Starting your mini-plot from seed

It only takes a few hours of work a week and a single 10m2 garden bed to feed one person or 40m2 of garden bed to feed a family of four.

Growing your own vegetables is the single most important step to a sustainable and healthy life. When vegetables are grown at home they are fresh and free of chemicals. You eliminate food miles and the need for fossil fuels, plus you eat seasonally and are connected with your food.

It only takes a few hours of work a week and a single 10m2 garden bed to feed one person or 40m2 of garden bed to feed a family of four.

It is best to site your beds close to the kitchen door so that you have the easiest access to go ‘fork to fork’ – garden fork to table fork!

Prepare your beds well by removing weeds and digging the area to break up the soil. This means that direct-sown seeds make contact with fine moist soil for quick germination.

Digging over the soil and preparing the beds should take no more than a weekend. Raise your beds by at least 20cm to ensure good drainage and mulch them well with an organic mulch like sugarcane or pea straw.

Choose high-yielding and tasty heirloom varieties that will crop over a long period. This will help to maximise your return in the smallest space and give you a steady supply of fresh vegies.

Here we show two planting combinations for different seasons in your mini-plot, with seed collections made to match.