Grow Your Own
“Grow Your Own” has become increasingly popular over the last few years as many new gardeners have seen the benefits of growing their own vegetables. Nothing beats the flavour and the excitement as you dig your first potatoes or pick your early beans.
Growing your Own can be daunting for the first time gardener and hopefully at Newbridge we are able to help you in any way to make the task easier.
You will find we have a superb range of Vegetable Seeds available which will all be this seasons new stock which give the best germination results.
Mr Fothergill’s and Jonson’s Seeds provide us with a very wide range of cultivars including many new ones each year along with all the traditional favourites.
You will find a great deal of useful information on their website www.mr-fothergills.co.uk where they can advise you how to get the best results from your Kitchen Garden.
Alternatively at Newbridge we have a fantastic range of young vegetable plants which can be planted directly into the garden or container.
For those wanting to sow vegetable seeds you will find a wide range of Pots, Seed Trays and Celled Inserts from our “ Lets Grow Range” to suit all sizes of seeds. Many gardeners prefer to start their seeds off in a greenhouse or window sill and plant out later when the warmer weather arrives.
Using a propagator will accelerate the wait for the seeds to germinate. You will find we have a range of sizes from the smaller Kitchen Garden Propagator set to a more sophisticated Thermostatically controlled Electric model.
Always try to avoid letting the seeds dry out or becoming waterlogged, but keeping the soil just moist.
Avoid heavy watering from the top as this will compact the compost which can effect the germination.
If you do decide to sow directly into the ground remember to prepare a good tilth, which can be achieved by braking up the clods by walking on any large lumps, then raking to achieve a fine top before pulling a shallow furrow and then try to sow the seed thinly, before covering the seed with a rake.
You will probably need to thin the seedling after they have germinated otherwise overcrowding will result in a small poor quality crop. Applying fertilizer before sowing or planting is important. Organic Blood, Fish and Bone is ideal to give the crop enough nutrients until harvest for most species.
As an alternative to the more traditional Vegetable allotments many people are choosing to grow their vegetables in either a raised bed or Grow Trough which are priced from £79.99 . These are ideal for the first time gardener. You can also grow many cultivars in large pots or grow bags. We also have a good choice of vegetable growing compost which is ideal for these containers.
Tomatoes, Peppers and F1 Cucumbers can be grown against a sunny wall but would prefer a greenhouse . At Newbridge we have a range of growing houses suitable for the more tender subjects. The large Polytunnell with a reinforced cover is 3m in length and 2m wide and tall enough room to walk about in. It is priced at £129 and should you ever require a replacement cover this will cost £69.99.
We also have a Pop Up Greenhouse and Crop Cage priced at £99.99 which can be easily dismantled before we have the strong winter winds.
This will protect the cover ready for the following season.
Keep an eye out for and pests and diseases throughout the summer, especially if it turns wet. Vitax Organic Pest and Disease Control is a ready to use spray and ideal for Flowers, Fruit and Vegetables.