Growing your own fruit and vegetables

Did you know? It is likely that most of the food we purchase from supermarkets has traveled hundreds (sometimes thousands) of kilometres to reach your plate. 

Reap the rewards of harvesting your own fruit and veggies - rewards for the environment, rewards for your hip pocket AND rewards for your health! And you don't need a 'green thumb' or have a big backyard to make a big difference.

Find a spot at your place to grow your own fruit and veggies, whether it's on your handy window sill, a bountiful balcony pot or adding to an established kitchen garden. Below are just a sample of top tips to get you started!

Make your window sill or balcony bountiful!

Living in an apartment or just liking the convenience, there are a lot of options for potted or vertical/hanging fruit and veggie patches on your window sill or balcony.

• Harvest regularly for cooking from a potted window sill herb garden.
• If you are keen, you could even check out mini in home hydroponics systems.
• Make sure your balcony has appropriate weight bearing capacity before loading in pots and plants.
• Choose appropriate fruit and vegetable options for the amount of sun, heat, cold and wind your balcony gets.
• Consider using hooks to secure hanging pots or an integrated vertical wall to add additional fruit and veggies and save floor space.

Gather fruit and veggie crops from garden beds 

If you have the space, plant fruit and veggies in your garden or dedicate an area (or a few) to growing your own kitchen garden.

• Use companion planting for similar water and soil requirements, and to decoy or repel pests naturally. 
• Consider square foot gardening method if using raised garden beds.
• Reduce waste from your harvest by succession planting - plant smaller numbers through the growing season to stagger the crops.
• Collect and save seeds to be preserved and stored over winter ready to plant in future.

Also source local produce 

Struggling to embrace your green thumb or really need an ingredient your patch isn't providing? Do the next best thing and source local fresh produce. 

• Head to one of the regular local farmers markets or wholefood businesses for local produce.
• Source some fruit and veggies from family or friends with surplus harvest.
• Look for Australian grown produce and seeds to help prevent the spread of exotic pests and diseases.
• Also keep an eye on the source location of fruit and veggies at the super market to reduce your food miles and help Australian farmers.

There are so many more helpful resources available to assist you to start growing your own fruit and vegetables. Check out some of them below.