This Happy Place

Vegetable garden Design Australia

When choosing what to grow, have a plan and research which plants will work for you and your area. It's a good idea to start with seasonal planting - a gardening calendar will help you work out which vegetables and fruits grow in which months, and when to harvest depending on where you live. Succession planting, or staggering the sowing of your seeds, will ensure a continuous supply of vegetables (instead of them all coming in at once!).

Tips for choosing cost-effective fruit and vegetables

• Grow plants that give multiple crops and are high yielding. For example, a bean seed will give you many crops over a season, whereas planting a cauliflower will just give you one pick and can take four months to mature.
• Choose crops that grow quickly such as radishes, lettuces and spinach. It means you can turn over what you're growing very quickly.
• Grow plants with long yields such as green leafy vegetables like perpetual spinach and silver beet. Heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables also tend to have longer yields, maximising your harvest.
• Choose crops that aren't too resource-intensive to grow (for example use a lot of water) and that are less susceptible to pests, such as an heirloom variety.
• Choose vegetables that you like to eat, that can be easily stored or preserved, and that are expensive to buy at the shop.

Some of our picks for the most cost-effective vegetables to grow are:

• Herbs last longer on the plant. Having them on hand is a great way to save on buying a fresh bunch every time you need just a small amount.
• Lettuce can be expensive to buy and it doesn't take long for it to go bad. Cut-and-come-again varieties will save you from wasting food, as well as make your salads more nutritious and delicious. Sprouts are also easy to grow indoors.
• Cherry heirloom tomatoes can be as much as $7 at the supermarket so growing your own is a good option. Cherry tomatoes also grow quicker than the larger varieties so there is less time for them to be eaten by bugs. Heirloom varieties will also have longer yields.
• Climbing beans are great for small spaces and give multiple crops.