We’ve never been more aware of the impact of chemicals involved in mass crop farming. Wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly what’s gone into your next vegie soup or salad? The time is ripe for the return of the (stylish) vegie patch – and don’t worry if you don’t have much time/space/know-how, we’ve got you covered.

Where best to grow vegetables

Most vegetables require a sunny position, with at least four hours direct sun each day, more if possible. If your would-be vegie patch gets less sun than this, don’t despair. Leafy crops, such as spinach, silverbeet, lettuce and rocket, all grow happily in less direct sunlight, providing they are in a bright garden and not indoors. Root crops – carrots, beets, parsnips and turnips – cope in half-sun and half-shade, but will grow larger if they get more sun. Root crops need well-tilled soil (dug over until it’s fine and crumbly), otherwise you get deformed vegetables – great fun as novelties but not so good for the dinner table.

All vegies like free-draining, well-fed soil with as much manure or compost dug in as you can find the time for. This will ensure juicy and nutritious produce. As a rule, vegetables grow best when protected from strong winds, which can retard development and make vegetables dry, stressed and with a bitter flavour. Mulch helps keep soil temperature and moisture levels constant – a huge plus in vegetable gardening.

How much space do I need?

To feed the whole family with home-grown produce you’ll need just 10 square metres of soil and four hours a week to maintain it. The Digger’s Club, a mail-order seed company based in Victoria, has great kits available.

Vegetables for small spaces

Don’t be put off if space is tight, because many vegetables grow happily in pots. Yates has seeds designed exactly for this purpose. Then there are ranges of mini vegetables from Yates, and from Digger’s, such as mixed melons and pumpkins for small spaces, including Cucumber “Spacemaster”, Pumpkin “Delicata”, Rockmelon “Ha-ogen” and Watermelon “Sweet Siberia”. They’re all priced from about $2 a seed-pack. Some vegies, including beans, peas, snow peas, cucumbers and tomatoes, grow upright. Trained onto a tripod or trellis, they provide hits of upright colour. They are also marvellously space efficient.

Organic methods

If you want organic produce, a few old-fashioned principles need to be observed. The first is crop rotation: never grow plants in the same family in the same spot from one season to another. This way nutrients aren’t being depleted unevenly and plots are easier to keep disease-free. Other organic methods include encouraging “helpful” insects such as ladybirds, praying mantis and hoverflies into the garden, and providing homes for lizards and frogs that eat garden pests. Also plant companion herbs such as marigolds and chives in with your vegies – they’re natural insect repellents.

Design your vegetable garden: the basics

To make your vegetables good enough to eat – and your garden good enough to live with – observe the following rules:

1. Include some permanent plants, such as herb borders or box edges.

2. Have a mix of flowers, including edible ones (for salads and garnishes) and those that encourage beneficial insects (such as elderflowers).

3. Select some vegetables with striking colours, such as purple-podded peas, coloured rainbow chard, coloured-leaf lettuces or purple cabbages.

4. Stagger your planting to achieve a continual run of plants. This way you can have an ongoing harvest without big gaps.

5. Use built features to add permanence: walls, flagging stones for paths, lattice screens and tripods all add to the year-round look. And implement cute details like seed tags, baskets and watering cans – they’ll make you feel and look the part.

For more great ideas and practical solutions for your home see http://www.reallivingmag.com.au/