The all new good, bad and ugly of growing your own in 2020

silverwhistle

unrecordings wrote: »

Courgettes (Mr Fothergill’s Romanesco) in the greenhouse did surprisingly well for me. No courgette apocalypse, but I could have better placed them probably. I put three in pots & three in a growbag,

6 courgettes!:eek:
Are you _sure_ you didn't have a glut?:D

Last year I grew toms and chillies on the patio and a few runners in the garden (mum loves them) along with a few assorted leaves and broad beans, but have a real slug problem so not a great yield.. Oh, some random unplanted potatoes and.. two courgette plants...

This year there's a new allotment to contemplate so I can expand my horizons. I'd love a bed of asparagus and a bed of raspberries which are both longer term projects. But additionally I have seeds already for sweetcorn, winter squash, various unusual toms and chillies and broad beans and hope to buy some borlotti seeds in Italy during my holiday in January and no doubt other seeds too which take my fancy.

It won't be an original idea I'm sure but I'm going to type and print off a sheet of the various seed names onto A4, laminate it and then cut into strips to make seed labels. Easy to double up with cut and paste and I'm sure they'll last the season and the best bit, they'll be legible!

unrecordings

I forgot about my oca. I had some potted up in the greenhouse, but they got abandoned after I got immobilised. I did notice some of 2018's patch had self seeded If they survived they'll be 4th or 5th generation

MissMollyJ

I bought my own house this year and out in two 1mx1m raised beds. Everything pretty much failed (even beetroot!) other than a row of leeks that is still in. Pests mainly.

Oh and herbs were all fine in the beds at the side of the garden lol!

I’ve had an allotment and veg patches in gardens before but haven’t got loads of space now, just need to figure out how to optimise the small space.

This year coming I’ll have a rethink about what I’m doing.

zafiro1984

Just made myself a spreadsheet on the computer, nothing fancy, just listed the veg I want to grow and in which beds. I'm going to spend time tonight going through the catalogues and choosing the varieties plus their prices to see which company seems to be the best value for money.

Viking_mfw

1)What do you like to grow?
Anything! Rhubarb is the gift that keeps on giving - and we have 3 new crowns transplanted from my sister in law this year. They, plus my original in a tub, are all poking their noses through already.

2)Are you going to try anything different this year?
This year I am growing peas in a tub - last year every single plant got eaten as soon as it was in the ground. I got an old English variety from Real Seeds. I have also ordered a veg trug herb thingy as a new year's present to myself because my husband loves fresh herbs but is incapable of remembering where they are in the garden/ bending down to ground level.

3)Did you try anything different last year? Did you like it? Would you grow it again?
I have two perennial caulis which I planted last year - hoping for results this year. The caulis are allegedly tennis ball size and should be about 10 per annum per plant.

4)Do you have any tips for growing?
Neither cat nor toddler are helpful for successful growth.

5)Do you make anything with what you grow?
Dinner.

6)How much does growing your own save you?
A fortune in therapy. :rotfl:

Happy New Growing Year!

Kinga

Viking_mfw wrote: »

I have also ordered a veg trug herb thingy as a new year's present to myself because my husband loves fresh herbs but is incapable of remembering where they are in the garden/ bending down to ground level.

Ooooh, I'd love to have one of those veg trugs, they look lovely and useful for herbs!!! I keep an eye on the prices, maybe I will surprise myself with one....

unrecordings

Not very MSE, but if you can get them cheaply enough, chimney pots are great for growing herbs.

unrecordings

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Just made myself a spreadsheet on the computer, nothing fancy, just listed the veg I want to grow and in which beds. I'm going to spend time tonight going through the catalogues and choosing the varieties plus their prices to see which company seems to be the best value for money.

I've got a fairly extensive spreadsheet now with tabs for bed rotation seed stocks (so I know how out of date they are) and simple calendars/to do lists for sowing dates etc

FluffityBunny

We'll definitely be growing peas and tomatoes again this next year. Had a very successful crop this year. We won't be bothering with carrots or onions again, 2nd year of failure.

miss_empty_piggy

Hello, may I join please?

DOH and I started our first allotment last year and we only did half of it. We got the greenhouse up eventually after it 'pancaked' twice. We had a huge glut of tomatoes which was awesome as I made stacks of HM pasta sauce. We grew potatoes, leeks and onions, peppers, rhubarb and masses of raspberries. We still have so much jam even after giving loads away over Xmas. We are looking to use the other half of the plot this year so will be thinking of other crops to add to our repertoire. Cabbages, cauli and broccoli were all rubbish, but courgettes were good.

Last year was really about fining our feet and we both thoroughly enjoyed it and love being able to grow our own food. We are leaning further towards self-sufficiency this year with less meat and more veg and so we'll need to grow (and store) more.

In our garden we inherited a bramley apple tree. The previous owners had planted a holly tree right next to it and It blocked out the light so the apple tree grew over our neighbours wall. The holly tree has now gone and we have tried to chop the overhanging branches off to try to encourage it to grow within our garden. However this year has seen only a few apples and they were knarled and deformed. We are thinking of cutting it down and starting again. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks.