UK newspaper The Telegraph has reported that more than a quarter of people in the UK are growing their own fruit and vegetable in efforts to survive the recession.

Rising food prices, retrenchments and overall economic downturn has prompted this move to “The Good Life”. Most of the 1,000 people surveyed said they would save more than £200 a year by growing their own food.

Seed retailers have announced a 27 percent increase in sales.

South Africans have long been encouraged by the government to grow their own food and this seems to be a trend that is catching on, with micro-gardening tips and schemes sprouting up everywhere. City dwellers are finding innovative ways of turning small spaces into lush gardens.

The Fezeka Community Garden project in Cape Town is just such a success story, involving 3,000 micro-farmers annually.

Here are some tips for growing vegetables in a small space:

• Get hold of a selection of pot plants and containers (no need to buy brand new, you can get decent containers at pawn shops, garage sales and from family and friends)
• Potatoes are a great vegetable to start with
• Drill holes in the bottom of your containers for drainage
• Add a layer of  compost to the bottom of the container
• lant your seed potatoes, water them and let them grow
• Add another layer of compost when you see the seeds sprouting through
• Plant more seeds in this layer and carry on doing this until the container is full
• Leave the potatoes to grow until after the plants have stopped flowering
• Harvest by digging up your potatoes

Try other vegetables like carrots, turnips, radishes, runner beans, onions and parsnips. Fruit and vegetables should be planted in season for best results.

Another great way to grow vegetables if you have a small garden is as follows:

• Dig a square hole of 1m x 1m, about 60cm deep
• Add a thick layer of compost to the bottom of the hole and then fill the hole with soil
• Take a plastic soft drink bottle and pierce it full of holes
• Bury this in the center of the hole with the top sticking out
• Use bricks to divide the hole into four quadrants (lay them down in a cross shape on top of the soil)
• Plant a different vegetable in each quadrant
• Fill the plastic bottle with water (each day until the seedlings are well-established and once a week thereafter) and this will create a mini-irrigation system for your vegetables to grow in

Another innovative gardening method for potatoes is to stack old car tires on top of each other in your garden, fill with soil and compost and plant your potatoes as you stack higher and higher. Once the plants have flowered, simply knock over the stack of tires to harvest the potatoes.

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is easier than you think and you can certainly grow a great crop in a very small space.

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