Grow Your Own Food Archives - Page 3 of 4

Grow Your Own Food articles are designed to help you with practical tips, photos and step by step instructions on growing incredible edibles at home.

Seed Starting Guide: Quick Tips for Starting Seeds Successfully

Do you struggle to raise seeds successfully? Are you a beginner gardener? Then follow this tutorial on how to be a successful plant ‘parent’. Avoid the most common mistakes when starting seeds.

As a parent, there’s no greater joy than sharing the journey of nurturing a baby from infancy into a healthy young adult. But I confess – I’ve been a bad ‘parent’ many times … Before I learned how to raise my plant ‘babies’ successfully, they starved, drowned, died of thirst or neglect, too much love – or too little! If this sounds like you, then read on for my best tips.

(more…)

Anne Gibson2022-06-14T12:06:15+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, How to Grow|Tags: Container gardening, Getting started, grow your own food, how to grow, Safe seeds, Seed germination, Seed raising mix, seedlings, seeds & seed saving|12 Comments

6 Tips for Abundant Edible Container Gardens

Struggling to grow food successfully in pots? Would you love to have abundant container gardens? Overflowing with delicious, healthy, colourful food? Fruit and vegetables that nourish your body? Give you joy to grow, cook and eat? If you think this is in the ‘too hard basket’ read on for my tips …

Grow an abundant harvest of home grown food in edible container gardens | The Micro Gardener

This is the kind of food I love helping people learn how to grow.

A continual abundance of organic vegetables, herbs and fruits that sustain you with good health can be yours to enjoy.

When I first started planting edibles in micro gardens, I made a LOT of mistakes. I wasted so much time and money. There were plenty of ‘dried arrangements’ (dead plants!) as a result. I struggled with poor harvests. Over the years I’ve realised container gardening requires a different set of skills to growing directly in your garden.

Delicious nutritious vegies are easy to grow at home in edible container gardens

With some basic knowledge, delicious nutritious vegies are easy to grow at home in container gardens.

These are 6 key techniques you can use to maximise your harvests. Grow a continual abundance of delicious home grown organic food. Tuck in!
(more…)

Anne Gibson2023-01-14T19:45:04+10:00Categories: Container Gardening, Grow Your Own Food, Tips & Tricks|Tags: Benefits of container gardens, Container gardening, Flowers, grow your own food, how to grow, Micro gardening, Pots & containers, seedlings, Small kitchen garden, vegetable & herb gardens|18 Comments

Easy Guide to Growing Perfect Peas

With pretty flowers, crisp green pods, climbing tendrils and delicate leaves, peas are an attractive and delicious addition to any kitchen garden.

Best of all, every part of a pea plant is edible!

Peas are little powerhouses! They may be low in calories, but peas are packed with a surprising number of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Peas are also high in micro-nutrients, vitamins, fibre, protein and minerals that provide us with a wide range of health benefits.

Peas are annual vegetables. Best eaten raw and straight off the plant before their natural sugars turn to starch and lose their sweet flavour.

Peas are easy to grow, so are an ideal first crop for children and beginner gardeners.

(more…)

Anne Gibson2020-04-27T10:44:14+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, How to Grow, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: grow your own food, how to grow, seeds & seed saving, Tepee, vegetable & herb gardens|26 Comments

Easy Guide to Growing Microgreens

Second only to sprouts, microgreens are the quickest food crop we urban gardeners can grow! If you have limited time, space or gardening skills let me introduce you to growing microgreens. You can learn how to grow microgreens – tasty, nutrient-dense ‘fast food’ – in just a few easy steps.

What are Microgreens?

With sprouts, you eat the fully germinated seed. I think of sprouts as the ‘babies’ of the plant world. A seed that bursts open with the first root and shoot(s). Whereas sprouts are seeds that germinate by being soaked and rinsed in water, microgreens are grown in seed raising media. Their roots have direct contact with a growing medium and they photosynthesize with the aid of grow lights or sunlight after germination, producing chlorophyll.

(more…)

Anne Gibson2023-02-01T06:23:52+10:00Categories: Gardens & Projects for Kids, Grow Your Own Food, Herb Gardens, How to Grow, Indoor Gardens, Recipes, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: grow your own food, how to grow, Micro gardening, microgreens, Safe seeds, Seed germination, Seed raising mix, seedlings, sprouts|56 Comments

Guide to Growing Spring Onions

Want to grow Spring Onions (Allium fistulosum)? If you love tasty, versatile vegetables that only need minimal space and effort, then spring onions are an excellent choice! Even the tiniest plot or pot will accommodate them.

