by Jo.H

Created on: March 22, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

There are several veggies that the novice can start off with. Start by preparing the ground. Dig it over, remove any weeds and add compost. Leave it for a week and dig it over again. Now you are ready to plant. Consult your gardening books for planting times as we are all in different parts of the world.

Radish.
These are the easiest of all.
Make a shallow drill(line in the soil) sprinkle in the seeds and cover. Water in. Once they germinate thin them out, leaving the strongest looking plants, to allow the bulbs to form.

Runner beans.
I always start these in my green house. Just put on seed per pot. Once the plants are about 20cm plant them out. You needs to provide them with poles to grow up. I make a circular wigwam shape from bamboo poles. Place one plant per pole. Water well. The harvest from 8 plants is usually more than my family can eat. I give bagfuls away.

Peas.
Make a drill in the soil. Build a frame from netting. I do mine in a straight line. Sprinkle the seeds into the drill and cover with soil. Water.
The added benefit to growing peas is that children love to shell them. My kids will only eat home grown peas now as the flavor is fantastic.

Tomato's.
Easy to grow. Buy small plants from a garden center. Provide them with a support pole. The main thing to watch is that they do not dry out. This will cause the fruit to split. I used a drip feeder. feed well with tomato furtilizer.

Lettuce.
From seed or buy young plants. Plant a foot apart and protect from slugs. Water well.

Sweet corn.
Very easy to grow and amazing to eat fresh. Plant one seed per pot. Do not plant out until the frost has passed. You must plant them in a block shape to enable them to germinate. Water and wait for the best tasting corn you've ever eaten.

Potatoes.
Potatoe need to be chitted first. This simply means putting them in the light to allow them to sprout. I use old egg boxes and place one potato in each egg holder. When the sprouts are about an inch plant them out in rows.
You need to dig down around 8inches. place each potato approx 1 foot apart. Keep some soil along your row of potato's. Once the plants are a foot above the ground you need to bank up each plant with more soil. If you don't do this you potato's will come out green. You need to block out all sunlight from the potato's. Harvest once the green plant wilts.

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