Grow Your Own Fruit and Vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Growing your own can be a fun and satisfying way to help you get 5 portions a day! People who eat lots of fruit and veg are less likely to develop chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke and some cancers. Growing your own ensures you get the freshest pick of the crop and could save you money.

Gardening is a good way to be more physically active. Heavy gardening like digging and shovelling can help strengthen your muscles. Spending more time in the garden may also help relieve stress and improve your mental wellbeing.

To get you started you should begin growing something easy like tomatoes or courgettes which can be planted in pots. It is sometimes good to consult with a gardener to see what fruit or veg is best suited to your soil. Keep the pests at bay or risk losing some of your crop! Remember to use a pesticide that is suitable for using on edible plants.

Now you have grown your produce, you need to store it somewhere. It’s important to remember that you can’t store your home-grown veg in the same way you store your shop-bought produce. You may need to pickle, freeze or make it into something straight away. Remember to wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly before you eat or prepare them!

There are lots of handy guides online to help you grow a wide variety of fruit and veg! You don’t need to have a garden to grow your own, you can plant in a pot for a paved area or balcony or you can investigate community garden schemes and allotments.

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