Day 11 Grow your own!

Get out in the garden

On the weekend we wrote about eating more seasonal produce. One easy way to do this, and learn what's in season is to grow your own. Even if all you can manage is a few fresh herbs on a windowsill to add to your cooking, it will all help reduce the amount of plastic you need to use. Those who have visited us will know that we have a small garden, but have managed to grow a reasonable amount of produce, with plans to grow more.

Here's a selection of some photos from this week in our garden:

Our rhubarb took a couple of years to get going but now we have lots of it  and regularly enjoy stewed rhubarb.

Broad beans - growing well this year.

Mixed plantings of beetroot, rocket and parsley at the back.

Black Kale, this is the first year we've grown them from seed.

This is our main vegetable patch (mid-winter) it's not wide, but with a 28metre driveway it's a surprising amount of space.

We have a lemon and a lime tree, both are starting to produce  a good amount of fruit.

It might look like a bunch of twigs, but this is one of our six apple trees that line our driveway.

Some of our family's suggestions and ideas we'd love to share:

• Start small, add in more plants when you're ready and when you've masted what you're already growing.
• If you've got space think about some fruit trees. Citrus trees are pretty easy to grow well in and around Melbourne.
• If there's a community garden nearby seriously think about joining for the support and knowledge that comes with joining a group a larger group of gardeners.

Questions

What's the best thing about home grown produce?