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Grow your own fruit and vegetables

Growing your own food can be good exercise and could save you money. It can also provide you with a healthy supply of fresh, seasonable fruit and vegetables. It's easy to get started and there are lots of places you can grow plants, even if you don't have a garden.

Why grow your own?

More people are getting interested in growing their own fruit and vegetables, for many different reasons:

  • it could save you money on expensive items like salad leaves
  • gardening is a cheap form of exercise and a great way to burn calories and get some fresh air
  • it helps children understand where food comes from, and could encourage more interest in eating fresh fruit and vegetables
  • growing your own can help you get your five-a-day portions of fruit and vegetables
  • you'll become more aware of what's in season, so you may find it easier to choose seasonal food when you go shopping (seasonal food is likely to need less energy to produce)
  • gardening can be a sociable activity which involves you in your local community
  • it can help to reduce stress and can give you a sense of achievement
  • Five-a-day website (NHS)
  • Visit the LoveFoodHateWasteNI website

Growing plants at home

You may only have a small balcony, or a space on the windowsill, but it needn't stop you taking your first steps at gardening. You can grow herbs indoors or salad leaves outside in a pot.

If you have a garden but no space for a dedicated food plot, you can try planting fruit or vegetables amongst your flowers.

You could ask a neighbour with a large garden if you could cultivate a patch of ground, and maybe offer some of your produce in return.

Community garden schemes

Community garden schemes are available in many areas of the country. Groups of people have joined together to reclaim land to grow food and plants as a neighbourhood community project.

The projects provide a space for people to enjoy and learn about gardening, share tools, seeds and produce, and meet other people.

Look on the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens website for a list of community gardens and farms in Northern Ireland

Renting an allotment

Your local council will have details of the allotments near you with spaces. Allotments have become so popular that there is often a waiting list and it may be a few months before one becomes available.

If you want advice on asking your council to provide more allotments, visit the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) website. The NSALG can give you information on the laws about providing allotment spaces.

Over the next three years, the National Trust is creating 1,000 allotment spaces on their land where people can grow their own crops. Visit the National Trust website for more details of this scheme.

What to grow and when

There is plenty of advice available on growing your own fruit and vegetables, including organic produce, from various sources: