Home-grown veg is fresh and tasty, says expert

Growing vegetables in a greenhouse could be a great way for gardening fans to bring some extra nutrition into their diets.

Donna McDaid, national secretary for the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, said that home-grown food is far tastier than shop-bought alternatives, while it also has a better texture.

"You can taste the freshness when you harvest your own crops from your allotment that morning and cook them the same day," she stated.

Ms McDaid also pointed out that home-grown food is much more environmentally-friendly, as it does not have to be imported from far-flung locations such as Chile, which is where sugar snap peas can come from.

Furthermore, supermarket crops could have been harvested up to two weeks in advance, she added.

As well as being fresh and eco-friendly, tending an allotment could also be good for the body.

Writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Environmental Health at the end of last year, researchers revealed those who saw to their own vegetables tended to be healthier than people who did no