Could growing our own fruit and veg solve the salad crisis?

In recent weeks we have all seen news about the challenges at supermarkets, rations and scarcity of foods we all know and love. But this bad news doesn’t have to be the end of the story – in fact, many of us could be growing our own at home and reaping all of the benefits we sow.
That’s certainly what TV gardener – David Domoney – thinks. He is encouraging the nation to use this period to test our ‘sowing and growing’ habits as the salad shortage points to a skills shortage that could really be helping us.
According to a new report, it seems that in the UK we do need a bit of a spruce on these skills or our confidence. The data, from British family business Mr Fothergills who make seeds, shows that most of us (77%) are interested in gardening – but think we have barriers in the way.
18% say that they don’t have space – but at the same time 53% have never tried to grow on their windowsill. Those who have tried say that it was overwhelmingly successful (79%) perhaps we need to more adventurous?
Again – despite the challenges we face with fruit and veg at the moment – 41% think growing their own is ‘out of their league’.
39% say that time is the big barrier to growing their own. A further 35% say they don’t know how to do it. 32% put it down to the weather not being good enough and (31%) now knowing when to plant. 25% also think it is more expensive to grow their own.
Is this about ability or is it about confidence?
But what about the confidence you get from trying and succeeding? 58% say they garden because of the therapeutic benefits and the feeling that you are nurturing something (57%) as well as learning new skills (48%).
Interestingly, 41% found their love of gardening before they turned 25 – challenging the notion gardening is only for ‘old people’ – but one in ten did not know you could grow plants from seeds… suggesting we might just need a little more education.
Join TV gardening expert, David Domoney, to inspire you to get sowing and growing…