Show Us Your Veg Patch - You Know You Want To!! (Merged Thread)

findingmyfeet

morning all,
not been on here before and liking what i see. Im new to all this veg growing and could do with a little help please. Over the summer i have managed to grow tomatoes, peppers and chillies in the greenhouse and cherry tomatoes outside. Im now looking to expand .! Ive got my hubby digging over a section of the garden ( which has been overgrown for years) and intend growing as much veg as possible there. Trouble is i dont know where to begin. What can you plant at this time of the year?? Or do I have to get everything prepared ready for next year ? Any help much appreciated. The plot is approx 9metres by 9 metres, is that enough to feed four people with fruit and veg ?

Many thanks
fmf

Primrose

fmf - I think with the area of space you have available, perhaps the best thing to concentrate on is growing vegetables you like to eat which are expensive to buy, so Runner/French beans, tomatoes, green leaved salad crops are good basics. If you're quick you can sow winter varieties of lettuce in your greenhouse (Winter Density) and endive, which is a "frilly" rather hardy green salad, and a selection of the Japanese salad leaves if you get some gardeners fleece to provide extra anti frost protection on cold nights. It may be best to concentrate on thoroughly digging and manuring your overgrown veggie area at this time. You can buy bags of composted manure from garden centres, although if it continues to rain as heavily as currently, I'd suggest waiting until February before manuring so that the benefits of it are not leached away in the winter rains. Soft fruit bushes are rewarding to grow but do take up space which you may prefer for vegetables. I grow my soft fruit bushes in our front garden, where I also grow strawberries in one of the side front borders. These can spread rapidly once they produce runners (new baby plants on trailing stems) so are best kept in a separate area if possible. If you like cooking stews, caseroles & soups, leeks are also a useful vegetable to grow, which you can pop out and dig up during winter. Potatoes are a good first crop to try, but are subject to blight which can kill and rot a crop literally overnight so as a first timer, I'd advise trying other crops which might be less risky to grow. Good luck. Hope you have lots of fun in your new hobby.

hathor

Do sweet peppers have to ripen on the vine, or can you ripen them after picking, like tomatoes? I don't like green peppers, and now I'm panicking about the time I have left before it gets dark & cold. They're looking quite green & glossy at the mo' - very exciting for a first timer! Mine are all indoors on window ledges that get sun from first thing till about 1pm.

Primrose

Hathor - your peppers will ripen much better on the plants. Once you pick them you cut off the moisture going to them and although they will slowly ripen, they will start to deteriorate and wrinkle. They'll be fine on your window ledges. If the weather gets any worse, I'm going to bring mine in from the patio and let them finish ripening off indoors although they're now about four feet high and absolutely laden. If it suddenly gets very cold at night and you don't have double glazing, you can protect your plants overnight by covering them with newspaper or an old net curtain.

hathor

Thanks for that. Mine aren't as impressive as yours, but if I get a red pepper off each, I'll be a very happy bunny. Pathetic, isn't it?
The windows are double glazed, but if it looks dodgy I'll bring them into the room overnight.

findingmyfeet

primrose- many thanks for the advice. eager to get started. been given loads of wood etc so can make beds /ornaments etc for free. also i live next to a livery yard, would plain old fashioned manure be ok to use?? I can get as much as i like , did hear someething about it being well rotten though is that true ?? anyway thanks

Primrose

fmf - Lucky you living next to a livery yard. Most veggie growers would give their right arm for a sjpply of the mucky stuff! Yes, it's very true that this needs to be well rotted - preferably a year old. Fresh manure contains a high level amonia, amongst other things and putting fresh staff on plants, especially young seedlings, will effective scorch them to death. Pile it up in a heap somewhere and try to turn it over regularly to help it rot down. Once it's well rotted, plan your veggie area in advance and work out which part of it you will spread it on, as root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips don't like freshly manured ground. Tomatoes, beans, leeks and courgettes are all heavy feeders and will love it

Steel_2

I'm getting very frustrated today.

I'm trying to sort out my orders for overwintering fruit and veg like onion sets, seed potatoes and strawberries, and I can't find one site that has everything I want at a good price.

One will have the potatoes, but no onions. Another will onions, but no potatoes. Another site doesn't have the variety of strawberry I want.

Grrrrrr.....I NEVER get my order in quick enough.

All you guys must beat me to it:D

~Chameleon~

Have you tried DT Browns? My onions arrived from them a couple of weeks ago and are in superb condition. I'm hoping to get them in the ground this week once I've dug up the rest of my spuds

Steel_2

Hi chameleon

I went to the garden centre in the end and bought the onions, but I think I'm too late with the potatoes and I'm in a quandry with the strawberries.

Do I a) buy them now bare-rooted and stop them fruiting next year so they have a chance to build up their crowns and become stronger plants for subsequent years (I can buy some really interesting varieties from Ken Muir online like this)?

or

b) buy some bog standard cambridge favourites from the garden centre, which are all potted up and currently fruiting (?) and risk them being weak plants because they may have been brought on too early in warm conditions?

As for the tatties, I might have to try and grow some from some of the smaller potatoes I dug up a few weeks ago. They may just produce something worth eating by Christmas?