Revisited! Great 'Grow Your Own' Hunt: share your top tips on home cultivation

beast2912

First time growing my own this year. Dug up part of lawn and constructed 3 raised beds from old decking and filled with topsoil and compost. Planted spinach, swiss chard, mange tout, courgettes, french climbing beans, peas, beetroot, lettuce, onions. The peas had a pretty short crop and while really tasty, probably not enough space to be worthwhile. Courgettes and mange tout a great success, beets really good, beans just about ready, onions disaster. I have multiple bags of potatoes (can't wait for harvest!) and a variety of herbs in containers. A great experience and I've learnt a lot - less is more when it comes to sowing for example and thin out ruthlessly! The advice to grow stuff that's expensive in the shops is very sensible - will remember for next year!

Only outlay was on seeds and compost really and some hard graft in March! I'm going to try to grow right through the winter and I can't wait for next spring!

Jay1b

Hi

I've been thinking about getting an allotment for a few weeks now. But I really dont get a lot of time to manage it.

If i were to just plant a load of seeds in an allotment, leave it alone then come back to it later on, would there be much to harvest? I would imagine some would grow through...along with a lot of weeds, but realistically?

Any thoughts?

Jay

Kantankrus_Mare

Hi Jay1b

Im afraid its not quite as simple as that.

The weeds grow so quickly that even 2 weeks away would see loads of the the blighters.

Better to do little and often. That is assuming of course that the allotment is in good order and you dont have to do any initial groundwork.

Im in my 3rd year of taking on a totally disused allotment, that had weeds waist high, and Ive only just got it how I want it but it really is so satisfying.

shul558127

Morning all, this is my first post, so apologies if this has already been asked........

I created a v.little herb bed in my old garden, I espescially loved the chives, the flowers were gorgeous but I was told that you cannot use herbs once they have flowered, is this correct? I would like to do the same thing again but how on earth do you stop mother nature.......

Thanks again, look forward to your replies:D

Primrose

I tend not to use the leaves of my chives once they've flowered but there's no golden rule which says you cannot. The point of the flowers is to let them go to seed. The seeds will fall onto the ground and produce new chives the following year, although the original clump will also remain. I've got several small clumps of chives which reappear every spring. If you have more than one clump of chives, you can snip off the flower stalks low down and continue to use the other parts of the plant.

Jay1b

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

Hi Jay1b

Im afraid its not quite as simple as that.

The weeds grow so quickly that even 2 weeks away would see loads of the the blighters.

Better to do little and often. That is assuming of course that the allotment is in good order and you dont have to do any initial groundwork.

Im in my 3rd year of taking on a totally disused allotment, that had weeds waist high, and Ive only just got it how I want it but it really is so satisfying.

Thanks for the reply, but would i get nothing growing at all? How do farmers grow massive fields of food? herbicide?

c_telling

Hi guys,

Just to say even if you don't have room for a full on veggy patch in your garden you can still grow your own.

One idea I have tried successfully is to use hanging baskets for plants such as tomotoes, most herbs or strawberries without taking up loads of space.

Window cills are good places for plants like chillis and peppers that need to be kept warm if you don't have a green house. If you do have some room in the garden mini green houses are great too but you need to remember to screw them back to a wall otherwise you can end up in trouble on windy days. They cost about £15 and can be dismantled over the winter and reused year after year.

Easy plants to grow from seeds include lettuce and water cress. The water cress needs to be kept warm and well watered but so easy to grow and both offer continous salads throughout the summer for pennies not pounds.

Also a good source of free plants is freecycle. Other gardens grow too many seedlings, or have spare plants for swapping. Councils do tend to give bedding plants away but you might find its on the previso that you dig them up yourself (just remember to ask first!).

One last thing if you want to learn more gardening tips you might find your local park offers gardening clubs where you can meet green fignered friends and pick up some good tips as well as having an enjoyable afternoon.

Hopefully this will help a few of you get out there and grow your own.

mooncycles

I've only just discovered this forum, thanks to my husband pointing it out yesterday. Hallo, everyone!

