The 5 best vegetables to grow at home

Fruit and veg is expensive to buy from the shops these days, not to mention that some produce will have been covered with pesticides, chemicals and goodness knows what else.

Thankfully, there is a relatively cheap way to ensure that you and your family are getting good, organic, fresh fruit and veg in their diet – growing your own.

A small vegetable patch can fit in the corner of the smallest backyard and there is no better feeling than knowing the meal you are about to eat has been crafted with your own sweat. It will taste all the better simply from the fact that you know you’ve put your life and soul into it.

Not sure where to start? Here are five of the best vegetables to grow at home.

Tomatoes

Fresh, home grown tomatoes are the reason that many vegetable gardeners got into gardening in the first place. Very little in the vegetable world compares to picking a ripe tomato off the plant and biting into it on a warm, summers day. They grow in pots with one plant per pot and depending on what type you are growing will determine how deep the pot needs to be.

Peas

The tender sweetness of a snap pea plucked straight from the vine is unlike anything else you can buy in a store. They are relatively easy to grow, requiring only a pot that is at least 10 inches deep and some support to climb up. You’ll want to sow the peas about two inches apart with early spring and summer being the best times to grow them – they don’t deal well with heat.

Potatoes

Civilizations have risen and fallen because of the humble potato. There is so much you can do with them as well –roast them, boil them, turn them into jackets, mash them. They keep as well – you probably never knew the answer to Can You Freeze Mashed Potatoes is yes, did you? It’s best to start planting them at the start of Spring and you can grow several batches over the course of the spring and summer, harvesting them anywhere between 10-20 weeks after planting.

Beets

Beets are great for growing because they effectively give you two different produces to harvest at the end – the roots of course give us beetroot, but you can also harvest and eat the greens as well. What can you do with beet greens? Loads of stuff, although they are best served in a salad. Just remember that beets are at their best when harvested small, between one and two inches across. At that size, they are both sweet and tender.

Carrots

Carrots are at their best when they are harvested straight from the garden, so they are a must-have for any backyard vegetable patch. Just like beets, you’ll want to harvest them small while leaving them in the ground for too long can lead to hard, woody carrots. Once they are ready, just pick them out the ground, wash them off and eat away.