Gardens can be so much more than a place to sip drinks and relax. They can be a money-saving tasty paradise. It doesn’t take too much work either. You can create a garden that contributes to you and your family.

Roll back a few years, and many people grew their own veggies. Then the supermarkets gave us unrivaled convenience, more range and even the word ‘organic’ put on the plastic wrapping. In recent years it is becoming more and more popular to aim to buy fresh produce without the plastic packaging.

plate of healthy vegetarian food

Image By: Lex Sirikiat

And moving forward again, a rise of people growing their own food. While it can be harder to get a high enough yield to feed the family in the early days, eventually you can have your veggies you eat solely from your own backyard. But gardens can take a lot of work, and sometimes we don’t have that time available. So swapping our grass for a lawn, like those from https://www.newlawn.co.uk/, keeping on top of weeding, will be two small jobs that allow your produce to flourish.

And, there is nothing quite as satisfying as serving up a great dish and saying ‘I grew these myself”.

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Greenery

Many types of lettuce and greens seem too highly priced in the grocery store, even though they are relatively easy to grow. By now you have probably seen the life hack video where they use the bulk of the lettuce and then plant the rest to produce more. This is a neat trick and works very well. It means you can have multiple meals from the same little lettuce while it continues to flourish. In general, greens need plenty of water, and the seeds can’t be sewn too tightly together.

They work well as a border, in mixed planters or window boxes.

window boxes full of herbs

Image By: Aleksei

Herbs

Having a well-stocked herb garden is something you can never underestimate. Many herbs produce beautiful flowers too. Rosemary, thyme, parsley, cilantro/coriander, sage, and mint are all perfect for first-time growers also.

They look beautiful as borders, or mixed planters, or planted in and around your other veggies.

Consider planting the herbs you use the most, closest to your home.

Vegetable and herbs on a cutting board

Image By: Katie Smith

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Easy Starters

Tomatoes are the plant that most people start with. They are very forgiving for beginners. They can grow in pots, window boxes, greenhouses and even straight in the ground. Peppers do very well in large containers, and you will find they produce a very decent yield. They need some support but overall are happy campers.

Soft fruits like berries grow very well, they take a bit of care but consider the cost in a shop, they are worth their weight in gold. You can freeze the extras that don’t get eaten and save them for later in the year.

a table of dried herbs

Image By: Annie Spratt

Learn

As much as you can about when to plant, trim and pick your produce, think about your soil type and the amount of sun that hits your garden too. Prepare areas that will work best for different kinds of plants.

But most of all have fun. And even if you only manage to produce one tomato – that’s great!