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Grow your own
The Royal Horticultural Society is urging budding gardeners to catch the ‘grow your own’ bug
The RHS says it has identified a new strain of bug affecting thousands of gardens, allotments and window boxes across the country. People are warned that the ‘GYO’ or ‘Grow Your Own’ bug is rampant and can lead to a healthier diet , a fitter figure and an increase in overall happiness .
The RHS advises everyone to catch the bug and join their ‘Grow Your Own Veg Campaign 2007’,
Guy Barter, RHS Head of Advisory, says, “The GYO bug appears to be highly contagious which is great news for this wonderful pastime! If you haven’t caught it yet, March is the perfect time as the sowing season begins in earnest.
“Many vegetable seeds can be sown from this month, particularly in mild areas with light soil, including broad beans, carrots, spinach, peas and salad leaves.
“And you don’t need lots of space to start as many of these can be grown in patio containers or window boxes. If you’re a seasoned grower there are lots of new varieties to try this year, and for those beginners, don’t be scared.
“The RHS will be here to help with advice throughout the year – just visit us at our gardens or log on to the campaign website at www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables.”
If you’d like to grow your own food, but need a little help and inspiration to get going, the RHS is staging various events at its four gardens.
For example, RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Yorkshire will host a ‘Spring Veg Day’ on 11th April. While foodies can look forward to the ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ event at RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon on 28th April.
If you’re planning a visit to any of the gardens, you will be able to see 3x3m veg plots, based on the RHS Garden Harlow Carr plot seen in the BBC programme, Grow Your Own Veg. The plots demonstrate how to get the most produce out of a small space.
Veg fans can also look forward to some inspirational kitchen gardens and vegetable displays at the RHS flower shows this summer, as well as enter the fruits of their labours in the amateur growers’ Summer Fruit & Vegetable Competition at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in July. To find out more about the GYO campaign, click here
This article was created: 16 March 2007.
This article was last edited: 10 August 2007.
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