April Update: What are you growing in 2006?

squeaky

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arkonite_babe, Pink-winged and squeaky

Strepsy

Just got a few bargains from Woolworths - 4 raspberry canes for £1.24, a gooseberry 75p and a blackberry for £2.24. All look in good condition, if in need of a water. Also got some shrubs for 30p each including a japanese maple.

schoolfundraiser

Went to Lidl and got some cheap seeds - yellow podded dwarf french beans (Kinghorn) and a new to me variety of outdoor tomato (Harzfeuer) 49p a packet. Some tomatoes have germinated on the windowsill after only 5 days. The beans are taking longer. The coriander seeds from the Asian store (49p pack for cooking) are also in recycled polystyrene cups (from PTA refreshments sales) and also germinated in about a week after a day's soaking. They are now about 3 ins high after about 3 weeks and I need to put a few more in - each cup gives about a curry's worth for really only the cost of the compost.

Will do the same for parsley and basil.

Have some salad bowl lettuce and rocket to grow but may have to grow it in hanging baskets because of the snails.

Nasturiums are coming up to be used as a decoy for my runner beans which I grew up a tubular rose arch set in two plastic toy boxes last year - they looked very attractive but my SAS snails managed to climb up and eat unless I was very vigilant. My brother gave me some French marigolds which distracted the snails for a while but they were soon eaten up. Gave the bean stems time to toughen up though I did lose two before I realised and planted out the marigolds.

Have made mini greenhouses for the windowsill with aforesaid polystyrene cups and clear plastic cups on top. Once the seedlings are a bit bigger I can put holes in the bottom of the plastic cups and use them as pots - cut off squash bottles being the next mini greenhouse stage. Even the square 1litre bottles will fit over the polystyrene cups. Large lemonade or Coke bottles are even better. I use the bottoms of smaller bottles as water catchers along with jamjar lids, tops of drinking choc and gravy granules containers etc. They can be moved into quite small spaces on windowsills. Two polystyrene cups also fit nicely into a margarine container which gives added stability because of the height of the container sides. Which is how my brainwave with clear plastic cups came into play as the drinks bottles wouldn't fit!!

Have temporarily run out of space on my windowsills so am ranging pots along the tops of my sash windows!

I have a very small garden crammed with flowering plants so all my veg needs to be grown in containers. Medium size plastic window boxes will hold 10 dwarf French bean plants each. I put them up on 3 bricks to deter the snails. In fact most of my containers are off the ground because of the snails around here. It tends to dictate what I grow as I have to take elaborate precautions to keep anything safe - so I grow what is either expensive to buy or much nicer when super fresh.

annie-c

schoolfundraiser wrote:

Have made mini greenhouses for the windowsill with aforesaid polystyrene cups and clear plastic cups on top. Once the seedlings are a bit bigger I can put holes in the bottom of the plastic cups and use them as pots - cut off squash bottles being the next mini greenhouse stage. Even the square 1litre bottles will fit over the polystyrene cups. Large lemonade or Coke bottles are even better. I use the bottoms of smaller bottles as water catchers along with jamjar lids, tops of drinking choc and gravy granules containers etc. They can be moved into quite small spaces on windowsills. Two polystyrene cups also fit nicely into a margarine container which gives added stability because of the height of the container sides. Which is how my brainwave with clear plastic cups came into play as the drinks bottles wouldn't fit!!

Thanks for the 'mini-greenhouse' tips!

I will have to start looking at my plastic bottles and containers in a new light! :j

arkonite_babe

My growing this year so far is as follows:
Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary in pots
Various flowers in pots, nothing else stands a chance in my garden cos the dog loves to dig.

What other things can I grow in pots apart from herbs???

Advice would be very much appreciated

Fatboyslim_2

FIrst time visit to OLD STYLE, I'm just starting to go salad and veggies to save money. Packs of seeds are very expensive around £1.99, which are the best vegetables to grow to save money on shop bought salad and veg? I know Iceberg lettuces are generally expensive , but I cannot find any seeds have they been replaced by a newer variety?

ostrich7

This year we're keeping it simple as we have a house that is needing a lot of TLC and a 4 month old who needs even more!

I have bought basil, coriander, spring onions, sweetcorn and spinach for this year. All can be planted directly into the soil (check your packet to see if it is possible) and we use a lot of all of them and fresh herbs can be quite pricey in the shops.

We've actually covered over half of our allotment with tarpaulin this year as we have so little time - we will get back into it with a vengence next year and when our little one is old enough, she'll be over there in her wellies!

Chell

schoolfundraiser wrote:

The coriander seeds from the Asian store (49p pack for cooking) are also in recycled polystyrene cups (from PTA refreshments sales) and also germinated in about a week after a day's soaking. They are now about 3 ins high after about 3 weeks and I need to put a few more in - each cup gives about a curry's worth for really only the cost of the compost.

Could you tell me more about this please? What do I do to grow corriander from these seeds? I spent almost 50p on a plant yesterday that will do just one meal. I love corriander.

Debt_Free_Chick

Fatboyslim wrote:

FIrst time visit to OLD STYLE, I'm just starting to go salad and veggies to save money. Packs of seeds are very expensive around £1.99, which are the best vegetables to grow to save money on shop bought salad and veg? I know Iceberg lettuces are generally expensive , but I cannot find any seeds have they been replaced by a newer variety?

Lidl, Aldi, Wilkinsons and the pound shops seem to be good value for seeds. Also, many seeds will keep from one year to the next so you can buy a packet this year and save some to sow next year.

Lettuce is very easy to grow and if you have the time and patience, you will certainly save money. A single lettuce probably costs £1 (dunno, never buy it!) but a packet of lettuce seeds might only cost £1.50 and would give you more lettuce than you could eat in a year!

The lettuce you buy as Iceberg is a crisphead lettuce and there are other similar varieties by different names. On page 31 of this catalogue they have Iceberg seeds for £1 :j And this one is described as a classic iceberg lettuce, but the seed is more expensive (organic).

Personally, I prefer these Italian lettuces for taste. And the seeds are very good value e.g. 6,000 seeds for £1.49!!

annie-c

arkonite_babe wrote:

My growing this year so far is as follows:
Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary in pots
Various flowers in pots, nothing else stands a chance in my garden cos the dog loves to dig.

What other things can I grow in pots apart from herbs???

Advice would be very much appreciated

ArkoniteBabe, I'm NOT an expert - this is my first year, and I hope others will answer your question soon - but I am trying to grow the following in pots of various sizes: salad potatoes, spring onions, herbs, tomatoes, radishes, peppers, chillis. (And I have more, still to plant when I get round to it).

Apart from the potatoes everything is currently on the kitchen windowsill or in a mini greenhouse.