Sunday 14 February 2010

Grow your own veggies Part 1


Once you have moved to France and renovated your house you might find you have plenty of free time and more importantly less money than when you came over!
Let’s face it, spare cash at the moment is nowhere to be seen! So here is my way of saving money….

I grow my own organic fruit and vegetables. I am not a very knowledgeable gardener. I just enjoy picking my own produces knowing they are safe to eat as nothing has been sprayed on them!

Today was the first day of gardening for the 2010 crop!

As you can see from the photo I grow vegetables from seeds. If you are thinking of growing your own vegetables for this first time, here are my tricks to save money:

Don’t go to the garden center as you could easily get carried away! Recycle!

Start by going to a local market around 1pm (more or less at closing time). Look for the fishmongers and take the polystyrene boxes that he/she is throwing away. Watch it! They will smell so make sure you have some bin bags to put them in otherwise the boot of your car will stick for a long time!

Hose them down once you get home and the smell will disappear. You have done the worse bit!

Get a bag of compost (terreau) from any French supermarket or garden center. It will be cheaper from a supermarket. Fill the boxes with some compost and lay some seeds on the compost. Cover slightly with compost (the layer of compost should only be as thin as the seeds). I collect the wooden sticks from ice creams. They make great free tags! Write on them what you are growing. I then put my boxes on the floor near a radiator and wait until something start growing! As simple as that!

I will take some photos in a few weeks and keep you updated!


See Part 2 here.

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