Planting season is upon us again, although it actually started a little while ago there's still time to sow some seeds and reap the benefits of growing your own produce.  Not only will this save you money, but you can also feel good about helping to reduce greenhouse gases and the subsequent effects of global warming.  A fair amount of the food we eat these days is transported around the country by road on lorries to the various supermarkets and shops.  This has a very real impact on the environment and buying locally or growing your own can help to reduce this.

A little bit of thought and planning is required before you can grow your own food.  You'll also need somewhere for all this to happen and although a reasonable sized garden would be ideal, you can actually still have a good harvest with a number of large plant boxes.  Another possibility if you don't have a suitable garden would be to procure an allotment and grow your vegetables there.  Your local authority or council will be able to advise you how to go about this.  Come to think of it, even in a flat with no garden and no allotment, you could still grow some herbs in a window box!  Seeds are sold in many places including supermarkets, garden centres and even pound shops!

As I mentioned earlier, if you don't have a garden or the time to grow you're own vegetables (yes, it can be time consuming), consider buying your food locally.  Many supermarkets offer local produce as well as the regular brands; milk is good example of local produce you can probably find in your local branch of Tesco. Also, many of the farms on the outskirts of towns and cities often have seasonal vegetables, potatoes and meats at very reasonable prices.  If you're passing by on the way to work why not stop in and pick up a sack of potatoes?  I have found from personal experience that they keep very well as they'll be a lot fresher than the ones you buy in your local supermarket and they actually work out cheaper than buying smaller bags in the shops.

Further Information

Allotment Growing
Here you will find a wealth of information on allotments including how to go about finding one and how to manage it. There are also a some handy links to pages with advice on growing vegetables.

Big Barn
This site can help you find produce available from farmers in your area. Simply enter your postcode and see what is available!

Vegetable Expert
All things vegetables, from how to grow them and dealing with garden pests to health information.