Six “Set And Forget” Vegetables You Can grow

If you’d like to grow some of your own food but you’re struggling to find time then here’s a simple solution for you. Whilst tomatoes will need regular pinching out, potatoes will need earthing up and many brassicas require careful netting and snail control there *are* a range of food plants that require little to no care in other to thrive. Simply plant them in your garden in the right way and they’ll generally do just fine – providing a surprising amount of food with virtually no care.

All these “set and forget” food plants have a number of things in common. They will generally grow strongly in a wide range of conditions (though the sunnier the better), they receive minimal interest from pests like snails and slugs and they’re hardy-enough to deal with heavy rain or wind without needing to be supported. Before planting you should prepare the soil adding plenty of nutrients to see them through the growing season and apart from the odd bit of weeding or some additional water in particularly hot weather they should be just fine.

So what are these food plants that you can grow with minimal time?

Squashes

The various squashes such as zucchini, butternut squash and pumpkins can grow to a good size, covering the ground with their exotic-looking leaves, which can be beneficial for keeping the weeds down. They’ll also typically crop over a long period of time providing vegetables for your table right up until the cold weather rolls in at the end of the year.

Simply dig a decent-sized hole, add some extra nutrients such as some well-rotted manure, and plant them out when any risk of frost has passed. The only real work you may have to do from time to time is just try and keep the ever-growing plants under control by directing the stems to a suitable area of your garden.

Leeks

Leeks take quite some time to grow to a size worth harvesting but during that growing season they’re very easy indeed to care for. The best bet is to plant seeds in a tray and keep them safe on a windowsill until they reach roughly the size of a pencil in height and girth. Then dig a hole for each seedling, drop one in each and water them in thoroughly. You don’t even need to push the soil you removed back into the hole as the space around them helps the stems to thicken up quicker.

Leeks are hardy plants that can even remain outdoors all winter which means you can just pick them as you need them rather than having to harvest all of them in one go and then figure out ways to preserve them.

Garlic

Garlic is the easiest food plant I’ve ever grown. And while you couldn’t exactly *live* on garlic it is a major constituent in so many recipes – as well as being super-easy to store – that I believe no vegetable plot is complete without them.

Simply buy some bulbs in the spring from a garden center, break them into their constituent cloves and then plant them a few inches deep along a row, leaving roughly six inches between plants. You’ll soon see their scruffy leaves poking out above the soil and apart from the occasional weeding they will be totally self sufficient. To harvest them simply wait until the leaves die back in late summer, pull up all your new garlic and allow it to air dry.

Rhubarb

Unlike many other vegetable plants rhubarb is a perennial – which means it will die down each winter and then pop up again in the spring. And while these plants shouldn’t be kept for too many years as they get less productive after a while this does mean that you can have rhubarb on tap with ease.

Rhubarb isn’t grown from seed – you buy rhizomes like you would when growing dahlias – which you can plant out in the winter months. In early spring – long before most of your other food is making an appearance – you’ll have beautiful, fragrant rhubarb stems to enjoy.

Onions

Like garlic, onions have tough, sturdy leaves that seem to be of little interest to birds or snails and they seem to suffer from very few parasites too. Whilst they can be grown from seed, the easiest bet to buy some onion “sets” – which resemble tiny shallots. Plant these just below the soil surface – with the top just poking through – in late winter or early spring and you’ll be able to marvel at the onions growing and swelling all summer.

Like garlic, when the leaves start of die off in late summer simply pull them up, allow them to air dry for a few days and then store them in a cool dry place such as a garage or shed where they won’t rot. For best results most people tie string around the necks of their onions and hang them up which allows air to circulate and significantly reduces the chances of rot setting in.

Sweetcorn

What can possibly be better than your own home-grown sweetcorn, fresh from the plant? Luckily sweetcorn is also pretty easy to grow and requires minimal effort if you remember the one golden rule – plant them in blocks rather than rows. This is because unlike many other fruits and vegetables sweetcorn is wind pollinated. By planting them in blocks you maximize the chances of your young corn plants getting pollinated which is far less likely if they’re in a row – and of course it’s only when they get pollinated that they actually produce corn.

Sweetcorn can be planted directly into the soil or seeds can be started off indoors if you prefer. Simply provide a sunny spot, plant them out around a foot or so apart and let them do their magic!

As you can see, for anyone passionate about sustainability but lacking in time there are plenty of solutions for reducing your food miles and carbon footprint without needing to give up your day job. All you need now is the motivation to get started!

