The ups, the downs and the insides out of growing your own in 2025!

KajiKita

rachmac3 said:

Sorry, I should have explained @KajiKita My grandfather died in 2019, and he was such an amazing gardener, when my grandmother died a few years later I couldn't bare to lose everything in the garden too (after losing them both and the house), so I nagged two of my friends to help me bring 5 quite large concrete planters, full of soil and the bulbs he had planted years before, to my house in their van and then up a very steep hill by hand. So I have a little of his garden at the front of my house,. There are/were primroses, ink splodged irises, gorgeous dark almost black tulips and a few other things in them. I know they won't come back every year, but I still get excited when I see a little green poking through in spring. 
The back garden is much more 'lived in' so the front can be the pretty bit. 

That’s absolutely lovely 🥰 
I have no tangible memories of my grandpa and I can imagine how precious those planters and their contents are to you ❤️

KK

RAS

So get some lime and scatter a little bit around the trees, roughly below their outside branches?

KajiKita

Potted up my two types of shallots and sowed two types of broad beans today 😊

KK

CraftySquirrel

Hello everyone. Hope it isn't too late for me to join? Our garden is a bit of a "work in progress" kind of. Moved in to our little quad-semi (mini terrace if you like!) in December 2020 and the whole house had been done over by renovators to sell on. The house was built in 1906, and our back garden was added in the 1990s when the next door neighbour and the other house owners at the time bought out the wasteland at the back and built the yards on beyond the tiny back patios.

The entire thing is gravel, except for the patio area, and I really would have liked to remove the gravel and plant a lawn and dig beds. But sadly, when I removed the gravel back to the plastic undersheet I found... more gravel underneath. At which point I lost heart completely, and put the gravel back. I now have three raised beds - one DIY and two of the B&Q pallet collar style ones, but we also bought a puppy in 2023, and she has made things... interesting garden wise.

She is a miniature dachshund, and she not only likes to dig, she also likes to eat! I got some sprouting broccoli seeds planted and got the seedlings out as planned, and the little menace ate them all that morning!!! She then dug up the carrots and parsnip seeds I planted to bury a chew she had. So last year we only managed a few potatoes and some runner beans cos they reminded me of my grandads veg patch in the late 80s. He used to let me help with the harvest of them on a Sunday for lunch. Loved it.

Anyway, I'm hoping this year to build on my pots of flowers on the patio, and I've got some bits already planted which may mature this year and flower, and lots of seeds to plant too. I'm also hatching a plan to fence in my raised beds using trellis panels so Peggy (the mini D) cannot get in to eat! If I can afford to do that (as budget is very tight!) then I could have success with more veg this year. 

I should say the year before we got her we did manage brussels sprouts, parsnips and potatoes, which we ate with Christmas dinner, and my sweet peas were lovely that year too.

Plan this month - 

• Plant chilli seeds
• Sweet pea seeds (I missed the autumn sowings)
• Dahlia tubers (when they arrive in the post)
• Marigold seeds
• tomato seeds (again - never have much luck there either)
• herb seeds

Let's see how I get on. Not going to bother with potatoes this year, and am going to concentrate on flowers I think. 

Working_Mum

Oh CraftySquirrel you have my sympathies! I moved into a house almost 5 years ago and removed plastic grass and tonnes of gravel by hand to be able to get some life into my garden. It was such hard work but has been totally worth it! 

Blank Canvass Garden - Design Inspiration Needed — MoneySavingExpert Forum

I have found Freecyc1e is a great source of either letting go of my unwanted garden things but also for acquiring new stuff too! I don't do FaceB00k.

I wish you luck with your gardening endeavours  - your little mini dax sounds adorable!

((WM))

rachmac3

Today I have started sorting out the conservatory. It's kind of the dumping ground for all things as it's the place we go through to get to the garden. It's also where I start seeds and overwinter things. I've got at least 3 types of tomato plants that have survived the winter - cream sausage, tigerella, and house dwarf, so if they can survive another week or so of freezing temperatures I might get some early tomatoes from them. I've also got 2 perennial kale cuttings that  are rather massive and can go outside soon, some tiny spinach in a pot, and one black kale that's survived the winter by sharing a pot with a tomato plant. Parsley and chives have survived in their pots too. There are some unlabelled things that might be some sort of winter salad/mustards that are still alive but tiny. 
I'm going to go through all my old seeds this afternoon and start thinking about what I'll be sowing soon. I have allowed myself to buy one packet of new seeds - Mr Bethells Purple Podded Peas - because I really wanted them last year and couldn't get them. I shouldn't need to buy any more seeds or any compost as long as I'm sensible (yeah, right!).
I've got some peas germinating on my kitchen windowsill for pea shoots. I'll start another batch in the next few days. The microgreens are looking pathetic so my kitchen might still be a bit too cold and dark for those. I'll try again in a week or two. 
Not food related, but I've also given my poor spider plant a good haircut and I've got at least 30 babies to root and pot on. 
All in all quite a productive day! 

Suffolk_lass

4 ton bags of compost and grit delivered yesterday. I had better make sure I use the land to be more productive now or it won't pay for itself!!

FreeBear

Flower buds are forming on the apricot tree. Too early to say if the plumcot will flower this year.

Got a handful of tomatoes ripe enough to be picked.

rtandon27

I was amazed to see buds on the quince & the climbing rose!  A few bulbs sending up shoots as well - all this in the north facing planter at the front of the house.

It's still too cold & grey for me to venture out,  but glad to see that nature is plodding on!

redofromstart

Hello, this year I plan to do more than lurk and grow a few tomatoes so please may I join you?

What do you like to grow?
Pretty flowers for preference, but I am trying to branch out into the nicer tasting vegetables. 

Are you going to try anything different this year?
I am investing time and money into some 110 * 90 * 22.5 cm raised beds, my soil quality wasn't helping my efforts previously.  I did try a no dig bed last year with some success but life got in the way.  

Did you try anything different last year? Did you like it? Would you grow it again?
Growing a few herbs from seed, it went well and I want to try more this year - have bought chives and garlic chives

Do you have any tips for growing?
Stick to things you actually like to eat, and don't get carried away with courgettes. 

Do you make anything with what you grow?
Generally eaten as it is picked, but the odd batch of piccalilli or chilli jam does get produced.

How much does growing your own save you?
It doesn't by the time I factor in compost etc and the slug losses last year.  It tastes better and I mostly enjoy producing it so it is worth it.

Currently I have 9 first early potatoes chitting, plenty of seeds and a mountain of ready to use compost.