Gardening in Yorkshire

Little_Vics

Hi guys,

I wondered if there was anyone else out there in Yorkshire? I'm appalling when it comes to gardening (esp veg) and think it's because I plant at the wrong time.

I thought we could learn from each other....

xLV

gazza975526570

Im in Yorkshire

Always add a few extra weeks onto sowing times - ie if it says feb -june i dont start till March.

What specific problems do you have?

Little_Vics

what problems? Plants come to see me when they want to die!! I'm impatient too, which doesn't help.

Slugs are an issue, as is the weather.....

In terms of specific planting things - good tip to start later. I'm also struggling to find veg that WANT to grow in our conditions rather than things I want to eat. Sweetcorn was a little too ambitious last year I think.

What do you tend to grow?

Yorkie1

I grow the full range of veg; with sweetcorn you just need to look for a variety that is early maturing or suited to more northern climates e.g. lark, swift.

The general rule is that tender plants are not reliably safe to plant out until the start of June. As I don't have a greenhouse, that means starting things like tomatoes, courgettes and beans off indoors - but not earlier than late April because they just get very leggy indoors even if on a decent windowsill.

madjackslam

I'm in Yorkshire too. Keep trying, and find out what works for you. I agree with the advice of others about starting later.

Our sweetcorn succeeded last year at the first attempt, although we only got one cob per plant. But it was worth it.

I heard someone on the radio say that February was much too late to plant garlic. Well in my frost pocket I plant in early March and get a super crop.

On the other hand, I've had two years of trying with sprouting broccoli, and still no luck. That's an opportunity to read up, think about what you're doing and trying to tweak it for success. And the last couple of years have given us some real climatic challenges. Early springs, fierce frosts, disappearing summers, etc.

I think as gardeners we only tend to notice our failures (and the weeds). When we visit other people's gardens we only notice their successes.

s_glover

I'm in Yorkshire too. We've just moved into our firs thouse so looking forward to growing lots of veggies etc in the garden rather than pots like in prevous years when I was in a flat with a shared garden.

Would be great to see what other people in the area are up to and to get some tips as we're very much still learning but haivng fun trying

SmallL

Im in yorkshire (sheffield to be exact)
Living in a city with a smallish garden does have its challenges, i have tried to de-turf the lawn however the ground under is extremely rubbley (if thats even a word) so it looks like i need to do raised beds!.
Currently got some seeds germinating in the windowsil, some flower varieties and spring onion and spinach.

RAS

Little Vics

Even West Yorkshire is very varied; from the flood plains of the Aire Valley to the Pennine breezes of Slaithwaite with a few heat islands between.

A lot depends on whether your little bit of land faces south or north, sloping or not? Open to the winds on which side.

My plot runs roughly north-south. In the winter the south ends remains frozen for weeks because it never gets any sunshine. In the summer, being sheltered and getting the afternoon sun, it like a sauna. The north end thaws out most days in winter so I grow my winter salads there, but is exposed to the north and east winds.

So in mid June I can wear a strappy vest-top at one end of the plot and then add layers as I work the 80 metres north, ending up in a fleece on top of a long sleeved shirt.

macma

You lucky folk
I'm in Somerset and long for my native Yorkshire

Jesmond1

We live between Thirsk and York growing veg for nearly ten years and we seem to do quite well. Too well with Jerusalem Artichokes! Have just discovered a variety of sweetcorn to try as it is for cooler conditions - Sweet Nugget. Kings Seeds stock it but I'm not sure about others. For slug repellent I use Tesco value lager poured into saved yoghurt pots. The slugs love it!

Little_Vics

This is great!

Have any of you tried to grow squashes?