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Gardening Tips?

Moved to a shared house and the garden is a right state! Anyone any tips for growing veg the easy way to save money on food?

Reply 1

StriderHort

First off the Royal Horticulture Society Website is a treasure trove of seed, planting and care info for most things.

A lot will depends on how much of a state the garden is and what sort of area and soil you'd have to work with, but for a lot of people making a sort of raised or 'separate' bed is best, saves on a lot of digging and you know the soil/compost you buy for it will be nutrient rich and relatively weed free, keeping weeds (and pests/birds) away from your crops over time is one of the bigger battles

You'll need to think about what aspect your garden is, like where it faces and gets the sun from.

Reply 2

Surnia

Life & Style Forum Helper

Agree the RHS website is a good source of info.

Maybe see what veg you can grow in bags and containers until you can get the garden prepared, even herbs in pots in the kitchen? Have a chat with neighbours or with local allotment owners for advice on what works for your soil.

Thinking outside the box re saving money on food, invest in a bread maker between you?

Reply 3

mqb2766

Original post by Student40010

Moved to a shared house and the garden is a right state! Anyone any tips for growing veg the easy way to save money on food?

You dont save much money by growing veg etc and its easy for it to cost more than you save. The negatives, if its overgrown it could be full of slugs etc which will devour any attempts, making raised beds/pots/compost can cost more than you save, ... Also, most things will crop in the summer when you wont be there?

So see if you can get pots free, try and plant in the (cleared) ground as much as possible, grow from seed rather than buying plants. Generally fruit bushes/canes are fairly easy (blackcurrants, rasps, ...) and can save a fair bit compared to the shops, lettuce (assuming you can keep the slugs off and dont let it bolt), tomatoes are generally worthwhile, radish etc crop early.