Meet Aimee from Wirral, United Kingdom 
“I’m 25 years old, I love enjoying a mug of tea in my garden and I love being outdoors in any weather, whether it’s in my garden or going on long walks with my rescue dogs! As I sow seeds in the greenhouse or plant out in the raised beds, my dogs Rosie and Bowie are there keeping me company.
As a child I was always outdoors with my siblings, planting out Marigolds and Pansies given to us from my Nan; but it was on my 22nd birthday when I really started to get into growing my own. I was gifted my first apple tree and that Summer I decided to give more things a try in the garden. Radishes, carrots, butternut squash and tomatoes I bought from plug plants. Then the obsession for gardening grew, I originally had an allotment but now my garden has become my new vegetable plot and last Summer I finally got a greenhouse!
I grow my own food as I try to be as environmentally friendly as I can and so I also know where my food has come from. To be eating fruit and vegetables that haven’t come wrapped in plastic, sprayed with pesticides or has been grown out of season. Plus it tastes so much better!
I live on the Wirral, UK. I have a large garden which has been divided up for the vegetable patch, cut flowers and space for my dogs to run around.
I grow anything I can! I focus on the things we eat the most like squashes, brassicas, root vegetables like carrots and tomatoes and chillies. I also love to grow herbs to infuse homemade candles and this year I’m planning on making my own soap with lavender and rosemary.
Everything I grow is organic, to keep garden pests under control I like to plant flowers that will draw in the right predators like wasps and ladybirds which will eat things like aphids. I keep my garden as natural as possible, corners of nettles are allowed to keep growing and there are overgrown areas for hedgehogs; slugs are not a big problem anymore now that there are hedgehogs and frogs living here.
The biggest reward of growing my own is sharing my harvests with friends and family and cooking all sorts with fresh vegetables that have grown just outside my door. It’s also seeing the wildlife that visit, since growing my own food I have seen more and more bees and butterflies come to my garden.
You really don’t need a large garden or an allotment to grow your own, a few pots or a balcony garden you can grow anything. Never give up if seeds don’t grow or your Cabbages are eaten by caterpillars, if you’re having fun then that’s what matters!”
