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

halfpint90

hi all, i'm new to this topic, and i don't have the time right now to read through all 37 pages, but me and OH have spent the time over the past 2 weekends clearing the area for our veggie patch, it was completely over grown (to about 3ft high!!)
So here's how it looks as of yesterday!



i have a very small amount of growing experience, last year i grew tomatoes (from a small plant that i bought), sweetcorn, carrots and beetroot.
this year we are doing all of the above but having a go at toms from seeds, and also going to try brussels, peas and potatoes.
So currently our draining board area in the kitchen is covered with seed trays, and a few tiny little shoots!

TedLaRue

I have just constructed my first raised bed in an effort to grow my own so please excuse my ignorance, but am I too late to start planting out?

A lot of the planners I have seen suggest that March is the time the start planting. I want to avoid buying plants from garden centres as they are so much more expensive and haven't really got enough time to start propogating (or have I?), so I'm looking at sowing seeds directly in my raised bed.

Any suggestions for a first timer? Not too fussy about veg as it'll all get eaten if it grows!

Thanks.

hathor

Ted, you don't say where you are, but for many gardening probs - flowers or veg - the crucial factor is temperature. Most things should only go out after all danger of frost has passed, so if you're fairly Northerly, or up a mountain, for example, your "safe-to-plant-out" time might be later than if you were in a balmy Southern sun trap, if you get my meaning.
It's not too late to sow seed indoors to obtain seedlings to plant out later - don't forget to harden off, if they've been protected seedlings - but some things which don't like being moved (radishes, carrots, beetroot spring to mind) and should be planted where they are to grow. Take guidance from the backs of your seed packets, not just looking up the name of a veg in a book, as conditions for different varieties of the same veg do differ quite a bit. You can get "early", "main" or "late" varieties of lots of veg, and some are more tolerant of cold than others.

Primrose

halfpint - well done on getting organised. Try and squeeze in some mixed varieties of lettuces. You can buy packets of mixed varieties and they will save you money as they can be sown fairly close together and you can cut and come again. If you sow thinly now and in six weeks time sow a few more in a pot or trough, you'll have a fresh supply ready to come on board when the first batch of them have been virtually fully picked. Plant your tomatoes against your sunniest fence so they don't shade the other plants. The earliest ripening outdoor tomatoes are Gardeners Delight which are the small sweet cherry variety.
Ted - you can sow courgettes, french beans and salad crops direct into the ground but apart from lettuce which you can risk sowing now, many others will need to wait until the risk of frost has passed and tomatoes really need to be sown from seed starting around now unless you're going to buy plants which will be much more expensive so if you can sow a few tomatoes or beans in pots and keep on a sunny window sill you'll get earlier crops.

halfpint90

thanks for the advice Primrose!
should i plant the lettuce seeds in trays inside first or out side straight away.
the rest of the veggies are in seed trays inside at the moment!

Primrose

halfpint - I'd be tempted to hedge my bets and half outdoors and half in a tray indoors. Those sown indoors should germinate more quickly and get off to a good start. Those sown outdoors will be slower to germinate and could be damaged by frost unless you can cover them over but being later starters will allow for a little succession. The weeds are just beginning to show through in our soil now - a sure sign that the earth is warming up - but perversely weeds always seem to be hardier than veg seedlings. Don't let your indoor lettuce seedlings get too big and spindly. When they're about an inch tall, get them outside with some protection. If they're in a tiny tray and you have an empty 5 litre square mineral water bottle, cut the base off, tuck the tray inside it and put the open end up against a house wall to block it off. This makes an ideal mini greenhouse for very small quantities of seedlings.

halfpint90

i hadn't thought of doing that with empty drinks bottles - typical i took a bag full of plastic bottles down the recycling the other day! - we go through a 4 litre bottle of squash in a few weeks!

BLUis

I have a bad back but would really like to grow salad stuff and veggies. Can anyone recommend how I can make a small raised bed, around 5' sq but about 4' high so that i dont have to bend over too far.

I am going to be doing potatoes in buckets, strawberries in a 3 tier planter and tomatoes in normal pots as well.

Any help, advice on what to do and where to get it from would be gratefully received!!

Thanks!

hathor

Try container growing. You can mount them on tables, benches, bricks, blocks, whatever is handy, stable, and the right height for you. Most of my veg are in black storage crates, roughly 2ft x 1ft x 1ft deep, cost about £8 for 6 from Argos.
Apart from height/accessibility advantages, there's also no digging or weeding with containers as opposed to "real" gardening. Salad stuff you can grow in troughs or shallower containers, as they don't need the root depth. I did well with washing up bowls last year, at 99p a go.

Dave101t

i have bought 2 mini greenhouses to grow my veg in. also, they can germinate whilst i convert a part of lawn to a raised bed.
just came in from planting: (all seeds)
broccoli
carrot
cauliflower
cabbage
cucumber
onion
pea
sweetcorn
tomato
as well as various flowers.
im hoping everything will transplant well once shoots appear, everything is in individual seed pot-trays, as opposed to those basic seed trays.

also, i cannot believe the price of seeds in the shops, alan romans seeds are 50p-80p whereas their counterpart in the shops is 1.20 - 3 quid! and for less seeds!