Our Top Tips For Growing Your Own Food In The UK

Growing your own food at home isn’t just a rewarding experience, it’s also better for our environment. And, of course, homegrown food tastes so much better.

We have been growing fruit and vegetables in our garden for over a decade. It started because we wanted veggies that tasted better.

But as we embarked on our journey to live a more sustainable life, growing our own has become a big part of it.

So here we share our top tips on making growing your own fruit and veg easier and as eco-friendly as possible.

Why Growing Your Own Is Better For The Environment

Before we get to our top tips, let’s briefly look at why growing your own veggies and fruit is better for the planet.

The way our food is produced has a negative impact on our environment.

• Monoculture
• Ploughing
• Chemical pesticides and fertilisers

Monocultures, where only one crop is grown in a field, and digging over the soil, are something every arable farmer does.

But both of these common farming practices lead to a reduction in biodiversity in the soil’s microbiome, which in turn degrades the soil. (Hermans et al., 2023) Reduced biological diversity in the soil leads to biodiversity loss above ground, which is a major driver of climate change.

Another unsustainable farming practice is the use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers. The regular use of chemical fertilisers can lead to soil degradation. (Gollaway et al., 2003)

Pesticides are known to also affect non-target species, such as bees. But they also reach our waterways, where they have been shown to be toxic to aquatic life, including fish. (Saha and Dotta, 2004)

When you grow your own vegetables in your garden or balcony, you have control over your gardening practices. So you can make sure that you create a sustainable garden to ensure your carbon footprint is as small as possible.

If you’re not sure what this means, read our article about what sustainable gardening is and how you can implement it in your home.

Without further ado, let’s move on to our tips to grow your own food.

Our 12 Best Tips For Growing Your Own Food At Home

These tips are based on our own experience and are a mix of vegetable gardening tips to grow veggies successfully, ways to save money, and how to make sure you garden sustainably.

Some of them will help with all three, like the first one.

1. Grow From Seed

While it needs a bit more time and effort to grow your fruits and veggies from seed, it’s well worth it, for several reasons:

1. It’s cheaper – a seed packet only costs a fraction of the cost of a plug plant and you get more than one seed
2. More choice – you can buy so many more different varieties as seeds than as plants, even more unusual ones
3. You’re in control – growing from seed means you know that your plants have never seen chemical fertilisers or pesticides
4. Healthier plants – by growing from seed, you can give your plants the best start in life and ensure healthy, strong plants
5. It’s exciting! – there is nothing more exciting than spotting a seed that you planted germinate; your kids will love it

We only grow our plants from seed for these reasons. Of course, there are times when we had to buy plug plants, like when the seeds just didn’t germinate. But we try and keep these to a minimum.

Often, fellow gardeners in our village offer veg plants if they have grown too many. For us, this is the next best thing, because we know how they were grown. In turn, we also offer our young plants if we run out of space.

2. Get A Wormery

The best thing we ever did was getting a wormery. It’s basically a compost bin, but with worms, which help to decompose your kitchen scraps. The reason we love it so much is because not only do you get compost, but also a natural liquid fertiliser.

The vermicompost you get is better than compost from a normal compost heap, because the worms release a substance to kill pathogens (bad microorganisms that could harm them). (Alkobaisy et al., 2021)

This substance will also be in the compost you get, which means your plants will also benefit from it, as it creates a healthier soil environment.

The liquid fertiliser you get also contains this substance, as well as various nutrients and beneficial microbes. (Yatoo et al., 2021) Adding these beneficial microorganisms to your soil will help to keep it healthy.

It’s like taking probitics for your gut microbiome, but these are probiotics for your garden.

And we all know that healthy soil is the basis for growing healthy vegetable plants that produce a good yield.

As an added bonus, you’ll also save money, because you make your own compost and liquid feed from kitchen scraps. This in turn reduces waste. It’s a win-win situation!

If you’re deciding between a womery and a compost heap, get the wormery. But if you can, get both.

