Lovefood's gone green... fingered, that is, as we kick off our Grow Your Own season with an amazing competition.
You obviously love food (why else would you be here!), but have you ever tried producing it yourself? Well for those of you who haven't, it’s not as hard as you think. In conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society (see below), we’re bringing you all the information you need to start growing your own food in the next few weeks.
Win a day on Kate Humble's farm
We'll also have articles revealing the daily life of an allotment, a seasonal calendar telling you what to plant when, as well as information on how to grow everything you need to make a curry from scratch. And you don't even need a garden!
Why grow your own?
For most of us, growing our own food is rarely going to lead to total self sufficiency; but that’s not the point. Time spent growing something – even a chilli plant – means you get something on your plate that’s spanking fresh, which will probably taste better too. What's more you don’t need huge plots of land, just some outside space. Myself, Charlotte and Simon are all going to have a go at producing our own food right here at lovefood HQ over the coming weeks.
Recipes
We’ve also got some fantastic recipe round-ups, so you can use your new cornucopia of produce in new and exciting ways. So here’s some tasty uses for lettuce, five ways with tomatoes, and for those of you who keep chickens, ten dishes that use up eggs.
We want to hear from you
If you do grow your own fruit and vegetables, or keep animals, please share your knowledge and experience with the rest of us in the comments below. Or if you’re a total dunce when it comes to flora and fauna like me, ask a question below and we’ll try and find an answer.
Best wishes
Andrew
Editor - lovefood.com
The RHS's Grow Your Own campaign
Since its launch in 2007, the RHS Grow Your Own campaign has helped over 68,000 amateur and professional gardeners grow their own fruit and veg.
Registration is free, and the campaign continues to offer an abundance of expert advice online and in its monthly newsletter, which includes videos from the Horticultural Advisors at RHS Garden Wisley; seasonal updates; and special extras such as competitions and seasonal product offers from the campaign’s sponsor Mr Fothergill’s.
To celebrate 2012 as the year of ‘Growing for Taste’, the RHS has teamed up with Nigel Slater to make two extra special RHS videos. Visit www.rhs.org.uk/growyourown and sign up to the campaign for free!
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Win a day course with Kate Humble on her farm worth over £130!