2023 - the good, the not so good but hopefully not ugly of growing your own!

in_my_wellies

Fosterdog said:

What I probably won't be growing again this year are sweetcorn because every year they get invaded by earwigs and the measly crop is not worth the effort, and peppers, most years they don't do too well in my garden because we don't get it warm and sunny for long enough but last year was the opposite and it got too hot for too long and they overproduced early fruit that remained bitter even when ripe, which I read can happen if it gets too hot too suddenly.

Going forward I'm definitely going to concentrate more on the crops we will actually eat and that produce well with just a couple of novelty crops instead of wasting space on thing we eat there won't eat much of or that never do particularly well meaning valuable growing space has been wasted. The novelty crops will just be to keep it interesting and to try new things. I really want to try growing loofahs but don't have space yet, that's maybe a next year crop.

Hello! I'm a long time follower but this year I will have time to join in

I agree with growing crops to use - basic crops. It must be about 50 years ago on 'Gardeners Question Time', Radio 4, I heard one of the elderly gardeners say: 
Grow 70% of what you like to eat, the basics, reliable crops that fill your plate
Grow 20% of nice to have, luxuries 
Grow 10% of experimental, probably won't work but you might be surprised 

Looking back I think I've always followed this, more of less. I tend to grow cut/pick and come again crops, e.g. beans, sprouting broccoli rather then a cauli that might be unreliable and takes up a lot of space for one meal 

jokono

Hello!

I started reading through last year's thread and I'm happy to see there's a fresh one for 2023.

I have very limited experience in growing your own consisting of growing (or trying to grow) cherry tomatoes, courgettes, bell peppers and broccoli in pots. The tomates were ok most years except one when they went black, courgettes were always great and produced loads, the ppers must've been planted too late as they never got too big and were still green when it went cold, and the broccoli was always eaten by the cabbage white caterpillars.

Last summer we took over an 87.5m2 allotment that was overgwon, mostly tall grass. As it was so dry we only managed to clear half of it before the days got shorter and we got lazy. We used some timber to mark a couple of beds so far and I put some broad beans and garlic in last October.

I have seeds for
- tomatoes - costoluto fiorentino and cuor di bue (is it the same as beefsteak?) and I also want to get some cherry.
- peppers - red bell and red/orange/yellow sweet long peppers. I have some bought and some kept from peppers we ate last summer, no idea if it will work but I'll give it a go. We love making and eating sweet pepper spread but they are so expensive, we rarely made it in the last few years.
- cornichons - we plan to pickle them in brine.

I would also like to grow:
- cauliflower - but based on @in_my_wellies 's comment I am debating now if I should try this year
- broccoli
- rainbow beet
- aubergine
- lettuce, chard, spinach, kale, all sorts of greens really

I feel a bit overwhelmed thinking about all the work needed and our lack of experience, but we can only try.

I have one question to begin with! Last autum we bought a blueberry and a red currant bush, was going to get a raspberry one too but didn't in the end. We didn't get to clear the area where we wanted them to go so they're still in pots in the garden. Is now a good time to try and plant them? 

RAS

Hi, your redcurrant needs at least a square metre, although 1.2 would be better. You can utilise the ground around it to grow short lived stuff like salads until it takes up the space.

Blueberries are happier in big pots as they like acidic soil. Add pine needles in future years. They also need a lot of water. 

Raspberries don't grow on bushes. They grow on canes, which are replaced each year. A double row will take up 50cm times 1.5 metre if you get a bare rooted batch of 10-12 from a supplier. There are summer and autumn varieties that need different pruning. Summer ones fruit on last year's canes and autumn on the canes that appear in the spring.

Maybe ask around and see if anyone has any runners you could dig up? And yes, get them all in the ground before March.

Fosterdog

RAS said:

Raspberries don't grow on bushes. They grow on canes, which are replaced each year. A double row will take up 50cm times 1.5 metre if you get a bare rooted batch of 10-12 from a supplier. There are summer and autumn varieties that need different pruning. Summer ones fruit on last year's canes and autumn on the canes that appear in the spring.

