For many, the idea of buying fresh produce from the supermarket, during a cost-of-living-crisis, is something to think twice about, especially when ultra-processed-food can be cheaper. Yet, growing your own can save you money in the long run, be healthier for you and your family and be good for your physical and mental wellbeing.
Watching plants grow from seeds, nurturing them and then finally enjoying their delicious taste is so rewarding. But, did you know that the type of compost you use will greatly have an impact on taste. And, taste can have a positive effect on our mental and physical wellbeing. I know that whenever I smell and taste garlic roast chicken, I’m transported to my Jewish grandparents dining room, leaving me with a warm, loved feeling (and a bowl of homemade chicken soup!)
By selecting a good-quality, peat-free compost, like Dalefoot’s Wool Compost for Vegetables and Salads with added comfrey for additional potassium, phosphorous and nitrogen, the main building blocks for healthy plants, you are giving them the perfect organic medium, resulting in tastier, healthier crops and bumper crops.
You’ll find that there are elevated Brix levels, or sugars, in crops grown this way, as well as higher levels of flavour, nutrients and aroma. Vegetables and fruit demand a lot from compost, so selecting the right compost, whether you’re growing in a pot, a raised bed, in the ground or at the allotment, is essential.
Comfrey is considered one of the most popular ‘dynamic accumulators’. This is where certain crops draw up nutrients and store them in their leaves, later to be returned to the soil for the benefit of future crops. This holistic approach to soil improvement will definitely result in tastier brassicas, legumes, potatoes, onions and roots.
So, go on, join the ‘grow your own’ revolution and relish in all the tastes!
Mark is the UK’s first multi-award-winning garden designer, published gardening writer and BBC gardening presenter (BBC Morning Live, BBC Gardeners’ World and RHS Flower Shows). Mark has also appeared on BBC Celebrity Mastermind, BBC Pointless Celebrities and BBC Celebrity Weakest Link. He studied Art History at UCL, went into publishing and had a meteoric rise, becoming the Publishing Director for the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Managing Editor for the leading Arts publisher Thames & Hudson. Following a car crash in 2000, Mark retrained as a garden designer. Mark is also the gardening expert on QVC with his own shows ‘Garden Design with Mark Lane’, ‘Love Gardening with Mark Lane’, ‘Garden Solutions with Mark Lane’ and ‘My Garden Escape with Mark Lane’. Mark has a regular column in the Daily Express, Garden News and Grow Your Own and is the gardening expert for Stannah. Mark is to become one of the first Ambassadors for the National Trust, and is also an Ambassador for the charities Groundwork, Thrive, Greenfingers, Leonard Cheshire and Melanoma Fund, Patron of Core Landscapes, Equity Ambassador for BALI and a Trustee/Co-chair for Gardening with Disabilities Trust. Mark appears on many radio stations and is a regular speaker for the horticultural industry and is a disability advocate.