raised beds will often fail to realise their potential because they lack the necessary functionality and (most especially) underdrainage, irrigation and an ergonomic design. Wooden troughs have proved as popular as raised planters but are compromised by their limited rooting depth and short lifespan.
Ergrownomics raised planters were designed to be different. All our planters offer class-leading functionality, including a modular design, patented plant training, (timer operated) drip-line irrigation and sophisticated drainage.
We’ve also designed our planter to be as flexible as possible, raised to three variable heights (included) and available in a range of configurations! With this Hardware, paired with our own Software guidance, there’s no reason why growing in containers can’t be a cleaner, more efficient and (ultimately) more productive method of growing your own than any other (much larger) set-up!
We hope that this has helped you get a grips a little with starting to grow your own this March, and that you’ve got a little more direction to go in. If you’d like to check out our range of planters, you can look at our Two Planter here. With every purchase, we provide all the guidance you’ll need to make growing a success, so even if this all still seems a little daunting – we’re sure you’ll pick it up.
Whatever you do, wherever you grow, we wish you the best of luck in the coming weeks. Growing your own is all about fulfilment, so above all we hope you enjoy the experience. Make sure you come back next week for more updates, tips, hints and examples of what we’re growing!