Maybe ask around and see if anyone has any runners you could dig up? And yes, get them all in the ground before March.

There are bush varieties of raspberries that are more suitable for pots or smaller areas too, I haven't found them as productive as cane grown though, mine is basically just left to do it's own thing and when it finally stops fruiting from lack of are I'll compost it and won't bother with another one.

As for space with canes, I know the spacing you gave is recommended but I got 8 of the cheap Aldi summer fruiting canes 13 years ago, they were over planted as 4 canes each in two roughly 60 litre tubs and they have produced amazing crops every single year since, every 2-3 years I have split new canes to plant elsewhere and at the same time top up with fresh some compost but I have still some years left the original tubs overcrowded with 20+ canes in each and every single year those two tubs alone give us an absolute glut of fruit and do just as well as the canes we've since put in the ground or in bigger tubs. The only time I've bought more is to get some autumn fruiting canes and the bush I bought to try, those original 8 summer fruiting ones were one of the best £5 spends ever. Raspberries are one of those plants that just survives all sorts of abuse and they just keep coming back.

jokono

Thank you both, I'll start clearing that area tomorrow! It's the only existing bed in the allotment, 1.4m by 3.5m, and it has a wooden frame on 3 sides which I thought I could use for netting the fruit. I think there were some flowers there a long time ago, there are clusters of long pointy leaves in the corners but most of it is covered in weeds and grass.

kazwookie

Oh just stumbled across this thread, I will be look from the side lines, I tend to grow, toms, cue, lettuce, apple, rhubarb, strawberries, spuds and herbs. Plus a 20m wild flower patch.

Currently the area where the strawberry runners are is getting over grown, with weeds and grass, it is very cold, wet and very windy on the coast, being outside is the last place I want to be, but I have been weeding for the odd hour here and there when the sun is out.

I am currently looking at my existing / considering the future of the water butts, one has a split about 1/2 way down was like that when I move in, the other one leaks out of the tap......................considering an IBC, but think it is unsightly, or joining 2 x 210 lt together, did come across something that was high end bee hive conical type shape at £££...........so my thinking cap is still on.

jokono

Oh, I have another question, not related to growing but to the allotment. There is a small patch of grass at the back of my plot that I'm responsible for trimming. We only have corded tools and I was looking to get a cordless trimmer but I was wondering if there was another cheaper tool I could use? 

alicef

@jokono

re: Cuor di bue - yes it is a beefsteak style tomato.  I used to grow 'Marmande' but find a Cuor di Bue cultivar to be more reliable/easier to grow.

Paspatur

Is this growing your own?

zafiro1984

in_my_wellies said:

I agree with growing crops to use - basic crops. It must be about 50 years ago on 'Gardeners Question Time', Radio 4, I heard one of the elderly gardeners say: 
Grow 70% of what you like to eat, the basics, reliable crops that fill your plate
Grow 20% of nice to have, luxuries 
Grow 10% of experimental, probably won't work but you might be surprised 

I like your idea
I've been through my seed box, there wasn't much to throw out as I bought quite a few seeds last year but never used them. The only seeds I need to buy are parsnips, onions sets and seed potatoes, I have everything else but hoping the germination will still be ok

70% Outside I'm aiming to grow
Potatoes:- I've just ordered sarpa mira and carolus - we have blight here
Leeks, 
Main carrots
parsnips -  probably Gladiator 
sweetcorn
Runner beans but only 10 plants because they produce so much - firestorm
Climbing French beans - cobra
onions, maybe shallots
Outside extras:- (20%)
fennel and beetroot asparagus pea - but only because I already have seeds

Undercover
Tomatoes - blight resistant,  
peppers
chillies
Cucumber - just one plant
early potatoes, dwarf beans, mangetout, 

Experimental:-
melons. They are usually eaten by earwigs but I'll try them over a frame.

I cannot grow brassicas as the soil is almost like builders sand in places and acid, even lettuce doesn't thrive but I'll have another go this year.
I also have a bed of asparagus but it's well hidden by weeds mainly mares tail, brambles.
Then there is the fruit cage.................