Clodagh McKenna explains how to grow your own vegetables

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The taste of fresh herbs is unbeatable, and growing them at home is the easiest way to enjoy a range of vibrant flavours and fragrances all year round. Whether you’re looking to fill an empty windowsill or brighten up your garden patio, Clodagh has shared ways to ensure your herbs and vegetable plants are flourishing at home.

Clodagh said: “I’m going to show you how you can grow your own herbs, vegetables and fruits, it’s so easy and so simple.

“With the cost of foods rising so fast, it’s the best way you can take back control of where you’re spending your money on food and also it’ll taste so much better and is so much fun to do.”

The first step to successfully growing fresh herbs and vegetables at home is to choose the right varieties for your garden or windowsill.

Growing your favourite flavours is one way to select your potted herbs, but you should also keep in mind that some plants are easier grown from cuttings, such as rosemary and mint, while basil and coriander are relatively easy to grow from seeds.

Growing herbs and any other fresh produce from seeds is the cheapest way, according to the expert.

Clodagh explained: “So the first thing you want to do is buy your seeds. 

“A pack of seeds only costs about £2 and you’ll get between 100 to 300  seeds depending on the variety of herb or vegetable. 

“So can you imagine from one little pack for £2 you’ll get about 100 plants.

“It’s so incredible and this is where you can really save money.”

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Clodagh said that all gardeners who want to start growing from seeds need a vessel, like a “growing tray”.

For those who do not have a growing tray, they can use alternatives.

She mentioned that someone on Instagram messaged her about using a roasting tray to start growing their herbs, so all your old roasting trays that are not being used can come in handy.

The expert detailed how to begin sowing the herb seeds.

She said: “What you want to do first is get your compost, now this is seed growing compost, you pop it into the cell. 

“Don’t pack it in too tightly because you want it to be slightly loose to allow the seeds to grow nice and naturally.

“Remember the roots are actually weak at the beginning so they need that looseness.

“Then put your finger in, or you can use a pen, about a half an inch down, and pop just one seed in per cell.

“Don’t make the mistake I have made a million times before of putting a few seeds in because they can compact each other and won’t grow.”

Once the seeds have been sown, gardeners can then you water them every day and after about a few fews they’ll grow a little bit longer, which is when you want to transport them to a bigger pot.

Demonstrating using a grown tomatoes plant, Clodagh showed viewers how to tell when a plant need to be transported to another pot. 

She said: “You’ll know when they’re ready when you pinch them at the bottom of their stem and you’ve got the roots growing. 

“That means they need to go into a bigger pot.

“So you plant them into a bigger pot and they’ll just keep growing and growing, but you can use all different types of pot for it.” 

Clodagh demonstrated using a blue cheese pot, which she uses to grow her tomato plants in.

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