Tips for getting started

As the recession bites, more people are turning their hand to growing their own fruit and vegetables.
And more people are spending time in their gardens, rather than in restaurants and on holiday.
If you don't have an allotment or garden, many vegetables and fruit grow well in containers and hanging baskets or you may just want to grow some herbs on your windowsill or balcony.
If you're growing your own for the first time, here are a few tips:

• keep it simple – try growing easy vegetables at first such as potatoes, tomatoes, cut-and-come-again salad leaves, chillies, beetroot and radish
• don't be too ambitious – just try a few vegetables first time around
• consider buying young vegetable plants to simplify the process initially
• it doesn't require heavy investment - make use of resources that you have, for example yoghurt pots and cardboard tubes make great seed pots
• get the kids involved - digging for potatoes is like searching for buried treasure
• have fun, get fit and enjoy the experience revel in the satisfaction of eating home grown vegetables