I've always enjoyed gardening but this year is my first really serious attempt at growing most of our own vegetables. And it's going very well, on the whole, although the recent lack of rain has held back the peas and beans. My great excitement at the moment is that four tomatoes in the greenhouse have turned red — can't wait to pick them. I'm growing tomatoes (both under glass and in the garden), cucumbers (ditto), courgettes (in the veg plot and one on a maturing compost heap), broad beans, pea beans, borlotti beans, dwarf purple beans, potatoes, leeks, leaf beet, cabbages and lots of salad leaves (three types of lettuce, red rib dandelion, sorrel and blood-veined sorrel, wild rocket and mixed salad leaves from a packet) and spring onions (which are a lot more fiery than their insipid shop-bought cousins). I take great delight in periodically totting up roughly how much money I would have spent on these veg if bought from a supermarket, and reckon it's about £150 so far from March onwards. The salad leaves in particular (and we eat a lot of salad) have been especially successful. I haven't bought any lettuce or other salad leaves since Easter. A massive saving.

I start everything off in modules or pots (the plastic trays that hold supermarket tomatoes make great seed trays, and I use rolled up newspaper, held together with the elastic bands that the postman insists on discarding by our front door, instead of loo rolls as root trainers) and only plant out when the plants are sturdy and able to survive the potential onslaught of slugs, etc. This seems to work well.

The thing is, though, that I've tried growing our own food in the past and got absolutely nowhere. So much so that I didn't even bother to grow stuff in the end, because what was the point. Far too dispiriting. I think a lot of the success is because I now sow, plant out and hoe the vegetables according to the phases of the moon. This is one aspect of biodynamic gardening but in fact it's much, much older than that. The idea is that as the moon moves across each of the constellations (from our perspective on earth) it picks up the energy of that constellation. And each constellation is connected with one of the four elements — fire, earth, air and water. And each element is connected with a particular type of plant. Fire relates to seed-bearing plants (eg cucumbers, tomatoes, squashes, beans). Earth relates to plants grown for their roots (eg carrots, turnips, onions). Air to plants grown for their flowers (eg broccoli and cauliflower, although of course you harvest them before the curds break into flower — well, you hope to, anyway!). Water to plants grown for their leaves (eg salad crops, leeks, herbs). It may sound barmy but in my experience so far this year it works miraculously. The theory is that lunar planting also increases yield, flavour and nutrition of the produce.

In response to the query about flowering herbs, I've heard that the best way to stop the herbs flowering is to keep picking the leaves, even if you only put them on the compost heap. Also, cut off the flower buds as soon as you see them. Chives should be cut right back in June, otherwise they will get increasingly spindly as the summer continues. Give them a good watering and they'll produce another flush of fresh young leaves. The same rule applies to many other perennial herbs. Annual herbs, though, such as coriander and basil, are programmed by nature to set seed, in order to continue their species, so you need to keep sowing fresh batches of them, as even constant picking of the leaves won't stop coriander suddenly bursting into flower (but at least you can save the seeds, ready to sow again).

tyadog

Can anyone help?

I have early main crop potaotes (rooster) growing in big bags. The plants look really healthy, lots of greenery, but no sign of flowers - I'm getting worried!! Its been cold in my part of the world (north), but when can I expect these to flower, and what do I do if they don't flower?? Its my first time with potatoes so not sure what to expect!

Thanks!

