Some of us are born to be gardeners. And others are, well, less handy in that region of the home.
But it looks as if we are all getting stuck in these days, and there are two main reasons why this is so.
The first is to do with the recession. People are trying to find all kinds of different ways to save money. And they have realised that looking at their garden in a different way is the key to making some great savings.
Another great thing about ‘growing your own’ is that you can get the kids involved as well. And many people are surprised by how easy it can be to grow certain vegetables at home. Tomatoes are one of the most common vegetables that people have grown for years, but now more and more people are trying their hand at it. Potatoes, an ideal staple for virtually every meal you can think of, never taste any better than when you have dug them up from your own back garden just minutes before cooking them.
The second reason for the explosion in home growing is that a number of famous people are getting into it as well. And when we say famous, we’re talking about the likes of the Queen and indeed the first family in the USA as well.
Michelle Obama has famously given an area of the White House lawn over to be used as an allotment. And she doesn’t just get other people to work on it for her either – she gets stuck in herself to make sure the fruit and vegetables come to fruition at just the right time. She does have help from local schools though, who come in and enjoy themselves while learning about growing food yourself at the same time.
It used to be the case that having an allotment was something old people did when they retired. But that is not so any more. It seems as if the urge to get back to basics and actually enjoy growing what we eat is something that is arising in all of us. A lot of people also thought that they would need a huge garden to make it worthwhile – but that isn’t so either.
A lot of kits have been created that give you virtually everything you need to start growing your own fruit and vegetables from seed. Even potatoes can be grown in collapsible bins that take up very little space. They are easy to grow and you can get a huge crop from one bag if you plant them carefully and keep an eye on them.
To some people gardening means keeping the lawn neat and keeping those unruly bushes at bay with a hedge trimmer. But it can be so much more than that if you let it. And it may not take as much work as you think it will either.
So take a fresh look at your garden – it may hold much more promise than you think.