The highs and lows of growing your own dinner 2015

Happygreen

got mine hanging up in lemon nets in the kitchen, the coldest place in the house. They are turning nice and green!

Missy_Mudpie

Hi, I'd like to join this year's thread, having read along a bit last year!

I have two veg beds in raised boxes in my NW facing garden, an unheated greenhouse that's in shade most of the day, and I'm taking over a flower bed this year too. I'm going to try square foot gardening this year, and hope to grow:
cabbage, carrots, beetroot, garlic, onions, lettuce, spring onions, celeriac, celery, mange tout, pumpkins, courgettes, parsnips, shallots, peppers, butternut squash, sweetcorn, cucumber, and potatoes. Ooh, and patio apple and pear trees, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackcurrants and blueberries!

I've had success in previous years with courgettes, tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, potatoes (in the ground, am trying bags this year), cucumbers, pumpkin, and strawbs.

I'm sharing seeds with my mum this year, so was able to get more seeds than usual! I'm also going to try growing my squash and courgettes up trellis, to save ground space.

I'm also terrible for bolting lettuce, I must stay on top of cutting and re sowing it this year...

Davesnave

Bambywamby wrote: »

Trying courgette this year for the first time. Everyone has told me they are wonderfully easy to grow and as they make a good low-carb substitute for pasta ... I shall be sowing plenty.

Vegetable spaghetti makes a substitute for pasta, but ordinary courgettes are nothing like it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vegetable-Winter-Squash-Spaghetti-8-Seeds-Unusual-/321544268232?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item4add8829c8

Or you could buy something like this, maybe:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zoodle-Chef-Vegetable-Spiralizer-Low-Carb-Noodles-Spaghetti-Clean-Eating-Easy-/161582366071?pt=UK_Kitchen_Accessories&hash=item259f0f3d77

Jazee

Morning all. I got my mag subscription this week with the free seeds again so hopefully this weekend I'll be planting kohl rabi. The lettuce I put in the windowsill propogator last week is already growing through, nothing from the tomatoes yet though.

And I know I say it every weekend, but I'm hoping to finish digging the new plot, haha.

Welcome all newbies.

Happygreen

I put in a bit of an early tidying day yesterday, "bewildered" brambles are a real challenge in my garden, they are everywhere...I tried to put a fork into the ground in a veg bed as the sun was lovely and warm but it's still frozen solid! I will pot on some homegrown tiny current bushes this weekend in the poly tunnel and seal the greenhouse to gas the mould and mildew spores.

unrecordings

I'm terrible for keeping up, so apologies in advance. The snow round here still hasn't melted, so the garden is a bit of a mess. The last lot froze quickly, so it was quite difficult to dig stuff out without damaging it. Last weekend I cut down the bamboo that was damaged, i'll let it dry out for a few months, then use it to prevent pigeons landing on the beds. Meanwhile my calendar indicates that this time last year I sowed my first tomatoes, so this weekend i'm planting 12x Ailsa Craig (my favourite) and 6x each of another couple of varieties to be decided. I've also got the spent daffodils that were in the house drying out in a basket. Once they've wilted down, i've a corner of the lawn earmarked for them in the hope they make an appearance next year

Jazee

Morning all. I actually got the plot dug over yesterday. Have now covered it in black plastic, supposed to warm the soil for planting apparently. Also planted the kohl rabi in the greenhouse.

The tomatoes planted last week (on a windowsill indoors) had no growth yesterday, but about an inch this morning.

Plan for today is to cut an old rug into strips and put it down on a weedy border to try to kill everything off.

ejl_37

Hello!
New to this board! I have just moved from a flat in London with no Garden to a lovely self-contained annexe on the South Coast with a little outside patio space for my use. I am looking to start growing my own veg but I am genuinely wondering is it more just for fun or do you guys actually end up saving a lot of money? I don't have much space & allotment waiting times are a long time where I am.
Any advice would be much appreciated

Happygreen

ejl_37 wrote: »

Hello!
New to this board! I have just moved from a flat in London with no Garden to a lovely self-contained annexe on the South Coast with a little outside patio space for my use. I am looking to start growing my own veg but I am genuinely wondering is it more just for fun or do you guys actually end up saving a lot of money? I don't have much space & allotment waiting times are a long time where I am.
Any advice would be much appreciated

Hello and welcome . To your question - it is both! Gardening keeps me mentally sane and I believe I am saving quite a bit of money. Like from when the season starts until autumn I don't have to spend anything on salads. They are really easy to grow from seeds and I start off with buying one tray of living salads to speed things up. More ideas on sites like these, good luck!
http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/ContainerVeggie.htm

misspickle_2

I am one of those that trys hard to grow things and I love it but I'm just so useless at
it all I was hoping you could all help me so I can actually produce something this year!
I think I literally love anything I plant to death. Where am I going wrong?
I only want to do a few simple things like lettuce and herbs. I think I maybe over water at the beginning. Is it better to spray water on them or just pour it on?
I live in the south west and the garden gets a lot of sun but its all concrete so I have some raised wooden beds.
I wasn't pleased with the compost last year. It was all dry and clumpy when I bought it and not what I used to have I'm sure.
What compost should I use? How often to water? Do I start them off indoors?
My big herb pot ended up more weeds than herbs! It was all mixed up and in the end I didn't know what was edible and what was weed still ate them though. My chives kept going brown at the ends and straw like at the ends but they had lots of water so why?
My lettuce just didn't look that healthy.
Please help. I know I'm useless but I am very willing.
Is there anything I can do today? To prepare? I have the day off so would like to get cracking.
I'm sooooo determined this year! Last year was a disaster. Nothing grew in the grow bag last year either. Just a very long strange looking unidentifiable thing. God knows how I managed that! How can you go wrong with a grow bag? I forget what I planted in it :think: tomatoes I think. I like radish too. And spring onions. How deep is the compost supposed to be? Sorry for the long post.