The highs and lows of growing your own dinner 2015

savingpennies

I have a small patch for growing veg and an unheated octagonal greenhouse. I've successfully grown courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, broad beans, French beans and runner beans - though not all in the same year!
Last year the tomatoes were okay but not one cucumber managed to make it beyond the seedling stage. Courgettes were a disaster yet we got fed up of them the year before.
I have espalier apples/pears, raspberries, blueberries and rhubarb. I grow strawberries in pots - though not enough to last me all summer sadly.
This summer I would like to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and some salads in the greenhouse. Outside courgettes and strawberries in pots and beans (all kinds) outside with radishes, salads, beetroot and spring onions. Wish me luck!

ClaireJ23

I'm new to this as we've recently moved into a house with a garden and I'm embarking on grow your own. The garden really needs a complete overhaul. We had an extension built and it cost us 1000's more than expected so I currently have £11k on interest-free credit cards and my husband has more than that on his, a bad situation but we have enough income between us to pay back at least £1k per month and we intend to do so. Just need to cut back on spending a lot for the next couple of years and pay it all off.

I've been to the local garden centre where there was a big basket of seeds all reduced to 50p each with use by dates of 2016. So I have a selection now of pretty much everything I wanted except strawberries that I had to buy at full price.

I have seeded out some onions, peppers, leek, chillies, aubergine and the strawberries for now and they are all happily on my windowsill next to a pot of cress. I've also ordered some herb seeds online for my kitchen garden.

I'm looking forward to the crops of 2015, 2016 and beyond.

LetThereBeCupcakes

Hi everybody - may I join you?

I have had really good years in the garden but the last 2 have been a disaster, mainly due to having my first baby! But he's old enough now to join in and loves pottering outside with me so hopefully between the two of us we'll get loads of lovely veg.

I have:
- A vegetable patch - 15 foot by 17 foot and sadly neglected. The soil is really poor quality so I need to improve that somehow.
- A Fruit bed - containing blackcurrants, gooseberries, rhubarb and one jostaberry.
- A large greenhouse
- A trough attached to the fence which I have strawberries in.

I sorted through my seeds last week and drew out the plan for the veggie patch this morning. My goal for the weekend is to dig the holes for the beans and empty my compost bin into them.

Happygreen

Good morning, all.

I put an hour in yesterday, spreading wood ashes and moving mattress covers onto the relevant beds.The climbing frame will move onto the old potato bed for beans again :T. I took the fig trees out of the greenhouse to get it ready for the anti-mould candle. I'll need to close all the gaps in the glass with tape and bubble wrap first. It's raining today so will probably not get anything done...
I am always so inspired this early in the year in the hope I'll be able to keep on top if it all :rotfl:.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

I'd like to join the 'dining club' too, if I may. I have raised beds and love growing veg but have had a few challenges last year due to two large hounds, who thought their new day bed was my pea bed :eek:

Looking forward to starting my chilli seeds off

Best wishes Tilly

AnMiCh

Hi all

I would like to join this group too.

I don't have much experience in any sort of gardening, I tried veg gardening last year for the first time, as we bought a house.

Tried:
Beetroot (ignored them and got very small odd shaped beets)
Lemon cucumber (seeds came from far-east and ended up with 2-3 prickly cucumbers in the glass house)
Tomatoes - a decent crop
Chard - poor crop
spinach - bolted
Carrot - got the one in the plastic bottle.
Green leaves - decent crop
dwarf bean - abt 6 beans per plant
potato - poor crop, got as much as we planted
Runner beans - shed loads
cabbage - grew up really well, then the worm ate it all one day
Aubergines - total disaster, eventhough a promising start.

Previous owners had left behind leek, gooseberries and rhubarb - bumper crop.

So it is possible to have a good yield, if you know how to.

This year I would love to have another go and hopefully with a little more success - fingers crossed


All in all, not much success, apart from Runner Beans.

Ended up wasting a lot of money.

Bee70

we have a gooseberry plant that had been left by the previous owner, but we only got 8 berries. Any tips? I made sure the middle was open and there was no obvious sign of pests. if it doesn't do well this yeasr its going in the bin!

Happygreen

Bee70 wrote: »

we have a gooseberry plant that had been left by the previous owner, but we only got 8 berries. Any tips? I made sure the middle was open and there was no obvious sign of pests. if it doesn't do well this yeasr its going in the bin!

Bee70, Did it flower? Maybe Victoria's tip on pruning might help - I've not had time to watch it yet myself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I-biq7MH78

zafiro1984

Just had an email from Thompson and Morgan
Sale:- packets of seed from 69p
I haven't had time to check it out yet

Happygreen

Bad storm last night, hardly slept a wink....I dreamt of the bird houses all over the place, a lonely chicken wandering the flooded garden. I had slept in the polytunnel (in my dream) and woke up surrounded by the sea!
I really hope my greenhouse survived that storm, I hardly dare going out to check