Home Grown Gardens

Welcome to Home Grown Gardens where we hope you will join us in enjoying being in the garden, growing your own fruit and vegetables, and of course, eating them! Flowers and shrubs in your garden should bring colour, scent, and wildlife all the year round, so long as you can get outside to enjoy it all.

There is no mystery to gardening, or to growing fruit and veg, so start small and do more each year. Being in your garden and growing your own veg and plants should be fun and rewarding, not yet another stress agent. There is no need to have straight lines, and neatly clipped edges, but good soil is fundamental. No chemicals are used by Home Grown Gardens, which means anything from the garden or veg plot can be eaten with confidence. But, being in North Yorkshire and on the edge of town means every pest you can think of, wild and domestic, visits. Growing, eating, sharing, is the ethos of Home Grown Gardens, so it's nice to have you with us.

Summer 2019

Who knows what summer we will have, but the garden will grow, and you’ll be able to pick your own veg, and flowers, and enjoy being out in your space.

The days are long so you can get out early or late, and maybe pick some veg, take out some pests, and keep an eye on everything. Little and often is a good mantra to have in your garden. You can spot any problems before they get too bad, enjoy the sight of newly grown plantings, and you don’t get too tired in the process. We’ve all done a “all day” in the garden and suffered the day after with sore hands, feet and backs, so be kind to yourself and take it easy.

Grow your own vegetables

It’s good to sit in your garden and do nothing for a while, and make a mental list of what needs doing. But that’s not easy! Then get going: Hoe, or pull out any weed seedlings before they take the moisture and nutrients from the plants you want to grow. Pick off pests, and look for them under stones, and behind pots. Water every so often with a good long soak, preferably at night, but early morning as well if you know it’s a hot day ahead. Pots and baskets can really suffer with no water as they dry out quickly, so maybe move them to the shade.

The saying for the summer you will spend in your garden is a short poem from Tony Mitton: “Inspect an insect and you’ll see how perfect it can be. Listen and hear the tiny song it sings, as bits of rainbow glisten on its wings.” Many insects are beneficial to your garden, and can be enjoyed along with birds, mammals and invertebrates.

Pretty and useful in the garden