The ups and downs and ins and outs of growing your own, 2018

We are in East Anglia (duh, as per my name!) and so it is quite warm and dry and we successfully grew borlotti beans last year. I highly recommend them. They are quite heavy plants and a bit bushier than runners but just as easy and part of the same rotation of beds.

Hi all!
I'm hoping to grow some veg and herbs in containers this year (we only have a small paved yard) so fingers crossed it works out! There's a lot of long plant pots out there already so that's a good start, but I'm not sure where the soil in them has come from or how to tell whether it's good enough to plant in?

Thanks Jazee, I'll do that.
This might be a daft question, but when you say clean them do you mean just with water or with actual cleaning products?

Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »

What do you like to grow?

Are you going to try anything different this year?

Did you try anything different last year? Did you like it? Would you grow it again?

Do you have any tips for growing?

Do you make anything with what you grow?

How much does growing your own save you?

I have a half plot allotment which is half a rood. I decided to go no dig with deep beds and have 20 16' x 4' beds and another half dozen 8' x 4' ones. I got set up last year and put weed suppressing material and wood chippings on the paths so that I don't get muddy shoes/boots.

I like to grow veg that is more expensive in the shops and to that end I've got a greenhouse with lettuce in pots and beetroot in soil at present. When that's cropped there will be tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in there. I will grow first early potatoes but not main crop as they are so cheap (£5 a sack last year) here. I saved broad bean seed and have sowed a succession in autumn and I shall follow that up next month for more. I also saved runner bean and dwarf french bean seed too. I'll be growing beetroot, celery, celeriac, radishes, lettuce from seed. There's a chap on site who has access to brussels sprout, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouting broccoli and leek plants so I will be getting those from him. I've got shallots and garlic in and will be planting plenty of onion sets in due course. On the soft fruit front, I have plenty of different strawberry varieties, rhubarb, raspberries and gooseberries plus a couple of blackberry plants. I have ordered a couple of "hanging blackberry" plants and will attach these to the shed.

I will be trying some companion planting to try and avoid pest damage.

My only tip is to get plenty of organic matter into the soil as it really does help with moisture retention and makes it easy to work.

My wife makes soup from the veg but we tend to eat the majority of my crops.

I have spent so much on setting up the shed, greenhouse, deep beds, cloches and cold frame that my veg and soft fruit is really expensive. That said, I reckon that in a few years it will be paying for itself. I am more concerned with the provenance of my food than expense, but, cost will come down and I will be getting some exercise & fresh air.

TalyaStone wrote: »

we tried everything to keep slugs at bay but in the end we lost.

I tried nematodes but did it when the weather was too dry and there's no mains water on our allotment. Beer traps and organic slug pellets helped and although I got some slug damage, it wasn't too bad until we started getting the wet weather later in the year. Even then, there was plenty of undamaged crops to eat.

I have now got a full 1,000 litre water butt and will try nematodes again when the new growing season starts. I have still got a beer trap in the greenhouse and the lettuces & beetroot are fine so far. Touch wood.