Valuable advice for newbie vegetable gardeners

Caro Tapson of Seedling Stokvel shares tips for beginners who want to get in on the veggie gardening trend

A few tips for beginners?

Soil health is the foundation of your garden. Make sure you have rich, well-nurtured soil that drains easily and is protected from the elements. Use your garden waste and kitchen organics to make compost - a worm farm is a great investment for this.

My advice is to persevere and persist - gardening has a long-term growth curve and often a long-term return on investment. That said, you will be constantly rewarded along the way.

story_article_left1

Three herbs every garden should have?

If you like Eastern cuisine, plant mint, coriander and curry leaf. If you prefer Mediterranean, plant flat leaf parsley, oregano and basil. If you cook a lot of meat, go for rosemary, thyme and sage.

Three vegetables every garden should have?

In summer, courgettes, aubergine and tomatoes. In winter, beetroots, broad beans and peas.

What should we plant to attract bees?

These edibles are great for your veggie garden: Lavender, calendula, sunflowers, mint, perennial basil, rosemary, thyme, echinacea and borage. Indigenous plants are great too. Bees love freylinia, pink mallow, cancer bush and wild dagga.

story_article_right2

We all want bees and beneficial insects, but how do we avoid pests while maintaining an organic veggie patch?

The best way to avoid pest invasion is to have strong plants that are the result of healthy, rich soil fed with homemade compost, earthworm castings and liquid fertiliser. If you need a topical pest solution, Ludwig's and Margaret Roberts make great natural pesticides.

What do you wish you'd known before you started growing your own vegetables?

There are many things I wish I had known. In fact, my garden is in constant flux because of this.

One piece of advice I can give is to create your vegetable garden in a way that it can be covered with a protective net in winter (or during summer holidays) to protect from hungry birds. Design is key - think ahead of how you want to use the space so that you don't have to retrospectively move things around.

If you have a small vegetable or herb garden, place it close to your house because when it's in full swing it will need daily attention. I also wish I had paid more attention to my fruit trees in the early days as they are much more giving when maintained every season.

• Seedling Stokvel delivers mixed seedling trays anywhere in central Joburg. Orders are open. E-mail info@seedlingstokvel.co.za or visit seedlingstokvel.co.za