The most cost-effective veg to grow

Primrose

Little_Miss_Determined wrote: »

I love home grown peas. Frozen peas are cheap but not a patch on peas eaten straight from the garden. Don't think any of mine have ever made it to the saucepan.[/QUOTE

I thoroughly agree. Last year I grew two rows and one of my biggest pleasures was just picking a fresh peapod and eating the peas straight from the plant. There is simply nothing like the juicy sweetness of a newly picked pea. In fact all our peas did "double duty" because we picked the peas fresh, and then made Pea Pod soup from the shucks which we froze in one pint plastic milk bottles. With a dash of mint, it was simply delicious and in the middle of winter it's a lovely reminder of summer.

MrsRogers

Potatoes, Potatoes & More Potatoes I love potatoes that are home grown. I'm growing Pink Fir Apple, Charlotte, Nicola and Maris Bard this year and very excited.

morg_monster

just a few musings based on my huge experience of 1 year of growing!
Carrots - won't grow again, they were nice but are so cheap in the shops I just can't justify it!
Potatoes - All in containers. Proper new potatoes aren't that cheap in the shops really, they grew great for us last year and am doing even more this year! Maincrop we are doing again, as although they are cheap from the shops, it's the convenience of just having a store of them in the garage.
Salad leaves & rocket - the convenience of having them right outside to snip and put in a sandwich. will be doing less this year but staggering it better. I had pots and pots going to seed by the end of the summer!
Tomatoes - although in the summer you can get tasty tomatoes in the shops, they aren't as good as homegrown and again it's the convenience and massive cost difference.
Runner beans - grew well but realised I don't like them when they are stringy; and like someone else said I'm wanting to eat salads and cold food in the later summer, and runners just don't do it for me.
French beans - only had 2 plants but they were delish and will be growing more this year in place of runners
Perpetual spinach - probably won't do again, there was always something else I wanted to eat more! Still growing happily though after 6m of complete neglect!
Garlic - this is one I'm not sure about, as they are cheap to buy. But they come out of the ground earlyish, and stored well for us last year over autumn and winter. with only 2 of us we don't use much, so it's nice to be able to grow all we need for the year!
Chillis - we grew 5 plants last year and all went mental, but apart from making chilli jam we hardly used any! I have so many dried chillis still hanging around the kitchen! So will be growing less this year.

Parsnips - would love to do but don't have the space to have them in the ground for so long.
Sweetcorn - would grow them but we have a great pick your own place a short bike ride away, so we just go there and pick them ourselves!! This is also why I haven't grown any berries apart from strawbs, well that and the huge wild meadow filled with blackberry bushes down the road.

[Deleted User]

I am planting carrots. I love them when they are small with feathery tops and they cost a fortune to buy

sirbrainy

Little_Miss_Determined wrote: »

I love home grown peas. Frozen peas are cheap but not a patch on peas eaten straight from the garden. Don't think any of mine have ever made it to the saucepan.

Already been seconded so thirded.

My wife is not big on peas but put her in a row of peas growing in the ground and she goes mad

oligeo

Primrose wrote: »

Little_Miss_Determined wrote: »

I love home grown peas. Frozen peas are cheap but not a patch on peas eaten straight from the garden. Don't think any of mine have ever made it to the saucepan.[/QUOTE

I thoroughly agree. Last year I grew two rows and one of my biggest pleasures was just picking a fresh peapod and eating the peas straight from the plant. There is simply nothing like the juicy sweetness of a newly picked pea. In fact all our peas did "double duty" because we picked the peas fresh, and then made Pea Pod soup from the shucks which we froze in one pint plastic milk bottles. With a dash of mint, it was simply delicious and in the middle of winter it's a lovely reminder of summer.

Please, please, please can I have your soup recipe?!

I'm going to grow peas at my new allotment, but was only planning on eating them straight from the pod - as I have fond memories of doing at my grandfathers allotment whan I was small! It would be great to make some soup and freeze as you do
Sarah

Primrose

Pea Pod Soup This is my own made-up receipe so I don't have specific quantities which vary depending on how many pea pods I've got but you probably need a good couple of handfuls.

Pea Pods.
1 thinly sliced onion
Stock (from a chicken stock or vegetable stock cube if you don't have some real chicken stock)
Several finely choppped sprigs of fresh mint.

Roughly chop the pea pods and gently fry with the onion in a little butter or oil until soft. Add about a pint of stock or slightly more and simmer for about ten minutes. For the last few minutes, throw in the chopped mint. Allow to cool slightly then whizz with a stick blender and strain through a fine metal sieve, pushing through as much pulp as possible with a spatula.

This makes a light soup. If you want a thicker one, you can either add a little cornflour, or grate a small raw potato into the mixture at the beginning when you saute down the chopped peapods with the onion. You can also throw a few frozen peas in at the end and reheat them for garnish.

annie123

Primrose wrote: »

which we froze in one pint plastic milk bottles.

what a good idea:T