3. Water Your Plants From Underneath

Water is vital for plants to survive, so regular watering is important, especially during prologned dry and hot periods. The best way to water your plants is from underneath.

The reason for this is to avoid the foliage from getting too wet. Most plant diseases, especially fungal ones, thrive in wet or humid conditions. So to prevent diseases it’s important to keep the leaves dry.

While on dry, sunny days it might not be such a big problem, because the sun will dry out the foliage, in cloudy and cooler conditions, it’s vital.

It’s a tip that I learned from my husband, who in turn got it taught by his grandad, who liked growing tomatoes and other veggies.

Especially when we have a more typical British summer, with cooler temperatures and cloudy days, it’s worth remembering this advice.

4. Use Companion Planting

We have said earlier, that growing monocultures can lead to a biodiversity loss in the soil. So rather than growing all your carrots in one bed, all your tomatoes in another, and your courgettes in an other one again, plant them together.

Companion planting is a century old growing practice, that has many benefits:

• Keeps soil microbiome diverse – this keeps the soil helathy so you can grow healthy plants
• Creates an environment that benefits your veggies – you can provide shade for plants that don’t like it too hot, like spinach; ground cover plants, like raddishes, prevent weeds from growing; etc.
• Helps to control pests the natural way – certain pests can be repelled by planting certain plants with your veggies; chieves, garlic, onions, basil, mint, and many others will repel aphids and whitefly

While the scientific evidence of the effectiveness of companion planting is rather scarce, many gardeners swear it works. We have used it for years and agree, it does work. Here are my favourite combinations for vegetables:

• Tomtoes and basil – basil deters whitefly, which love to suck the sap of tomatoes, and basil is also said to improve the taste of the tomatoes (I’m not sure about this)
• Leek and carrot – the scent of the leeks confuses the carrotfly so it won’t find your carrots
• Courgettes and Marigolds – the Marigolds attract pollinators who will then also pollinate the courgettes
• Cucumber and radishes – raddishes cover the ground and prevent weeds from growing; their strong scent also deters some pests

What I love most about companion planting is that it can help me keep pests off my veg plants, so no need for any pesticides in my garden.

5. Save Seeds From Your Crop

There is nothing worse than finding a super tasty variety, just to realise that you can’t get it any more the folllowing year. This can be avoided, by saving the seeds from the varieties you like.

And it will also save you money, because you don’t have to buy new seeds. Saving seeds is easy, but here are some things you need to consider:

• You can only save seeds if you eat the fruits – for plants that you don’t want to go to seed, like carrots, salads, spinach, parsnip, beetroots, and chard, you can’t save the seeds
• Don’t save seeds from F1 varieties – these are the first generation of hybrids, which means you can’t be sure you get the same plants from the their seeds; go with heirloom varieties instead
• Add lables with variety name and date saved – this will make it easier to find what you want and also to know if they can still be used

We save the seeds of most of the veggies we grow, which saves us a lot of money.

6. Get A Water Bud

Why use tap water when you can collect rain water for free? A water bud should be in every garden.

Given how important a resource water is, and how overused it is, it’s important to save water as much as we can. But watering our plants is vital to keep them alive.

Collecting rain water is the perfect solution. It’s better for your plants than using tap water, it’s free and you’ll save water on your water bills, and it’s better for the environment.

We have four water buds in total, which allow us to water our plants through summer. Only during prolonged dry periods do we have to use tap water. Having them has saved us a lot of money and it’s one of the best tips we can give to you for growing your own food at home.

7. Don’t Overwater Your Carrots

Carrots are one of those veggies that most gardeners grow. They don’t need much space, taste amazing when homegrown, and can be used in many dishes.

One thing we have learned about carrots is that you have to be careful not to overwater them. Carrots store water in their roots, which makes them long and thick.

If they have regular access to water though, there is no need to store as much water. The result: small, thin, or very short carrots.