Six "Set And Forget" Vegetables You Can grow

If you’d like to grow some of your own food but you’re struggling to find time then here’s a simple solution for you. Whilst tomatoes will need regular pinching out, potatoes will need earthing up and many brassicas require careful netting and snail control there *are* a range of food plants that require little to no care in other to thrive. Simply plant them in your garden in the right way and they’ll generally do just fine – providing a surprising amount of food with virtually no care.

All these “set and forget” food plants have a number of things in common. They will generally grow strongly in a wide range of conditions (though the sunnier the better), they receive minimal interest from pests like snails and slugs and they’re hardy-enough to deal with heavy rain or wind without needing to be supported. Before planting you should prepare the soil adding plenty of nutrients to see them through the growing season and apart from the odd bit of weeding or some additional water in particularly hot weather they should be just fine.

So what are these food plants that you can grow with minimal time?

Squashes

The various squashes such as zucchini, butternut squash and pumpkins can grow to a good size, covering the ground with their exotic-looking leaves, which can be beneficial for keeping the weeds down. They’ll also typically crop over a long period of time providing vegetables for your table right up until the cold weather rolls in at the end of the year.

Simply dig a decent-sized hole, add some extra nutrients such as some well-rotted manure, and plant them out when any risk of frost has passed. The only real work you may have to do from time to time is just try and keep the ever-growing plants under control by directing the stems to a suitable area of your garden.

Leeks

Leeks take quite some time to grow to a size worth harvesting but during that growing season they’re very easy indeed to care for. The best bet is to plant seeds in a tray and keep them safe on a windowsill until they reach roughly the size of a pencil in height and girth. Then dig a hole for each seedling, drop one in each and water them in thoroughly. You don’t even need to push the soil you removed back into the hole as the space around them helps the stems to thicken up quicker.

Leeks are hardy plants that can even remain outdoors all winter which means you can just pick them as you need them rather than having to harvest all of them in one go and then figure out ways to preserve them.

Garlic

Garlic is the easiest food plant I’ve ever grown. And while you couldn’t exactly *live* on garlic it is a major constituent in so many recipes – as well as being super-easy to store – that I believe no vegetable plot is complete without them.

Simply buy some bulbs in the spring from a garden center, break them into their constituent cloves and then plant them a few inches deep along a row, leaving roughly six inches between plants. You’ll soon see their scruffy leaves poking out above the soil and apart from the occasional weeding they will be totally self sufficient. To harvest them simply wait until the leaves die back in late summer, pull up all your new garlic and allow it to air dry.

Rhubarb

Unlike many other vegetable plants rhubarb is a perennial – which means it will die down each winter and then pop up again in the spring. And while these plants shouldn’t be kept for too many years as they get less productive after a while this does mean that you can have rhubarb on tap with ease.

Rhubarb isn’t grown from seed – you buy rhizomes like you would when growing dahlias – which you can plant out in the winter months. In early spring – long before most of your other food is making an appearance – you’ll have beautiful, fragrant rhubarb stems to enjoy.

Onions

Like garlic, onions have tough, sturdy leaves that seem to be of little interest to birds or snails and they seem to suffer from very few parasites too. Whilst they can be grown from seed, the easiest bet to buy some onion “sets” – which resemble tiny shallots. Plant these just below the soil surface – with the top just poking through – in late winter or early spring and you’ll be able to marvel at the onions growing and swelling all summer.

Like garlic, when the leaves start of die off in late summer simply pull them up, allow them to air dry for a few days and then store them in a cool dry place such as a garage or shed where they won’t rot. For best results most people tie string around the necks of their onions and hang them up which allows air to circulate and significantly reduces the chances of rot setting in.

Sweetcorn

What can possibly be better than your own home-grown sweetcorn, fresh from the plant? Luckily sweetcorn is also pretty easy to grow and requires minimal effort if you remember the one golden rule – plant them in blocks rather than rows. This is because unlike many other fruits and vegetables sweetcorn is wind pollinated. By planting them in blocks you maximize the chances of your young corn plants getting pollinated which is far less likely if they’re in a row – and of course it’s only when they get pollinated that they actually produce corn.

Sweetcorn can be planted directly into the soil or seeds can be started off indoors if you prefer. Simply provide a sunny spot, plant them out around a foot or so apart and let them do their magic!

As you can see, for anyone passionate about sustainability but lacking in time there are plenty of solutions for reducing your food miles and carbon footprint without needing to give up your day job. All you need now is the motivation to get started!