Grow your own!

It's fun to watch your own vegetables grow and it's easy to grow your own vegetables in a garden at home, with your family, or at school. Follow the steps below and soon you'll be able enjoy "hown-grown" vegetables!

Step 1: Ask. Find somewhere for your vegetable plot: you can ask your parents if you can use a part of the garden to grow your vegetables.

Step 2: Make a plan. Choose a sunny spot and decide how big your garden can be. Just a few square metres is enough for a small vegetable patch. You can also create a vegetable garden in pots, containers on a patio, balcony or window sill.

Step 3: Prepare. Rake the garden, remove any dead plants and weeds and loosen the soil well. Add some compost to get a good soil structure. Add enough nutrients to nourish your vegetable plants. If you’re creating a garden in pots, use a mix of pots and crates in all shapes and sizes, and fill them with potting compost.

Step 4: Create separate beds for each crop you want to grow. Make rows with small paths between them to walk along. Make sure you can reach the whole bed with your arm without treading on the soil covering the seeds.

Step 5: Choose which vegetables you want to grow and when they can be sown. You can find that information on page 4-5 of the sowing booklet.

Step 6: Sow your seeds according to the schedule on page 6-7 of the sowing booklet. Sometimes you have to start them off indoors. Use empty yoghurt pots or margarine tubs as containers to raise your plants indoors. If the seeds can be sown directly in the garden, follow the instructions for the correct number of seeds to use.

Step 7: Care. Now take good care of your plants. Water them regularly in dry weather, remove weeds weekly and check regularly for insects and snails. Make sure they don’t eat all your vegetables before you get the chance!

Step 8: Support. Some plants, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and beans, grow really tall and need extra some support. You can use garden canes to support them.

Step 9: Harvest. Now the best job starts and all your hard work will be rewarded: It’s harvest time!

Step 10: Feast. Enjoy your vegetables by preparing a nice salad, cooking or stir-frying them. You can find loads of nice recipes on this website.

Looking for some more fun for kids? Download our SaladPic app where you can take photos, convert them to drawings, and paint them using fruits and vegetables.