Growing your own food at home is rewarding, but unless you have space for a full farm, it won’t replace the weekly grocery shop. You’ll still need to buy certain essentials. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a go. If you grow your own wisely, you can save money, enjoy fresh flavours, and cut back on waste.
Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your homegrown produce.
Be Strategic About What You Plant
Not all fruits and vegetables are created equal when it comes to effort and savings. Growing only salad leaves, for example, may be fun, but it won’t make a big difference to your grocery bill. Instead, focus on crops that are easy to manage and versatile in meals.
Potatoes, carrots, and beans are great starting points. They’re hardy, don’t require constant attention, and can be stored for weeks once harvested. Zucchini is another winner as it grows quickly and produces a generous yield. Tomatoes are also worthwhile because they’re the base for countless meals, from sauces to salads.
If you’d like to try fruit, apple and pear trees are among the most beginner-friendly. They thrive in many Canadian climates and can provide baskets of fruit for snacking, baking, or even preserving.
Understand How To Maximise Crops
Once you’ve chosen what to grow, a few simple practices will help you get more from your plants. Start with the soil. Adding compost enriches it with nutrients and improves drainage, which boosts the size and quality of your harvest. You can buy compost or make your own from kitchen scraps like vegetable peelings and coffee grounds.
Tree and plant care is also important. Regular tree pruning keeps apple and pear trees healthy, improves airflow, and allows more sunlight to reach the fruit. Done properly, this can significantly increase your yield. It’s best to call in a professional to avoid mistakes that could damage the tree or reduce next year’s crop.
Other maintenance tips include watering consistently, especially in hot weather, and rotating crops each year to avoid pests and soil depletion.
Learn About Smart Fruit And Veg Storage
Even a modest harvest deserves proper storage. Without it, you’ll lose much of what you worked hard to grow. Root vegetables, such as potatoes and carrots, last longest in a cool, dark place, like a basement or pantry. Ideally, you want to store them in layers of moist sand, in boxes away from the ground to protect against risks of frost in winter.
Leafy greens should be washed, dried thoroughly, and stored in breathable bags in the fridge.
Tomatoes are best kept out of the fridge until they are fully ripe. Once ripe, refrigerate them if you can’t use them right away.
Apples and pears should be stored separately because they release ethylene gas that speeds up ripening in other produce. Keep them in a cool place or the fridge to extend their life.
Freezing is another option. Beans, zucchini slices, and even berries can be frozen and enjoyed months later. A little preparation, like blanching beans before freezing, helps preserve flavour and texture.
In conclusion, growing your own food doesn’t mean replacing the supermarket. Instead, it’s about being smart with what you plant, how you care for it, and how you store it.
It’s a small step toward saving money and enjoying fresher meals without wasting time or energy.
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Wow, Ula! This is ART <3
Thank you so much! 🙂