How much and what can I grow this year?

gingernutbizkit

Hi all,

I had my first go at growing my own f + v in my back garden last year and had really poor results so I'm after some advice. I tried successional planting but hadn't really got the hang of it. I was using the squarefoot gardening technique but I'm wonderign if that was the problem as I think the planting was too dense and therefore that plants didn't get the nutrients - I had carrots smaller than my fingernail!

I have very limited space and to be honest I'm wondering if it is really worth it for a family of 5. I have 5 link-a-bord's (1m sq gardening beds) some small pots and space for 8-10 hanging baskets.

What would you do with the space?

TIA, Ging x

Zazen999

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

I had carrots smaller than my fingernail!

In length or width?

To be honest, linkaboards aren't really deep enough for carrots.

with 5 square metres, I'd pop a tomato in one 1/4, some beans in another, peas in another and spring onions in another. Then, in another, another tomato, some onions from sets, some lettuce and some beetroot. Then, in another, another tomato, a courgette, some basil/oregano and radishes. Ditto - filling up a quarter at a time.

Give the soil a good feed or some well rotted manure and fork it all in around spring time.
You could use cut and come again lettuce in a cross down the centre of the linkaboard to save using a full 1/4 for growing it, and it marks out the spaces you are using.

And, I'd make sure the soil below is forked up under the beds, so that the roots can grow nicely down and get their water and nutrients from below.

gazza975526570

Id also work out which veg you like best and how much it costs to buy.

EG carrots do taste lovely home grown but with the amount of potential problems with them, the room they take and the fact you can buy a bag for 30p asks the question is it worth it?

I have an allotment and whilst i will grow some i reckon i only get maybe 6 meals from them and just have them as an off treat. Runner beans crop heavily and maye you can train them up a wall? Salads are expensive but easy to grow in a small area

evie451

i found my linka boards rubbish for carrots too, i now grow the little round Parmex variety and i think the short stubby ones are called Chantenay?? the kids love them and you dont need to be very particular about sowing them cos you can pull a few as you go along giving the others a bit more room.......Try Peas too i got seeds from Lidl and again huge hit with the kids, they can be picked at mange tout size or left to develop......
Honestly thats more room than i have and i did manage to give something fresh on the table everyday last year for a family of 6.....
I would try some bush type toms in the hanging baskets and some strawberries?

gingernutbizkit

evie451 wrote: »

i found my linka boards rubbish for carrots too, i now grow the little round Parmex variety and i think the short stubby ones are called Chantenay?? the kids love them and you dont need to be very particular about sowing them cos you can pull a few as you go along giving the others a bit more room.......Try Peas too i got seeds from Lidl and again huge hit with the kids, they can be picked at mange tout size or left to develop......
Honestly thats more room than i have and i did manage to give something fresh on the table everyday last year for a family of 6.....
I would try some bush type toms in the hanging baskets and some strawberries?

EVERYDAY for 6 people???? Really???? WOW!!!!!!!
Tried strawberries for a couple of years but not had a lot of luck with them I think you're all right about the carrots though.

Ging x

evie451

Ging does the place where the linka boards are get quite a lot of sun? what did you fill em up with top soil or compost maybe?

i think some of this depends on what you want to be able to do, i just like the taste of the homegrown stuff loads of things taste much better, tomatoes, salads and the potatoes all taste great, i wasnt trying to be self sufficient i was happy if i could go out and pick the salad/pots to go with lunch and say some blueberries and straws to have for pudding...............did you grow stuff from seed last year? i find this a bit hit and miss as a novice and harder to do than the bloomin packet lets you believe!!

gingernutbizkit

evie451 wrote: »

Ging does the place where the linka boards are get quite a lot of sun? what did you fill em up with top soil or compost maybe?

i think some of this depends on what you want to be able to do, i just like the taste of the homegrown stuff loads of things taste much better, tomatoes, salads and the potatoes all taste great, i wasnt trying to be self sufficient i was happy if i could go out and pick the salad/pots to go with lunch and say some blueberries and straws to have for pudding...............did you grow stuff from seed last year? i find this a bit hit and miss as a novice and harder to do than the bloomin packet lets you believe!!

Hi Evie,
I have a south facing garden so I'm very lucky to have full sun on my veggie area in the summer from first thing in the morning until about 4pm. I filled the beds with a mixture of topsoil, lots of compost and some vermiculite. I did mostly grow from seed and as you have said I also found it hit and miss. I didn't have any problems with salad leaves but the rest was definately much harder than the packets said. Maybe I should use plug plants this year,but I've no idea the best place to get them or if they would save me much money????

Ging x

valk_scot

So you have five square meters in total of ground space, yes? That's small but you can still grow a fair bit. Go for fast growing, compact vegetables that are expensive in the supermarket and that you will actually use. Salad stuff, chinese stir fry veg like pak choi, spring onions, beetroot, baby turnips, maybe a dwarf courgette plant, dwarf peas, french beans, early spuds. You could fit in a small block of sweetcorn too. Hanging baskets are very limiting but you could try a tumbling form of cherry tomato. You can grow potatoes, basil, chives, outdoor cucumbers, tomatoes and garlic in decent sized pots, and I had great success one year with dward courgettes in window boxes, but they all need lots of water and feeding.

lisa26_2

Get yourself some tumbling tomatoes in your hanging baskets. With 8-10 baskets you could grow enough of them to feed a small army!!! I put 2 plants in a basket and get hundreds!

gingernutbizkit

Thank you both. I have been looking at plugs from Vegetable Plants Direct. They do a 4 season pack for small gardens but I'm thinking that I'm probably best to work out what I want myself to ensure I get the right number of plants and the right varieties. Has anyone else bought from them?

Ging x

Zazen999

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Thank you both. I have been looking at plugs from Vegetable Plants Direct. They do a 4 season pack for small gardens but I'm thinking that I'm probably best to work out what I want myself to ensure I get the right number of plants and the right varieties. Has anyone else bought from them?

Ging x

Why don't you buy a collection of seeds off of ebay or something; and some modules from wilkos and keep the costs down. Modules can be reused loads of times so you can sow, plant out, resow; all spring and early summer long