The great, good and not so good bits about growing your own dinner 2017

downshifted

Good to see that some of you have started seed sowing - I have received ours but have only looked at them so far. The weather has been very damp here - we had two dry days together so were able to clear away more rubbish from the allotment but then it rained again - definitely too wet for digging yet. Need to prepare an asparagus bed as have 40 crowns coming before the end of March

goodlife_wannabes

Hi
I had a mixed year last year, a friend of ours kindly let us share his allotments, unfortunately the floods the previous year gave us a bad year, I tried straw bale gardening at home (which in it'self worked really well) but slugs got everything. It was very disheartening. I tried copper tape, made a copper ball, oats and some pet friendly pellets, beer worked very well but ended up being really pricey as I needed so much.

Hoping for a much more successful year this year

CAFCGirl

goodlife_wannabes wrote: »

Hi
I had a mixed year last year, a friend of ours kindly let us share his allotments, unfortunately the floods the previous year gave us a bad year, I tried straw bale gardening at home (which in it'self worked really well) but slugs got everything. It was very disheartening. I tried copper tape, made a copper ball, oats and some pet friendly pellets, beer worked very well but ended up being really pricey as I needed so much.

Hoping for a much more successful year this year

Have you tried cornmeal?

zafiro1984

Lovely day here today and the enthusiasm is coming back for growing.
Had quite a good year last year, learnt a lot and got several ideas from the 2016 thread.

Aims for this year (some of it is based on mistakes from last year)

Do a little every day - reason being, kinder on the back
Be a lot tidier - I've a lot of rubbish on the veg plot still from last year
Plan not to have gluts, but if I do make sure I either freeze/make jam/dry/ them
Don't get left behind - plant and sow in plenty of good time - reason - the growing season is over and done before you have time to turn around.
Keep a record of how much the harvested vegetables/fruit would have cost in a supermarket. I'm going to use S*burys prices but not their organic price. i saved nearly £800 last year.
Grow a larger variety of veg and fruit but don't grow too much of each variety.

With my aims in mind and a lovely day, I planted my early pots this morning. Two varieties Swift and Lady Christi. This afternoon it's a trip to the garden centre for seed compost and if I have time a sort out of what seeds I have and what seeds I need. My budget for the year is £365 and I'll keep a running tally on my signature.

LET THE GROWING YEAR BEGIN - in this house

unrecordings

They lied...
...It rained a bit here, but it was still a good day for being out there and in amongst it. Pulled all the remaining radishes (thin reedy - I can never get radishes to work) and prepared the raised bed for either garlic or shallots. Tied in a few raspberry canes that I missed last Autumn. Picked a nice little selection of bittercress, white mustard, raab and tatsoi for tomorrow's ramen. Found out there's (probably) a rat in my compost bin - ho hum...

Edit - oh yes and my Ailsa Craig tomatoes have germinated already, they usually take two weeks

elburnzo

oh can i join in?

im going to look at a plot tomorrow, its about 15foot by 15 foot apparently so not massive.

Ive already figured out a few things i'd like to plant (i have very limited experience in growing veg). however is there any good guides about for how much to plant? or do people tend to just fill up their plot and hope for the best?

Dizzy_Ditzy

elburnzo wrote: »

oh can i join in?

im going to look at a plot tomorrow, its about 15foot by 15 foot apparently so not massive.

Ive already figured out a few things i'd like to plant (i have very limited experience in growing veg). however is there any good guides about for how much to plant? or do people tend to just fill up their plot and hope for the best?

Hi and welcome!

Have a think about what you like to eat and how many of you and your family would eat said veg. Some stuff like runner beans and courgettes can be prolific! Sounds like your plot is quite small so think about space as well. There is a plot at one of my sites about that size up for grabs!

For example - if you were to grow sweetcorn, you could sow beetroot in between which is a good space saver. Cabbages and such like take up tons of space so might not be suitable for you. Square foot gardening could be a goer for you.

I and many other people spend the winter months planning and planning and planning - working out what to grow where and so on.

When viewing tomorrow, take plenty of pics. Have a look at some of the plots around the one you're looking at, if there is anyone around, have a chat with them about their tips etc. go into it with an open mind. And then come back here and report!

You're (hopefully!) getting your plot at the perfect time of year - seeds are plentiful in the shops at the mo, spring is nearly upon us and digging/clearing won't be as difficult as it is in the thick of winter!

Oooooo, I'm excited for you :rotfl:

zafiro1984

Welcome Elburnzo, when the growing season gets really under way it can be quite busy on here, loads of advice and tips.
Good luck tomorrow I hope it is what you are looking for.

Took advantage of the weather today and turned over three beds, found some carrots that obviously had had the tops pulled off, maybe in the frozen weather earlier this year - gave those to one of the stallions. Also found 24 jersulem Artichokes I'd obviously missed earlier, offered those to my DH to make a windbreak somewhere as I've loads in the freezer.

Went to the garden centre for just one bag of compost, came away with two as they were on offer, plus lime, some red onion sets as I'd forgotten to order them, 4 pks of peppers (2 chilli and two sweet peppers) and a small pk of orchid compost, the whole thing came to 29.99, I'm sure prices have gone up this year and I'm on a tight budget for gardening - will update signiture

elburnzo

Thanks!

Well I took the plot. It's been covered for the winter so clearing it shouldn't be too difficult and there is a "spring clean" day coming up in a couple of weeks where everyone helps clear the site and each other's plots.

It's not a massive site but I wouldn't have the time for any larger a plot.

Might look up square foot gardening and get a plan sorted for what I'm growing tomorrow. Quite exciting!

CAFCGirl

elburnzo wrote: »

Thanks!

Well I took the plot. It's been covered for the winter so clearing it shouldn't be too difficult and there is a "spring clean" day coming up in a couple of weeks where everyone helps clear the site and each other's plots.

It's not a massive site but I wouldn't have the time for any larger a plot.

Might look up square foot gardening and get a plan sorted for what I'm growing tomorrow. Quite exciting!

Congratulations :T