Grow your own and beat the fruit and veg shortages
A gardening guru is urging people to beat the shortages of fruit and veg in the shops by growing their own.
Article Source: Cardwell Garden Centre
Last Updated: 2 March 2023 11:35
Shoppers have witnessed supermarket shelves bare of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflowers and some stores are rationing how many of these items you can buy at a time.
Various reasons have been given for the shortages including bad weather in Spain and North Africa, UK growers delaying planting this year due to rocketing energy costs of growing produce in heated greenhouses and the consequences of Brexit.
But resident horticulturist at Gourock’s Cardwell Garden Centre, Brian Hawthorn reckons planting and harvesting your own veg is a cost-effective way to beat these shortages and that home-grown fruit and veg tastes better.
And Brian advises you can start planting vegetable seeds indoors now: “There’s nothing more satisfying and tasty as veg on your dinner plate that you’ve grown from scratch.
“Growing your own fruit and veg is also better for the environment, as it reduces your carbon footprint. You’re eating produce from your own garden and the fruit and veg hasn’t been transported for miles in lorries.
“Some of us of a certain vintage can remember when growing your own vegetables and fruits was quite common.
“It’s easy to grow your own if you follow the instructions on the seed packet and if you’re not sure, just ask one of the gardening staff at Cardwell and they’ll keep you right.
“We have seeds in stock for 24 different varieties of tomato, all with different tastes and sizes.
“And they’re ready to be planted in pots or growbags kept indoors for a couple of months to avoid the possibility of being damaged by frost. After that, the tomato plants can be transferred to larger pots and continue growing outdoors.
“And in April we’ll have tomato seedlings available that can be grown in a greenhouse if you have one in your garden, or in a reinforced plastic growhouse.
“These growhouses are becoming very popular, as they are smaller than a traditional glass greenhouse and easy to install. We have sold quite a few at Cardwell.
“We’ve also got seeds for several varieties of cucumber that can be initially grown inside until the danger of frost is gone and then they can be taken outside.
“And the same goes for lettuce, as their seeds can be sown in growbags or pots now if kept indoors for the next several weeks. And come April you can sow cauliflower seeds outdoors.”
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