I grow all the flavoursome Alliums (Onion family). This includes garlic, leeks, onions and chives. You can swap them around in recipes and always have an ingredient to add flavour to whatever you’re cooking. If you haven’t grown them before, or are a beginner gardener, just follow the tips in this tutorial and give them a go! (more…)

Anne Gibson2020-09-14T18:22:54+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, How to Grow, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: grow your own food, Growing food, how to grow, vegetable & herb gardens|25 Comments

Amazing Uses for Garlic in Your Home & Garden

Do you know how to use garlic in your kitchen, garden and for good health? In this article I share garlic tips and some amazing uses for this humble herb.

Garlic tips and uses in your kitchen, garden and for health

I’m an unashamed ‘Garlicoholic’ and if you love garlic as much as I do, you may be surprised at some of the incredibly useful ways you can use this ancient herb.

In your kitchen – for its culinary properties;
For health – and its medicinal benefits; plus
In your garden – to help with pest and disease management!

(more…)

Anne Gibson2022-11-25T15:07:11+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, Recipes, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: Companion plants, Garlic, grow your own food, Herbs, Recipes, vegetable & herb gardens|47 Comments

5 Step Guide to Growing Gorgeous Garlic

Do you know where your garlic comes from? One of the most important reasons for you to learn to grow garlic is: to avoid toxic chemicals and irradiation (that inhibit sprouting and extend shelf life).*

Garlic … how safe is yours to eat?

A few years back I didn’t even think about the garlic I ate. But then I became interested in the story behind the food I was eating. I started to look deeper at the source of my food. Where it came from, who grew it and how. I didn’t like what I discovered!

Garlic – Did you know?

The majority of the world’s garlic is grown in China and is sprayed with chemicals and bleached white with chlorine during importation quarantine processes. Not to mention the thousands of food miles clocked up travelling long distances in storage.

But if you really want to gag on your garlic, read on! According to the CEO of the Australian Garlic Industry Association, “some garlic growers over there (China) use raw human sewage to fertilise their crops, and I don’t believe the Australian quarantine regulations are strict enough in terms of bacteria testing on imported produce.”

So you might want to think again before you reach for that perfect white bulb in your supermarket! [Learn more about irradiated foods].

(more…)

Anne Gibson2022-11-25T14:14:56+10:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, How to Grow, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: grow your own food, how to grow, vegetable & herb gardens|99 Comments

Fast Food! DIY Instant Veggie Garden: Part 2

After moving house sixteen times, I’ve learned to adapt my gardens to all sorts of spaces – large and small. This is a handy list of plants I’ve found to grow well in containers plus the depth of soil they need.

Some of my edible container gardens

If you have difficult soil like sand, clay or rocks; limited space or funds, then I suggest you try growing at least some of your food in containers. Pots offer loads of benefits.

“Growing your own veggies is the first step to self-sufficiency.” – Clive Blazey, The Diggers Club

(more…)

Fast Food! DIY Instant Veggie Garden: Part 1

Do you want to make a quick mini garden? You can grow healthy ‘fast food’ like salad veggies and herbs in a simple box. Best of all, you can make it in about 15 minutes. The bonus is you’ll be eating the rewards in just a few weeks for only a minimal investment of time AND money. Let’s get started!

A wide variety of seasonal herbs, veggies and flowers can be grown in micro gardens and can reap you a rich bounty of food for minimum effort.

This is a system I’ve used for years with great success and it’s so easy. Even if you’re a beginner gardener or on a budget and need a thrifty solution, this is it! An easy container garden with just a few ingredients to get started. (more…)

Grow Your Own Groceries

The Urban Backyard Supermarket

“Growing your own veggies is the first step to self-sufficiency.” – Clive Blazey, The Diggers Club

What if you could save time, money and energy by growing your own groceries? Why ‘shop’ anywhere else when you can grow a bounty of your own nutrient-packed food in a small urban space?

A nutrient packed harvest from our backyard supermarket

A selection of veggies and herbs harvested from our kitchen garden including jap pumpkin, garlic, leek, zucchini, eggplant, shallots, red onion, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, herbs and lettuce.

Regardless of the size of your balcony or garden – if it’s tiny or spacious, abundance is not only possible – it’s easy to achieve. It doesn’t cost a fortune in materials … backbreaking labour … expensive equipment … or too much time. Simple frugal gardening practices can help you save money while you grow.

(more…)

Anne Gibson2018-04-19T13:36:31+10:00Categories: Frugal Gardening, Grow Your Own Food, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: Frugal gardening, grow your own food, Small kitchen garden|3 Comments

Previous 234 Next

What are Microgreens?

Garlic – Did you know?

The Urban Backyard Supermarket

Title