Grow your own – better for everyone

National Allotment Week has begun in earnest and up and down the country keen gardeners are reaping the benefits of weeks of digging, mulching, feeding and composting. In my (tiny) city garden the blueberries are ripening, the tomatoes are coming and the courgettes just won’t stop. Although it has to be said that along with the successes there are many fails. The carrots are still teeny tiny and don’t seem to be getting any bigger, ditto the onions, and the garlic has stayed resolutely clove-like instead of bursting into beautiful bulbs.

Gardening, and specifically veg growing, has taken a leap forward in popularity in recent times. Awareness of air miles, fear of pesticides and GM crops has spurred many to take up the trowel and ditch the shrink-wrapped supermarket cucumbers.

A growing awareness of the carbon footprint of what we eat is becoming more prevalent too as intensive greenhouse growing and year-round availability replaces seasonal selections. 

Consider the humble pack of out-of-season, local, organic, on-the-vine cherry tomatoes in the supermarket. Couldn’t be a huge carbon footprint, right? Wrong. Mike Berners-Lee’s excellent ‘How Bad Are Bananas?’ looks at the techniques of intensive growing and concludes that organic cherry tomatoes, grown  out of season are one of the highest carbon foods there is. They come in at a shocking 50kg of CO2 per kilo. That’s more than driving a mile or having a shower or boiling a litre of water!

Now consider the humble tomato plant. Easy to grow; replete with fruit from July to October; works in the ground; in pots and even on your windowsill.  Provides shade for critters, food for you and can be composted back into the earth. Minimal carbon, maximum use.

You don’t need a big garden to start growing your own. Tomatoes, chillies and herbs can all be grown on a windowsill or from hanging baskets, potatoes can be grown in an old Ikea bag and even cress can be grown inside. Start small. Don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t work out first time. Keep a diary of when you plant, and stay seasonal. Good luck!

Helpful guides:

BBC's Dig In campaign is a great place for beginners

Grow Your Own Vegetables by Joy Larkcom is a superb practical guide to growing almost anything