I've got a garden! Can I grow food?

jennybridger

courgettes are easy enough to grow, hopefully the weather will be better for the this year and not as damp.

tomatoes like a lot of sun to ripen on the vine, as do peppers. i've grown both in grow bags and toms in the ground.

but my peppers i couldn't get to ripen and go red...i think my 2 issues were i planted them too late and not enough sun or warmth, because my nan grew them in her green house and had romero peppers to rival Mr T's Finest!

i second the raspberries - i bought a reduced (down to £2.25) cane from Mr T (and a blueberry bush the same) thinking it wouldn't matter if they didn't survive - but got fruit off both and this year my raspberry has sprouted 8 new shoots (so far) from the ground around the original - i had no idea they did this!

mjr600

When growing food in a garden for food in an area of this size you have to be realistic.

I suggest having a look in your fridge and cupboards to see what you eat, how much you pay for it and if you're an enviro type how far round the world it has travelled.

There are some useful guides here.....

http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/category/all/

I suggest an 8x6 Greenhouse for Peppers, Cucumbers and Tomatoes in summer, it's a great place to get things going a month early for planting in the garden and in winter you can continue to grow salads in growbags.

In a garden of your size it lends itself to raised beds, they are the easiest way to grow food crops in a small garden with the least effort over time. Easy to access for planting and cropping, almost no digging and they allow easy crop rotation.

With a bit of planning and work you can have salad and veg for at least six months of the year.

With a little more effort you can extend that to twelve months, just don't expect to be self sufficient.

In your first year I suggest onions, potatoes, salad and toms. All food which you can use really easily and will be reilable.

Be quick though, you need to get them in and growing, time marches on.

Good luck.

Badger_Lady

^^ Thanks - I certainly don't expect to be self-sufficient, this is really more for the learning experience than anything else (one of those basic skills that I think we should all have!).