Some quick & easy ways to grow Herbs & Veggies at home.

One of our Hort Cuisine Kits
One of our Hort Cuisine Kits

Returning to growing your own Herbs & Veggies is taking on a new importance these days with the changes to our weather patterns, the realisation that many pesticides, insecticides and mass growing techniques are not necessarily the most efficient, cost effective or even healthy way for us to provide for our food needs.

Ann & I thought we would explore the various ways we knew how you can grow at home – we may have missed an idea or two, for which we apologise in advance ( please do send us your ideas and we will add them to our blog post).

Square Foot Gardening

Most people start by growing basic Herbs , then move on to the Tomatoes, Potatoes, Garlic, Lettuce, Spinach, Corn, Onions, Carrots, Beets, Garlic, Leeks, Chicory, Asparagus, Beans, Cucumbers, Zucchini ( Courgette), Squash, Sweet Potatoes, etc, etc.

Generally the ideal prerequisites for growing are, although these can be ‘created’ artificially these days.

A sunny site

Space to grow

Time to tend to plants.

1. Adding  plants to an existing landscaped garden.

The easiest and simplest method is to introduce plants into your existing shrub planting beds. You would be amazed at what herbs and veggies can grow symbiotically with your favorite flowers and shrubs, some are even edible ( Take a look at a book we recently reviewed called Eat your Roses – by Denise Schrieber ) . .

Eat your roses

When we interviewed the creators of this beautiful garden last year and found lots and lots of herbs, vegetables and fruits growing next to the flowers and shrubs.

Delectable edible landscape

2.Grow herbs & some veggies in pots.

You can use virtually any pot for this or you can purchase additional features to make the arrangement much more interesting.

Here a simple pot of herbs near to the kitchen door.

Painting trellis white adds interest
A simple herb pot

By adding a special rod system inside the pots, you can make the arrangement much more interesting and space efficient.

Stack-able herb pot

3. Square Foot Gardens – invented by Mel Bartholomew some years ago this is a fantastic solution for those with either a small space or for those who want an effective herb & growing method in a confined space.

Square Foot Gardening

If you want to you can add all manner of amazing refinements as seen here in this Chelsea Flower Show exhibit.

An example from a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit
An example from a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit

4. A traditional ‘allotment or community garden.

Allotment
Allotment

5. From a bygone era when labour wasn’t an issue and doing things on a grand scale no matter what it was, was considered the way..

Simply stunning !
Simply stunning !

We will spend a little time with each style, in the coming days, in the meantime you can listen to our podcast at www.growingtrends.org  as we talk to a variety of guests from a passionate young mother, to a group of school teachers and to Mel Bartholomew,

Hort Cuisine anyone ?
Hort Cuisine anyone ?

Do drop us a line with your thoughts and ideas..

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Chris Coope

Author: Chris Coope

Born in Great Britain, Chris Dyson-Coope followed his training and passion in the field of horticulture for decades. This path led him to multiple awards for landscape design and many prestigious projects in the United Kingdom and the U.S. Chris has received 19 national awards for projects as varied as city parks, urban regeneration, playgrounds, office parks and streetscapes. He pioneered the use of designer drives in the 1980s utilizing Permacrib to create structural green walls and award-winning green roofs in London. Most recently, Dyson-Coope has nurtured his interest as an educational innovator to produce an Internet radio show (GrowingTrends.com), books on landscaping, and a series of fictional children's books that explore non-fictional themes such as sustainable agriculture, geography, and history. Convinced that the younger generation can (and must) learn from the older generation, as well as blazing new paths toward a sustainable future for a planet in deep distress from climate change and unsustainable practices, Dyson-Coope presents workable solutions in multiple formats, from books to inventions, podcasts and educational media. With several horticultural patents to his credit, the noted horticulturalist looks to the future with hope that the younger generation will grab the "torch" of innovation to develop and maintain a more sustainable world for us all. Dyson-Coope is a member of The Chartered Institute of Horticulture and serves as Director of Children's Sustainable Education for Energime University. Chris lives in Weston, Missouri, with his lovely wife, Cindi.

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