veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

flippinmental_2

turbo5019 wrote: »

AT last my potatoes are starting to poke through also I have seewtcorn, turnips, peas and butternut squash are through. I keep thinking they would never grow.
Glad it's stop raining here so I can get out in garden:j

I started growing a veg about 5 years ago - started with a v.small plot, which has now extended to a small plot. Last year I grew sweetcorn for the first time, and OH MY GOODNESS it is delicious. Will definately be doing again this year, along with potatoes, onions, parsnips (really lovely),beans (still eating out of the freezer), garlic, toms, cucumber (really juicy), mixed salad. Beware butternut squash - tastes lovely, as all veg, but needs a lot of room to grow. Went a bit mad last year and over-planted and crops werent that brilliant, so will calm it down a bit this year. Gonna have a go with aubergine. Also have apple, pear, gooseberry and blueberries bushes - new last year. Also have 3 chickens who help dig the veg plot over in the spring and add goodness to the compost heap. Never really have a clue what I'm doing, just read the seed packets and have a go - though haven't planted a thing yet - yikes!

elantan

wssla00 wrote: »

Hi guys! Quick question! HELP!!!! My apple tree is flooded! Can i rescue it? Shall i dig it up and put it somewhere else?

bumpity bump bump

hermum

Evening all, just come across this not actually looked at the mo, but thought that I'd post for all to see.
http://www.poundland.co.uk/top-tips/planting-guides/
I don't know if it's already been posted, hopefully it will be of use to us.

beckstrous

Well, after advice from folks here I have decided to abandon the idea of raised beds for this year. We have put a lot of work into getting our existing beds ready for planting and to start raising them now would probably delay our planting time, as we have four.

I am toying with the idea of digging a little patch for some asparagus, though. Has anyone grown it before, and if you have, how many crowns would you need for two people? (We do like our veg but don't want more than we can eat).

There's chickweed all around some of our patches, which doesn't appear to be encroaching too much into the patches themselves, but I think it looks really scruffy! I was wondering about covering it with mesh and then bark for a year. I don't even know if we need to raise the beds...I really just want them to look a little bit neater.

misskool

beckstrous, I planted 3 asparagus crowns last year (first time growing!) thinking they would be plenty only to find out this year that they only produce 1-2 spears per crown. You can only crop them when they are at least 3 years old so you need to be prepared for a wait. Lots of different varieties and wilkos sell them cheap. I haven't bought anymore this year as wondering what to do.

Can't advise as to making something neater as we're mucky pups (my garden is prolific but not pretty )

beckstrous

misskool - thanks - that is really helpful. I had no idea that you would get so few spears per crown, so clearly we need a little dedicated bed for them.

We recently moved to more of a long-term house, having been in a kind of starter home previously, so a bit of a wait is no problem. My dilemma now is do I decide to sort out an asparagus plot now, or do it next year? Hmmmm....

I am going to do jerusalem artichokes in the same bed - apparently the flowers are quite pretty.

misskool

becks: apparently the idea to get a permanent type bed for things that won't need to be moved very much like JA, globe artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, and such things. But we made a mistake last year and the bed where the asparagus and rhubarb are isn't quite their permanent position hence why I haven't bought more this year.

I'm still learning loads and will be moving fruit canes this weekend

paybacktime2008

Got my dig in seeds today.

Just sowed - outside spring onions, carrots and salad leaves.

Looking forward to the next two weeks........off work and garden here I come!

heynonnynonny

Good evening everyone. Hope you get some good gardening weather at some point in your 2 weeks off!!!

Quick question-

my carrots in 25 cm pots - some of the seedlings have sprouted and are close together, I couldn't really see what I was doing and where I was sowing them wih them being so tiny - they are mostly about 1-2cm high now - do I need to thin them out and can I replant the thinned out ones in another pot?? I should have sowed them in rows would have been easier than a random pattern Not to worry I'll sow some more and have another go!

nonpol

Do you guys and gals like pesticides on your food, or do you all try and go organic?