Grow More For Less

For maximum value, start with seeds. One packet can produce dozens of plants or provide several successive sowings, making crops such as lettuce, basil, parsley and silverbeet particularly economical.

Seedling punnets are the next step up. They cost a little more but save time and give you several established plants ready for the garden. Productive crops can deliver repeated harvests: pick loose-leaf lettuce and silverbeet from the outside, harvest herbs regularly, and one healthy cherry tomato or courgette plant can produce generously over summer.

The best approach is to grow the things you buy regularly, particularly herbs and vegetables that can be picked again and again. Larger-grade plants provide a faster harvest, but seeds and seedling punnets will generally deliver the greatest savings.

Fresh Food At Your Fingertips

There is something wonderfully convenient about stepping outside to pick basil for a pasta sauce, lettuce for a sandwich or parsley to finish dinner. There is no extra trip to the supermarket, no discovering that the shelf is empty and less chance of buying more than you need.

A few pots near the kitchen can make fresh ingredients part of everyday cooking. Pick only what you need and leave the rest growing until next time.

Better Choice, Flavour and Freshness

Growing your own opens up a much wider world than the standard supermarket selection. Basil alone comes in sweet, Thai, purple, spicy globe and compact varieties, each offering a different flavour or use.

Tomatoes provide even more choice, from sweet cherry varieties to colourful heirlooms and large slicing Beefsteak tomatoes. Turn to page 16 to discover some of our favourites.

Because you decide how your plants are grown and harvest them when they are ready, produce can travel from garden to plate in minutes. Picked at its best, homegrown food is hard to beat for freshness and flavour.

Good For You, Too

Gardening gets you outdoors and encourages regular movement through planting, watering, weeding and harvesting. Growing food can also inspire you and your family to add a greater variety of fresh herbs and vegetables to meals.

Just as importantly, gardening gives you time to slow down, focus on something practical and enjoy watching your efforts develop into something you can eat.

The Satisfaction Of Growing Your Own

The first tomato of summer always feels like an achievement. So does making pesto from your own basil or arriving at a barbecue with a courgette you grew yourself.

There is pride in sharing a homegrown harvest and perhaps even a little showing off. Whether you begin with a full vegetable garden or one sunny pot, growing your own delivers rewards that go well beyond the grocery bill.