Backyard Gardeners

cjb02

smileyt wrote: »

I have a tiny 'Coronation Street' style back yard. The bulk of it is taken up by my 6ft square chicken pen for my two ex-battery hens. I also have a compost bin, worm bin, water butt and two of those cheap plastic growhouses.

Currently I have three minarette apple trees, three blueberry bushes, 4 sacks of potatoes, 3 sacks of Jerusalem artichokes and two peach minarette trees. The peaches suffered from peach leaf curl so they haven't set any fruit this year. The apples look like they will be laden :T, as do the blueberries.

I have also hung up a hanging basket of tomatoes and peas. Tomorrow I am going to plant out more tomatoes and some cucumbers. When I have cleared the tomatoes out of the growhouse I will use that to grow my peppers in. I have also just sowed lots of lettuce and 'baby' leaves which will go into window boxes.

I also have a huge ivy and two huge climbing roses making bids for freedom into the bargain.

So there is loads you can grow in just a small back yard. The trick is to keep on top of the watering and feeding. This used to be a huge problem for me but since I got the hens and I have to see to them three times a day, I have managed to combine plant watering with hen playing. Plus I compost their poo.

However it is nowhere near as picturesque as the photos of other posters' yards in this thread! No matter how much I try to tidy it up, it always looks messy ..... I blame the chickens lol!

that sounds awsome

alanobrien

I have grown fruit and veg and just about everything else in pots for years as the garden is quite small. It allows me to move things around and change things with the seasons.

This year i am I growing;
Spuds and sweet potatoes in plastic bins.
Runner beans, Dwarf french beans and Mange tout in large pots with bamboo canes.
Moneymaker Tomatoes in a home made Earthbox (works brilliantly :-) and small toms - GartenPerle in a hanging basket
Two varieties of Chillies in pots in a small greenhouse and indoors.
Strawberrys in large pots - tried one of those strawberry pot things last year it was useless.
A few parsnips for xmas in an old waste paper basket
Lettuce and herbs in home made self watering pots outside the back door.

We also have small Orange, Lemon and Grapefruit trees on the decking along with bananas but thats another story

Lippycow

alanobrien wrote: »

I have grown fruit and veg and just about everything else in pots for years as the garden is quite small. It allows me to move things around and change things with the seasons.

This year i am I growing;
Spuds and sweet potatoes in plastic bins.
Runner beans, Dwarf french beans and Mange tout in large pots with bamboo canes.
Moneymaker Tomatoes in a home made Earthbox (works brilliantly :-) and small toms - GartenPerle in a hanging basket
Two varieties of Chillies in pots in a small greenhouse and indoors.
Strawberrys in large pots - tried one of those strawberry pot things last year it was useless.
A few parsnips for xmas in an old waste paper basket
Lettuce and herbs in home made self watering pots outside the back door.

We also have small Orange, Lemon and Grapefruit trees on the decking along with bananas but thats another story

Love the Sweet Potatoes idea if my potatoes grow ok this year i might have a go at the sweet ones next year,managed to get baby red onions at wilkinsons for 32p 75% off so planted them this afternoon along with some garlic...keeping my fingers crossed:)

heynonnynonny

A lot of us on the veg growing 2010 newbies thread are growing in containers, lots of good ideas on the thread although it is very long worth having a look at

Smoffi

If you want a read... of failure and hard lessons and some success then read my thread on here..
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1837937

Read it in full... to harvesting.. then hopefully you will avoid the mistakes I made

smileyt_2

cjb02 wrote: »

that sounds awsome

Thanks, cjb02.

I can recommend the ex-battery hens. Although I had a problem keeping them out of the kitchen this afternoon when I was baking .... once they get used to being out of the battery farm they become cheeky little things!

[Deleted User]

I put my strawberries into a strawberry grower this year and I must admit, I think I will throw it out and put them in the ground next year. Too many disadvantages and no advantages as far as I can see.

Lippycow

smileyt wrote: »

Thanks, cjb02.

I can recommend the ex-battery hens. Although I had a problem keeping them out of the kitchen this afternoon when I was baking .... once they get used to being out of the battery farm they become cheeky little things!

Got to say i would love a couple of battery hens,but dont think i have enough room left in my backyard and did you have to get permission from anyone like the council or neighbours?

cjb02

I know this is an old thread but I am curious how peoples back yard endeavours went this year?

Did Lippycow get any hens? and how did every one else's gardens in pots/ground do?

So far one of the plum trees has loads of plums on, the rasps did fantastic and produced lots of rasps. strawberries did great, got lots of them, the mange tout did very well and gots lots of produce. the pea's didnt do as well. not enough plants I think. I didnt get many redcurrants either but got quite a few gooseberries. the lettuce, radishes and rocket grew well. the apple tree has lots og apples on, just waiting for them to get larger. the grape vine in the greenhouse has grapes on (4 bunches), just waiting for them to ripen. the grape vine outside is growing very well (went from 8inch to 8ft) and the kiwi plants are doing well.

LJM

i do have a garden but the majority of my veg fruit etc is in pots/containers and i have a small raised bed i have small children at the moment that play alot in the garden so didnt want to take up too much space this year i have grown runner beans/dwarf beans/strawberries/spring onions/tomatoes/potatoes/carrots and peas plus flowers. everything has done really well so im pleased with my crops this year lol