Growing your own veg and fruit

apprentice_tycoon

If I had to grow just one crop it would have to be strawberries -
reason 1, if you are feeling a little frugal you might not buy them from a shop as they seem more luxurious than apples or whatever so you are getting a treat for very little cost....
reason 2, they can be grown in gro-bags, I have 5 on a low wall in the garden and the fruit hangs off them like a beaded curtain and by doing this you get less bother with slugs...
.reason 3, they reproduce like rabbits so you will get free plants every year....
reason 4 you don't have to eat them all at once, you can make enough jam to get from one years crop to the next....
reason 5, they are evergreen so you still have something green and growing in your garden all year round, no bare earth and
reason 6 of all the food crops I have ever grown these have been the least bother, no pruning, spraying, diseases etc

Ted_Hutchinson

Rhubarb is one of the best value, easy to grow things. I've never know it to have any problems. If you have to buy rather than scrounge a crown all you have to do is to leave it a year to build up some strength and then every year you get free rhubarb.

If you keep pulling it you won't get overwhelmed. I don't think there's much point in forcing it. When it gets established and in season you have more than enough rhubarb to satisfy so just plant and enjoy.

The next best value for money plant must be spinach followed by runner beans.

apprentice_tycoon

Just a query about rhubarb, why does my plant keep producing flowers?

Debt_Free_Chick

Seems a pity to waste all that space. I would use raised beds, which should largely deal with the slug & dog problem. (Though I am training my 10 week old pup to stay off the beds and stick to the lawn!)

Ted_Hutchinson

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

Just a query about rhubarb, why does my plant keep producing flowers?

Most plants run to seed (which is what producing flowers is all about) when under stress. Stress is caused by not having enough nutrient or water so the answer is more organic muck. Another reason would be that you pulled too much and left it without sufficient reserves. You always need to leave about a third of the stalks. A good covering of manure or compost towards the end of the season is a good investment.

You must cut off or pull out the flowering stem as it tends to think it's done all it needs to if you let it flower so it stops producing new shoots.

Alison_B

Well, I bought the following seeds: 4 different tomatoes, peas, beans, sweetcorn, carrots and some garlic bulbs. I have planted these and they are now in the shed until the threat of frost finishes. They have been in for over a week, so we are all awaiting with baited breath for the first sign of a little plant. I have also got 6 stawberry plants that I have planted - can't wait, but knowing my luck from old, nothing will grow.

With rhubarb, do you buy it as a seed or a bulb and where can I get them from as I have never seen them in the shops. We grew rhubarb when I was a child and I absolutely adore it.

Thanks

Alison

apprentice_tycoon

You will need to by a rhubarb crown from a garden centre or better still if you know someone with a plant already they can break off a piece of theirs and you are all set. I echo a previous post about leaving it to build up for the first year so you don't harvest any sticks at all, you just let them grow and die off then next year you can start picking.

Strawberries are similar, you might be a little underwhelmed by how many strawberries you get in the first year - they get better each year and if you feed them well you get more fruit each year until they are around 4 years old when they start to decline BUT by then you will have LOADS of new plants so you keep replacing tired old plants with your new, free ones

Loadsabob

I'm writing this here rather than on the main Growing Produce thread, as this may grab people who don't think growing veg can apply to them. I've had a quick search for this term, and don't see it discussed on here anywhere.

A lot of you may already know of "square foot gardening" as a technique. There is a book on the subject, with the same name, by Mel Bartholemew. I bought it, and it was quite interesting, although I'd suggest borrowing from the library rather than buying. OR, here's a UK website with a link to Mel's own. The ideas and techniques are worth noting down, though it's not the best book I have on growing fruit and veg, and it IS American, and a little limited on what to grow.

However, it does instill in you the idea that you can grow in small spaces rather than the conventional rows. My garden consists of three veg patches, all split up into square feet. I have a 3x3 and 2 5x2 patches, and lots of pots, and I get a reasonable amount of produce.

Spacings vary, but you can get something like 16 carrots from a square foot, 12-16 onions, 36 spring onions, one tomato plant, 4-9 lettuces...that kind of thing.

Anyway, just a thought, to possibly encourage those of you who have a little bit of space, but not much.

I still grow various salad leaves and rocket in those blue containers my value mushrooms come in! Perfect (with a few holes punctured in the bottom)!

And there's still time for lots of things from seed!

calleyw

MrsMW wrote:

Our local flower shop sells black flower buckets for 10p, if you put a few holes in the bottom they are great for growing tomatoes and veg in. Last year I grew some carrots which are called Parmex, they are round and ideal for growing in pots or window boxes.

If you have a local Asda check with them. As they get through a lot of flower buckets.

Policy is shop to shop to basis. What was my local before I moved gave them away. But another one in Bristol area made you paid 10p for them.

Yours

Calley

Mado

Anyone's got any good advice on things rabbits don't touch?
I despair.... :mad: