Oleg Valenchuk: My own vegetables are always tastier than store-bought ones.

      Which is more profitable — growing vegetables on your own plot or buying them at the store? Every owner of a country house will give an unambiguous answer to this question. Buying may be easier and cheaper, but only the vegetables you grow yourself can be trusted. Someone may object that gardens in the traditional sense have remained in the 70s when shelves were empty, or in the hungry 90s. Today, even pensioners, when planning their plots, allocate most of the land for relaxation zones. Nevertheless, none of them are ready to abandon vegetables, greens, and berries. "We took the garden 41 years ago when the plots were just parceled out," says Natalya Vozzhennikova, treasurer of the SNT "Golden Autumn." "We used to make many preparations, now we mostly consume fresh. But without vegetables — no way. It's very pleasant to pick fresh carrots or cucumbers. We really like the seeds we receive every spring from the Russian Gardeners' Union. The germination rate is excellent. And the savings are significant — seed material is not cheap nowadays." According to the chairman of the SNT, Elena Rusinova, in recent years, young families have actively started acquiring plots. They strive to create coziness, arrange relaxation areas, but they also definitely have space for vegetable beds. As Oleg Valenchuk noted, his own vegetables are always tastier than those from the store. To find out what results our gardeners are achieving, this year a contest called "Who Grows More?!" (12+) is being held on Vyatka land. "The idea of the contest came thanks to our journalists, who asked how many vegetables can be grown from our seed set," Oleg Valenchuk said. "We decided to hold a simple contest that would allow Vyatka gardeners to demonstrate their skills and achievements." Any gardener who receives a set of vegetable seeds from Oleg Valenchuk this spring (more than 100,000 sets were distributed) or uses purchased seeds can participate. To do so, they only need to grow one of the most popular crops: zucchini, pumpkin, carrot, cucumber, or beet. It's important to remember that each crop's harvest must come from a single packet of seeds. Participants can share footage of their harvests and win cash prizes.