Grow your own dinner 2014

annie123

JellyBox wrote: »

what sort of thing can I start now, and get fairly good results from in a north facing garden where the pots won't get huge amounts of sun (the beds will be at the end, where the sun is able to get in a bit better). I suppose I want 3-4 big pots, and would be happy with some more little ones for herbs and that, just don't want to spend lots on stuff I might only use for one year?

Oh, and to make things just that little bit harder - I am a total newbie gardener, never had a garden before and so am starting totally from scratch, I have no tools, no compost, nothing!

My son has a north facing garden which gets sun on the bottom bit for some of the year.
He's tried all sorts or herbs and some years are better than others.
Parsley is always happy there, along with chives and borrage. The rest are 50/50 depending on the summer.
He gets a good crop of toms, peas, rhubarb, turnips, beets, radish, lettuce sown now but moved into shade in the summer months.
Leeks are 50/50 so too runners.

Raspberries, red currants and blackberries are all happy too.

Gave up with Rosemary and chillies, just not enough sun for long enough.
Most things will give you a crop, often just smaller amounts, but if you remember it's your dinner your growing, rather than a competition then you'll be fine.

Trial and error is the way to grow, learning is fun but remember what works or doesn't this year, may or may not work next.
Mother nature likes to keep gardeners on their toes

DawnW

I find chilli plants are quite happy on the window sill indoors if the OP wants to grow those as well. I have one that survived all winter in my unheated back glass porch (too small and un-posh to call it a conservatory) and still has chillis on, and I have dried and frozen loads from that one little plant

annie123

DawnW wrote: »

I find chilli plants are quite happy on the window sill indoors if the OP wants to grow those as well. I have one that survived all winter in my unheated back glass porch (too small and un-posh to call it a conservatory) and still has chillis on, and I have dried and frozen loads from that one little plant

I agree, I have 2 chillies who are several years old now, but my son can't do that, which is a shame as he has massive wide Victorian south facing bay windows which I thought I'd take advantage of........his cat ate baby cucumbers, chillies, toms and a load of other stuff :mad: Doesn't touch a thing if it's outside.

Little_Vics

I overwintered a chilli and a pepper a couple of years ago. Maybe I should try them again.

How's everyone else getting on?

s_glover

Hi everyone, especially Little Vics a fellow West Yorkshirer!

I currently got quite a few seedlings coming along nicely including, squash, yellow courgettes, green courgettes, peppers, sweetcorn and marigolds. Have planted these a little earlier this year, hoping to get an earlier crop than previously but I'm not sure if it will pay off or not. Maybe I will just end up with really leggy plants!!

The weather this week is certainly helping them come on nicely, so fingers crossed we get more of this.

At the weekend the OH dug over the raised bed and veggie patch so hopefully that will help dry the soil out too.

At Christmas we were given a Funcky veg kit and psycahdelic salad kit;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funky-Veg-Plant-Theatre-Extraordinary/dp/B0060Y60YU

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plant-Theatre-Psychedelic-Salad-Kit/dp/B0060XSUFI/ref=pd_bxgy_lp_img_y

so we're planning on planting a few of the seeds from these kits in the next couple of weeks.

The local nursery near us sells very good strong seedlings, usually 9 or 12 for £2. Last year we bought some lettuces and dwarf beans and these did really well. We had lettuces much earlier than when grown from seed ourselves, so we'll probably pop there towards the end of the month and see what they have.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

s_glover wrote: »

At Christmas we were given a Funcky veg kit and psycahdelic salad kit;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funky-Veg-Plant-Theatre-Extraordinary/dp/B0060Y60YU

Thanks for the reminder, I got one of those too and need to get them started. :j

susanwillow

I'm trying to grow potatoes for the first time this year. Just ordered my seed potatoes.

Top 5 tips for a newbie?

gill5blue

Hi
I have found some maris pipers in my shed, they have been stored in a potato bag. They are starting to sprout, can I plant these or should I buy some seed potatos?
Thanks for any replies in advance
gill

suzeesu2000

HELP!!

everything is coming along so well, courgettes are like mini trees, all varieties of bean are strong, leeks, beetroots, celery, carrots, radishes, spring onions, onions and all herbs are all really doing fab - i even planted my early crop spuds.............then the landlord comes and says he is selling the house :eek::eek::eek::eek:waiting for the valuation and then we get two months notice.

So now i have the worry and stress and fear of finding a new place to live with a very very ill husband (cancer), has to allow pets as i have my little furry girl, plus I am so annoyed that i may lose my new hobby :mad::mad::mad:.....and not to even begin thinking about the cost

It never rains..............

pretz_2

Suzee - stop! take a breath, there is always sunshine behind a rain cloud, have you got any types of containers you could transplant everything into I know it's not ideal to move stuff once established but at least you don't have to leave your hard word behind and on the housing front get down the council and explain the situation to them its surprising what they can do for you. I do really hope something comes off for you though sending lots of positive thoughts your way