skull

Some of the things I have learned from growing my own veg and keeping hens are:
Do your research before you start, you could end up spending money rather than saving it if you don't.
Look at your diet, what do you actually eat, and what gets left on the plate or given to the dog?
Research food storage/disposal ideas in case you are lucky and get a glut. This saves a lot of panic if you suddenly find you have far more aubergines than you can possibly eat at the time of harvesting. Search out recipes for freezing, for chutneys, jams, bottling and even drying. Also ask friends/colleagues/relatives if they would like some. Find out if any local charities could use your surplus.
Crops I am currently growing are potatoes, onions, and shallots.
Potatoes are a great staple and are often planted to 'clear the ground' when a patch is first planted, but don’t plant in the same place more than 2 years running.
Onions can be used in so many ways to add flavour to soups and stews, in sandwiches, fried, baked etc and they store well.
Shallots are great for cooking and pickling.
Among other veg, I have also grown Garlic, great for health and taste.
Peas (a pick and come again crop which is great to pod, blanch and freeze).
I planted carrots and protected them from carrot fly, only for the slugs to eat the lot! Broad beans are very easy to grow and crop very well.
Dwarf French Beans taste great, but I didn’t get much of a crop with them and those that I did get were attacked by slugs.
Some veg are better planted through plant fabric, this allows air and water in but does not let weeds grow. However some perennial weeds, such as thistles, will grow through the fabric, so you still have to clear the ground before you put the fabric down.
Slugs. I have clay soil and so can't use nematodes which you can water in about 6 weeks before seed planting, although they are great for other soils. I have tried slug mats, copper tape, slug pellets (organic, pet friendly) and not had much luck with any of them.
The best solution was a torch, rubber gloves (trying to get slug gunk off your hands is a yucky business) and a plastic container. Go out in the evening around 8 or 9 o'clock and in the early morning, or after rain to pick off the most slugs. We had 50 in one half hour in one night. Still had more the next night though.
This year we have hens, they love the slugs and even fight over them. Don’t throw the slugs over a neighbour’s fence or nearby, not kind to the neighbour and the slugs will come back anyway, if you don’t have hens and don’t know anyone who does, then you need to take them at least a mile away or kill them.
The slugs really love peas (also related plants like lupins etc) and though the books say they don't eat onions or garlic, don't you believe it! Last year was an exceptionally wet summer, and a glut of slugs attacked everything, including the stems of onions and garlic, though they didn't go for the bulbs thankfully. But we did lose 1/3 of our potato crop to them.
Talking of Peas, when planting most seed types it is better to grow them indoors until they grow into seedlings and strong young plants (in modules or yoghurt pots, cans, btw also toilet roll innards -14 cut in half will fit one seed tray), as otherwise birds, mice etc will think you have put them out for them. However be careful as some veg (mostly roots like Carrots or Beetroot) don’t like to be moved from where they are planted. If you have to plant Pea seed outside then soak for an hour in a solution of water and seaweed extract (garden centres stock it) as this disguises the smell of the peas from mice - that worked for me anyway. For organic gardening try bob flowerdews books at the library.
Some hen tips:
Make sure your deeds/landlord etc allow you to keep hens first. Make sure you have proper housing and space enough for them (Igloos are not ideal, plastic causes condensation and they are not very secure). Make sure the housing/run is secure so hens are safe from cats/dogs/rats/foxes and birds of prey (some predators are very persistent and surprisingly innovative, (they may come by every night just to see if you left the gate open!). Never scatter grain/food everywhere for poultry, like they do in the movies or you will attract rats and your neighbours will not be happy with you.
Check that the breed you are interested in does what you want, hybrids are great for laying. Also check to see how noisy the birds are. I read in one book that Black Rock hens are quiet and hate to be picked up. They may not like being picked up, but will endure it if they are being carried to fresh grazing etc. They are usually quiet, but can be noisy if they want something. They quickly learn the feeding routine and will 'shout' if you are late with their feed or letting them out in the morning. My black rock hens lay up to 300 eggs a uear each!
One other thing, make sure that the hens have been fully inoculated (against Marek's disease for one thing) before you agree to purchase them.
If you buy one hen it may become lonely, if you buy 2 and one dies the other may pine, so buy 3 or 4 and they will be a happy little family. But buy them a the same time from the same place if possible. If you must buy them separately do not put them in together until they have become used to each other or the feathers will fly. Put them in separate secure runs within sight of each other and give them time to make friends first.
Unless you live far from other houses do not get a cockerel, or if you do expect the neighbours to complain about the noise and the police to maybe give you an ASBO!
Make sure your hens have adequate water and feed available to them but do not overfeed.
In addition to their regular feed, hang up some greens/cabbage/lettuce/chard for them to peck at in bad weather when they can't go out and for interest if they are confined to their pen. Hens can get bored too!
Look out for red spider mite which is vampiric to hens - it hides during the day but comes out at night in the henhouse. Ask at your vets or feed merchants for the appropriate treatment if this happens. If you want to use an organic treatment then try Barrier Red Spider Mite Powder or liquid. The powder is easier to use on the hens as they dislike being wet, or mine do. You will also need to disinfect the henhouse fairly regularly.
Hens like to have a dust bath, in winter this can be difficult if the weather is bad. My solution was to get a cheap under bed storage box remove the lid and fill it with wood ash from my fire (not coal ash or soot which is poisonous to hens, cats and some other animals). Alternatively you can use sand. Any plastic shallow box will do so long as they can climb into it (or you can sink it into the ground). It isn’t essential to have but it does make them happy!
The library has poultry/smallholder magazines as well as gardening mags which have regular articles for those starting up. Also try the Poultry Discussion Forum ( thepoultrysite.com/forums ) which can tell you all you need to know or answer any queries you may have.Sorry for the essay, I am sure there is more but all I can think off at the moment. Mods if parts of this are in wrong place please edit /move relevant bits.