So if you want long thick carrots, don’t water them every day. Keep them drier to encourage them to store more water.

8. Grow Salad And Herbs To Start

Salad leaves aren’t just easy to grow, and super healthy, they also don’t need much space and are ready to harevest in only a few weeks. We think it’s the ideal starter crop.

As a cold weather crop, salad leaves can also be grown almost all year round. Even if you don’t have a garden, only a balcony, or no outside space at all, you can easily grow salad.

On a sunny windowsill in small pots, salad will do very well. Our favourite to grow is gem lettuce. One of them is perfect for a salad with some homegrown tomatoes.

Equally easy to grow are herbs. Basil, chives, parsley, oregano, and thyme can be grown in small pots on a sunny windowsill.

They add taste and nutrients to your meals. If you don’t know where to start, start there.

9. Eat As Much Of A Plant As Possible

This is probaly my favourite tip when it comes to growing your own food at home.

When you make an effort to grow your own food, you don’t want to waste anythig, right? So why do so many people throw away parts of plants that are edible and delicous?

Ever eaten beetroot leaves? What about the stem of a broccoli head? Carrot greens? They are all edible and can add flavour to your meals.

By eating as much of a plant your grow as possible, you get more for your time and effort and you waste less. It’s a no-brainer. Here are plant parts you should be eating:

Beetroot Leaves – My Absolute Favourite

They are super tasty and healthy, containing different minerals, vitamins, fibre, and protein. You can use them like spinach. We love to add them to curries or sauces to add extra nutrients and flavour.

But my favourite way to eat beetroot leaves is to chop them, then fry them in some oil with garlic until they wilt. Then add some nuts, such as walnuts, and serve them with meat, fish, or as a side with a veggie curry. Delicous!

You can also freeze them if you don’t have a use for them straight after harvesting. Just wash them, chop them, pop them in a reusable tub and freeze. Cook from frozen in the same way you would cook them fresh.

Broccoli Stems – Super Delicious

If you grow broccoli, don’t throw away the stem. It’s not only nutritious, but also delicious. All you have to do is cut off the outer layer, then slice thinly. You can then add it to stir-fries, sauces, or curries.

We just add it to what ever we are cooking with the broccoli. Even if you buy a broccoli head from the supermarket, you can still eat the stem too, so don’t throw it.

The broccoli stem actually contains most of the fibre, so you’d lose a vital nutirent source if you threw it away.

And don’t throw away the leaves either. They contain many vitamins, antioxidants, and calcium, a vital mineral for bone health.

Carrot Greens

Don’t discard the carrot leaves, because they are super healthy. Carrot tops are rich in vitamins, beta carotene, fibre, as well as numerous minerals, such as calcium, zinc, and magensium. (Goneim et al., 2011)

If you have heard that they are poisonous, that’s not true. They are safe to eat.

Carrots are in the same family as parsley, so you can use the greens in salads instead of parsley. But you can also cook with the leaves. I love to add them to sauces and curries for an extra boost of nutrients.

I find it difficult to describe their taste, but earthy is probably a good word for it. It’s great when added in with sauces.

You can also wash, chop and freeze carrot leaves to keep them for longer. Although once frozen they aren’t as nice fresh. So I tend to cook with the frozen leaves.

Courgette Flowers

We all know that we can eat the fruits, but the flowers of courgette plants are also edible. They are rich in various nutrients, especially antioxidants. (Castaldo et al, 2023)

They are a great addition to salads, adding something for the eye to feast on. These flowers have a mild and pleasant taste. Not sure how else to explain it, as it’s not really comparable to anything I’ve tried before.

What you don’t get is a floral flavour, like with other flowers. Definitley worth adding them to a summer salad though.

Radish Greens

The leaves of radishes might not be eaten much in Europe, but in Asia, especially China and Korea, they are used as a vegetable.

Radish greens are very healthy, containing good amounts of protein, as well as minerals such as iron and potassium. The leaves are also high in vitamins C and especially K.

