Free veg seeds 2024, let's get started!

I’m not sure I ever really liked peas as a kid. But I’ll always remember the first one I ate straight from my grandparents’ garden. It was the sweetest pea I’d ever tasted and it had me hooked – I just knew I wanted to grow my own food when I grew up. Fast forward a few decades and I’ve been growing fruit and veg for 15 years, chronicling the highs and lows on social media. I started growing in containers before moving to a garden big enough to keep chickens, with an allotment nearby. Our gardening spaces may have changed but one thing hasn’t – the satisfaction of growing from seed. Nurturing young plants can be very therapeutic and it’s much cheaper than buying them. Plus, homegrown vegetables taste approximately 679 times better than shop-bought equivalents!

Growing together

I’m thrilled to be growing these edible seeds with you, and sharing my experiences, throughout 2024. Each month I’ll give you tips on how to grow the seeds you've received, and advice for growing on the seedlings we’ve already sown. I’ll share my progress and tips – and promise to admit when the slugs have had a party or the weather has set me back. Hopefully together we will harvest lots of basil, parsley, tomatoes, carrots, beetroot and rocket.

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Where to grow

I grow vegetables across a few different areas. The allotment is our main space, but I like to have herbs by the back door in containers, within easy reach for cooking. We have a much-loved greenhouse at home which I’ll use for early sowings, but a sunny windowsill will do just as well. In fact, sometimes gentle heat above a radiator is better for early sowings than my greenhouse.

I'll start my rocket off on a windowsill and will eventually move it to containers and to the allotment. Basil is happiest in a big pot on our kitchen table, and I plan to show you that growing from seed can work in any space. Tomatoes I plan to grow in the greenhouse, but if it’s a sunny growing season then I’ll have some in pots on our decking too. I’ll sow beetroot directly at the allotment. But I’ve successfully grown beetroot scattered among flowers in the garden borders too. Parsley is one of my favourite herbs to grow in different spaces. It’ll find a home in our allotment beds for harvests through to next winter and I’ll grow some in the garden for the hens, who can never resist it. I'll be sowing my carrots directly into a dedicated raised bed but they grow really well in containers too.

My top tips

In my experience, the key to happy vegetables is having the right soil – this simply means knowing your soil and working with it – which I will talk you through over the coming months. My allotment spaces will be mulched and covered in the run-up to spring, to protect and warm up the soil for early sowings, and whatever your soil type, it will appreciate this extra care.
I know one thing that sometimes puts people off growing vegetables from seed is them being eaten by something other than you! I’ve had deer munch all my seedlings at the allotment and know how disheartening it can be, so I’ll talk about protecting your seeds as we go. (Note to any slugs reading this, I’m coming for you).

Growing your free rocket seeds

The peppery leaves of hardy rocket are easy to grow – a great one to start with. At the end of the month I’ll start off my rocket in seed trays on our windowsills.

These seedlings will work perfectly as microgreens to garnish winter soups, and you'll be able to harvest them after just a couple of weeks. I’ll grow other seedlings on under glass to plant in containers and at the allotment for salads later in the spring.

I’ll be using multi-purpose compost and ensuring my seed tray has good drainage holes. Rocket will need some sunshine and to be watered well, particularly in hotter weather. I’ll be sure to remind you later in the year as I don’t think that’s a problem for February– see you then!