This morning was a very rewarding visit. For a grand total of $5 I have punnets of mignonette lettuce, Asian lettuce, Silverbeet, Bok Choy, Chinese cabbage, a black Russian tomato and two very healthy sage bushes. In fact all these seedlings were very healthy, better than some I have previously bought for full price!

The secret to rescuing plants from the discounted trolley is to put them into a bowl of water with some Seasol and a small amount of liquid fertiliser as soon as you get them home. Allow to sit for about an hour before planting into the garden.

I try and plant either late afternoon or early morning to minimise transplant shock. And for the first few days I give the new seedlings some protection using umbrellas to shade them during the heat of the day.

So why both growing your own veggies?

A lot of people dismiss growing your own veggies as they say, often quite correctly, that you don’t save a lot of money.

What you do gain though, is knowing exactly what chemicals your food has been exposed to! You also know that the veggies are super good for you because they haven’t flown half way round the world or sat in cold storage for weeks before you buy them! Consequently, they haven’t lost half of their vitamins and minerals before they even get to your plate.

More importantly, you gain taste! It is almost like eating a totally different vegetable, some home grown veggies taste so different! I haven’t been able to eat that bland vegetable they call lettuce from the supermarket or even the fruit shop since I started growing my own.

After the hot summer we have just put up with there are only a few plants still actively growing in the veggie patch, so this will help bring it back to its productive best!

Happy gardening 🙂