You can eat them raw or cooked. Adding them to salads, soups, curries, or sauces is a great way to use them and add extra nutrients into your meals. I love to add them as a pizza topping instead of spianch. Delicious!

In terms of taste, I would say they have a spiciness to them and an earthy flavour. My husband isn’t too keen, he finds them bitter. But then he doesn’t like radishes, so maybe not surprising.

You can also freeze them, like other greens to add to your meals.

There are many more, depending on what you grow, such as turnip greens, parsnip greens, fennel leaves, onion greens, and pumpkin leaves.

10. Grow Perennial Crops

Most of the vegetables we grow are annual crops. This means they will die once they have finished cropping, and you have to sow new seeds in the next season.

Most staple veggies we grow are annuals, including tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, courgettes, carrots, and aubergines. But there are vegetables that are perennials, which means they will come back every year.

There are benefits to growing perennial veggies:

• No faffing about with sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings
• Cost-effective, because you only have to invest in the plants once
• Often over time they produce more crops
• Perennials tend to be lower maintenance
• Many will provide food when most annuals haven’t started yet or are already finished

We grow a mix of annuals and perennials, although I’m looking to increase the number of perennials, once we have created more space. Here are some perennials to consider:

• Asparagus – we just had our first harvest – if you grow from seed you have to wait three years before you can start harvesting, if you grow from crown, it’s two years.
• Jerusalem artichokes – I love them and plan to grow them in future
• Most fruit plants – we grow strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apples, plums and pears, but you can also grow blueberries, necatrines, peaches, rhubarb, etc.
• Globe artichokes – which are delicious (great pizza topping) and they look beautiful
• Babington leek – they taste more garlicy than normal leeks, but are delicious added to many dishes

Growing a mix of annuals and perennials will give you food over a longer period, which is better for the environment and you can save more money.

11. Attract Beneficial Insects

When growing your own food you want to work with nature, not against it. This means not using chemcial pesticides, as these aren’t good for our environment.

But you still want to keep pests under control to ensure they won’t destroy your crops. So what can you do? Let nature help you.

One natural way to control pests is to attract their predetors to your garden. There are many insects that will eat common pests, such as aphids. Ladybirds, hoverflies, and lacewings are just some of the insects that love these little sap suckers.

And attracting them isn’t difficult, all you have to do is leaving some wild areas in your garden. Any sustainable garden should have areas that are allowed to grow wild.

We have also created a wildflower meadow that attracts so many different insects, including those useful for pest control. A wildlife pond is also a great magent for wildlife and those beneficial insects.

Appart from predetory insects, you will also get many pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, which will help to pollinate your plants. Cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes, and aubergines all need pollinating in order to produce fruit.

As an additional benefit, you get a garden that is buzzing with life and the insects attract other wildlife, like birds and mammals. It’s great to increase the biodiveristy in your garden.

And even if you only have a balcony, you can still plant flowers that will attract beneficial insects.

12. Create A No-Dig Garden

As part of creating a sustainable garden, we decided to turn ours into a no-dig garden. This is much better for our environment, because the digging disturbs the soils microbiome.

The concept is very simple, you don’t dig up your soil. Rather than digging in organic matter, you add it on top in a thick layer. Over time, the nutrients will make their way down to the soil.

So how do you start? If you already have veggie patches or raised beds, just stop digging. When plants have finished, rather than pulling them up, cut them as close to the ground as possible. The roots will decompose naturally and release nutrients.

If you don’t have beds yet, put folded up cardboard boxes on the grass you want to start growing your own veggies. Make sure you remove any tape left on them.

Then add a thick layer of soil and compost. You want enough depth so you can plant your vegetable plants. Then you just keep adding a layer of compost every autumn.

In spring, you can add a layer of mulch, such as leaf mulch. And that’s it. No more digging!

So here you have it, our best tips to growing your own food at home. Why not give it a go? It’s better for your health, our environment and you can save money.