The SMARTY way to grow your own veggies

With supermarket queues not looking to ease up anytime soon and delivery slots full till… well, who knows?... you might want to think about growing your own food.

There are plenty of vegetables and herbs that are easy to look after, quick to grow and ready for sowing during the summertime.

Here are a few of our favourites:

Salad leaves

Leafy vegetables like lettuce are best sown in the summer and are ready to harvest about 3 weeks later. Plant seeds in pots and keep them well watered, then cut leaves as required.

Radishes

Perfect for spicing up your salads, radishes can be sown directly into the ground throughout the summer and are ready to harvest around a month later.

Peas

If you want to grow peas or runner beans, you’ll need to create a frame for them to grow up. Sow from March to June and they’ll be ready 2-3 months later. The more you pick the ripe pods, the more the plant will produce.

Spring onions

Easy to grow in pots or in the ground, spring onions can be sown up until July and will be ready after 8 weeks. If you let them flower, they’ll self-seed.

Carrots

Carrots grow well directly in the ground in well-drained soil. If you sow them in June, you’ll have fresh carrots in 14-16 weeks.

But what if you don’t have a garden?

If you don’t have a garden that doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own veggies. There are plenty of options for indoors or balconies.

Avocados

All you need to grow an avocado is another avocado. Once you’ve removed the pit and washed it, push 3 or 4 toothpicks into the base and suspend it in a glass of water, pointed side up. Place the glass on a warm windowsill and keep topped up with water. In a few weeks you should have a little tree ready for planting. Place the rooted seed in a pot and leave in a sunny place. Water frequently, but only lightly and you’ll soon have an avocado tree of your own.

Herbs

Herbs are great for indoor growing – they’re easy to look after and can make a huge difference to your cooking. While they all have slightly differing care requirements, most are happy in a sunny spot with regular watering. You can buy herbs in small pots from your supermarket that can be re-potted and grown.

Tomatoes

This tasty ‘fruit’ thrives in gardens and in pots. You just need to make sure you can keep them in a warm area that gets about 12 hours of light a day.

If you need any more help, the RHS Grow Your Own app is packed full of down-to-earth advice to help everyone grow fresh, healthy fruit, vegetables and herbs.

So, what are you waiting for? Not only will growing your own veg save you a trip to the supermarket, it’ll save you money and encourage healthy eating too. Plus, when you’ve harvested your crops you can snap, share and show off to your friends with our unbe-leaf-able 30GB SMARTY SIM for just £10.