Posted March 17, 2014 by Neil Mcliddy and filed under Advice & Tips,Competitions
Many consumers turn to the supermarket when they want fresh fruits and vegetables. However, you will stop relying on this option if you plant your own, which you can do during spring. You will get more than a rewarding experience. To help you start growing your own spring we’re giving one lucky reader the chance to win a £50 Homebase Voucher for you to spend on gardening equipment, plants and seeds. To be in with a chance to win this prize, simply add your details to the Rafflecopter widget below before Tuesday 1st April 2014. The winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email – best of luck!
Environmental Impact
People often think about cost and health benefits when they consider growing their own vegetables. Few people think about the environmental impact of growing and stocking food in supermarkets. Besides the energy used in production, significant energy goes into distributing, storing and collecting the products. We have not even talked about cooking.
All these processes use fuel, which contribute towards the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. What makes the situation worse is the fact that many consumers buy more products than they can use, leading to waste: not just waste of the products discarded but also the energy used in producing and transporting them.
Statistics show that in the UK alone, consumers throw away over seven million food products every year. If these people used what they bought effectively and grew some of their own, they could save as much as 17 million tonnes of harmful gases. This equals taking one fifth of cars off the road.
How to Grow Your Own
Salads
You do not necessarily need a large piece of land to grow your own vegetables. You can even use a window box to start your venture. For example, you can grow salad leaves in a container or grow bag if you do not have space for a bed.
You do not even need special farm implements. You can use your broom handle to make little troughs into the soil. Press between one and two centimeters deep, leaving spaces of 20 centimeters between troughs. Cover the seeds lightly with either compost or soil. When you water the seeds regularly, they will start germinating within one month. Harvest the outer leaves first once they are between 10 and 15 centimeters long.
Carrots

??????? – Carrot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Grow carrots in either containers or beds with light soil. Select a sunny section. Create drills about 30 centimeters apart, each drill being two to three centimeters deep. Place seeds about 2.5 cm apart because you will pull out weaker ones. Water them well
Tomatoes

Small tomatoes in Korea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Plant tomatoes in small pots that you may place on a windowsill. Move them into separate larger pots once they have germinated. Place them in a warm and sheltered place.
Wait that’s not everything!
To help you start growing your own spring, we’re offering a chance for on we’re giving one lucky reader the chance to win a £50 Homebase Voucher. To be in with a chance to win this prize, simply add your detials to the Rafflecopter widget below before Tuesday 1st April 2014. The winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email – best of luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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http://ninjakillercat.co.uk/ Claire Toplis
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Janet Bennett
