Little Green Book

One of the easiest ways  to save money in these credit crunch-y times is to get gardening and grow your own food, including fruit and vegetables - you don’t need acres of space to do it. Whether you have just a windowsill, a balcony, plans for an allotment or a tiny patio, it’s possible to grow something. Look out for 'Bush' or 'Patio' varieties at your local garden centre. And not only will your efforts save you money, but you'll get endless pleasure as you reap your own-grown rewards. It may be a cliché, but your own-grown crops really do taste better.

You’d be amazed how many kinds of fruit, vegetables, salad leaves and herbs can be grown in pots, containers, growbags or even just on a sunny windowsill. Contrary to belief, you don’t need even the palest shade of green fingers to get something to grow. Just remember to look out for slugs and water on a regular basis and your crops will be happy.

A really good tip is to think about growing heritage or heirloom varieties. Not only are they something you wouldn't be able to buy in the supermarket, but they often taste miles better than an 'improved' or hybrid variety.

We’re not professing to be the experts, but we can give you a guide on jobs to be done each month – when to sow and when to harvest, what varieties are best and in what conditions. We want our Food Lovers to become Urban Gardeners.

GROW YOUR OWN ALLOTMENT

National Society of Allotments

www.direct.gov.uk

PLANNING IT OUT
If you want help planning your veg plot or allotment virtually, visit www.growveg.com - they'll show you how to plan and plant whatever you want to grow.

You don't need much space to grow a huge variety of different edible goodies. If gardening space is at a premium, we've got some space-saving ideas. Make sure you choose containers at least 25cm deep to allow room and good drainage, and use sterile compost so you don't get weeds.

• Grow herbs such as basil, coriander, rosemary, parsley, sorrel or mint on your windowsill or in pots
  
• Cut-and-come-again leaves such as rocket, loose leaf lettuce and baby spinach leaves will thrive in pots in a sunny spot.
  
• Strawberries, blueberries and any kind of beans - runner, broad or French - grow surprisingly easily in pots - or plant strawberries in hanging baskets.
  
• A growbag in a sunny place on a patio provides the perfect base for tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and courgettes. If you position it upright, you can even grow potatoes in it.
  
• In our allegedly warmer climate, Mediterranean vegetables are popular - grow cherry tomatoes, sweet and chilli peppers or baby aubergines in terracotta pots.

Browse FoodFinds for FoodLoversBritain.com Approved Places to Buy Plants, Seeds and even miniature Gardens

Charles Dowding of Lower Farm runs monthly day courses on vegetable growing, with emphasis on the greater qualities of growth and the lesser amounts of weeds.

Grow and Cook offer a series of half-day courses aimed at gardeners who are interested in learning about new varieties of vegetables

Search FoodFinds for more FoodLoversBritain.com Approved Gardening Courses

There are masses of gardens worth exploring around the UK to get inspiration on what you can do, from the student allotments at Kew to RHS and National Trust properties across the country.

Browse FoodFinds for a garden to visit near you.

Capital Growth is a new campaign launched in London by London Food Link, part of Sustain, and supported by the Mayor of London and the Mayor's food advisor Rosie Boycott.  The campaign is aimed at supporting 2,012 new community food growing spaces by the end of 2012 and was launched in November 2008.

Projects being supported include housing estates, schools, roof-tops, a doctors' surgery, a floating allotment and a prison. All of these projects will benefit people in London, enabling access to locally grown, nutritious food, increasing social cohesion and training a whole new generation of Londoners in food growing skills.  The campaign also helps to cater for the large number of people who are on allotment waiting lists in London that are sometimes decades long.

If you live in London, want to set up a food growing project and have access to some land go towww.capitalgrowth.org to download an application form and accompanying guidance notes.

Local Action on Food is a network bringing together a wide range of organisations and individuals  from across the UK that are working to improve the food system by making it more sustainable.  So whether you’re a community project or business; a local government department or a farmer; a food writer or someone else involved in the food sector, the Local Action on Food network aims to support your work and link you with similar initiatives across the country. For more information then please visit www.sustainweb.org/localactiononfood/

Getting children to grow their own is a really good way to introduce them to the joys of seasonality and encourage better eating habits. They'll love podding peas, picking cherry tomatoes or strawberries or picking salad leaves - and having grown them themselves, they'll definitely be more willing to try them.

Make sure you plan what they grow together - send off for seed catalogues, make a plan of their plot  or label containers and draw up a planting schedule so they can see not only what jobs are to be done, but when they can expect to harvest their goodies.

When sowing, make sure they label and date the rows or pots so you know what's been planted and when. Over-eager seed sowing might mean you'll need to thin out the seedlings to plant elsewhere or organise plant swaps with like-minded friends.

Ideas for Young Gardeners

• Blueberries
• Baby Carrots
  
• Cherry Tomatoes
  
• Peas
• Runner Beans
  
• Raspberries and Strawberries
  
• Rocket or any kind of sprouting leaves
  

                                       Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook
               Read our review, Cook from the Book and Win copies

USEFUL WEBSITES ON HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN

www.growveg.com

BBC Gardening

RHS

www.allotment.org.uk

www.nsalg.org.uk