veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

lynzpower

simonne15 wrote: »

In these days of conservation, ecological consciousness etc. we are struggling with the fact that we have had to give up using our compost bin. We produce loads of veg waste, faster than it will compost but we have too many physical probs now to be able to dig the garden to use the compost. The guilt is enormous!
I saw a prog on TV some time ago about a farmer who has started a business collecting veg waste from homes and using it in bulk- brilliant idea. Does anyone have any knowledge of such enterprise or contact details- in our case in the North East? Otherwise any other ideas that we could use to prevent putting all the waste in the normal bin please? We would rather not waste public money. Thanks in anticipation.:o

Have you not thought about getting a wormery? Some councils also give discounts on these too.

When we move we will be getting a new one unfortunately we killed all our worms on a house move once, but will try again at some point.

No digging :T :j

Try wiggly wigglers there are a few different types .

TGarden30

In answer to Megansmum, I used peat pots to sow lobelia flower seeds and by watering them the pot bottoms tend to disintegrate and the roots find there way through. Its best to sit them in a seed tray if they are in the greenhouse.

Its my 3rd year of growing vegetables in my 3 raised beds in my back garden. I'm really excited as today I got my seeds through the post! It took me ages to choose what I wanted to grow but now I'm hoping the weather will be ok so I can start sowing.

I'm going to start sowing my tomato seeds on the windowsill, carrots, radish and beetroot under cloches this weekend.

If anyone needs any advice, I'm doing a little Help guide on planning your own vegetable garden on my blog which may be useful to you at iGrowVeg.com

I've also produced some free pdf and excel downloads of veg group types, vegetable difficulty ratings and a veg plan template etc - See my Free Resources page.

niclon26

Hi everyone,I now have a very lovely large Raised bed in our back garden made by my fantastic hubby,going to get some top soil asap from my friends farm.Cant wait,have currently got carrots,onions,tomatoes,cabbages,sweet peppers,and leeks all growing indoors either in propogator,seedhouse or windowsill.Think I have messed up with chitting my potatoes,were all doing well then went blackish colour on the roots and spongy-What happened? Any advice would be great,gonna buy more seed potatoes soon.
Am now going to add courgettes to my ever growing list of vegetables that I am hoping to grow this year.Holding off planting the seeds though.

YoungBean

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I've not posted much the past few days, it's been pretty naff.

Got a call Mothers Day to tell me my Gran had died on Saturday night so as you can imagine, not feeling great.

Sounds daft, but the one thing keeping my mind occupied is watching my little sproutlings coming up they are coming up nicely now, just waiting until next week to start transferring some to single pots. I have one pot of Cabbages which has 12 sproutlings in!! Don't want my babies to get angry at the lack of sleep space!

Everyone seems to be getting on really well. Looking forward to seeing more pictures

lynzpower

Aww hey YB, really really sorry to hear about your gran, on mothers day of all days, hugs that must be so so hard.

(((YB)))

YoungBean

Tell me about it! Sucks big time.

Hugs to you too *hugs*

kimmee

Hugs YoungBean. Good luck with your sproutlings

descartesmum

Last year's blueberries never appeared I think it rained too much.
This year I'm planting:
tomatoes
cinnamon basil
white sweetcorn
red sweetcorn
courgettes (I really just want the flowers)
horseradish
the long sweet red peppers
broccoli

Last year I bought B&Q's small bag to grow tomatoes and they (3 plants) died while the plants from the same seeds did well in pots.

Due to disability I've done something the gardening experts would probably weep at. I can't cut the grass any longer so I got an old carpet and laid it in the backyard. It has worked beautifully. No more grass or weeds popping up. It covers most of the garden but it doesn't go into the area where I have the food for the birds and they behave themselves and don't use the carpeted area as a loo.

littleme96

I am a total gardening newbie, but have decided to go in head first and learn on the way! Currently am growing (well trying to grow...):

Garlic
Carrots
Tomatoes
Salad Leaves
Herbs (Coriander, Chives, Basil, Rosemary and Parsley)
Potatoes - which are currently chitting, but will be planted next month

I hope that at least some of them are successful, but time will tell I guess!

wendytiggermad

elennor wrote: »

Hi, I've been growing my own veg for years and one tip I would give anyone is to not to take everything the authors of gardening books say too seriously-just have a go and enjoy it. Where you live makes a lot of difference to where you sow-frost, daylight hours etc all count. If growing in containers go to your local fishmonger and ask if he has any spare polystyrene boxes the fish come in-they are great as they insulate, are a good depth for all salad crops, coriander, rocket etc and strawberries. I have grown potatoes in buckets, carrots in an old wooden cupboard (on it's back with shelves removed), peppers in large pots (you really need greenhouse or conservatory for these or a very light window). If you give the veg good soil, enough room to grow and water properly you will have a great chance of success.
If you don't have room for runner beans you can grow dwarf french beans in pots or climbing french beans in a large tub with a wigwam. Mange tout grow ok in a deep pot too. Growbags are great for all sorts-not just tomatoes but you will get better results with tomatoes if you make it deeper by planting them in pots then cut out circles in the growbag and put the pot on top of the soil-easier to water too.
Realised I was rambling on there but am a bit obsessed with gardening-if you have any questions please ask and I will do my best to answer-there's not much I haven't had a go at over the years.
Good luck to you all-there's nothing like your first meal of the year all prepared from veg you picked the same day-does your soul good.

Oooo ty i am a newbie my seeds are in my conservatory for now.