We've changed the name of this board from 'Greenfingered MoneySaving' to simply 'Gardening'. This is to help make it easier to find for the horticulturally inclined. The URL remains unchanged for the time being, so all links to the board are unaffected.
The all new 2019 growing your own thread!
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I need some advice please. I got a lovely raised bed, made it myself with screwing some wood together. Layed some cardboard on bottom and filled it up. After the first rains in the season, mostof the soil ended flushing out the bottom. I assume it is because either the cardboard didn't break down enough yet or it wasn't layed properly.
Do i need to "bury" the sides a bit into the ground? The ground soil is a bit hard, so will have to add more to it and don't want it washed away again. Thank you!It's good for the soul to walk with your soles on the soil.0 -
I can't held on the raise bed I'm afraid, as I don't have one. Hopefully someone else will be able to offer some guidance soon.
In terms of my crops, and success. I am in the southwest, and the soil is very clay like. So the only things in the soil are the raspberry plant, the rhubarb and I've just sowed some garlic for next year.
Tomatoes:
Indigo Rose (Black in colour) - Strong, prolific and disease resistant. Take agesssssss to ripen though! I do enjoy them, and because of their dark colour, they have additional health benefits. Might limit them to 2 plants next year though, as they just take so long.
Tigerella (stripey) - Not as strong, and haven't had a great deal of tomatoes from them. The 'clone' I took from a cutting has produced better, but sadly a little late in the season. Not very disease resistant, and am battling blight with them at the moment. Think I will only do one plant next year. Maybe.
Cherry (variety unknown - bought plant as a 'whoopsie' from asda) - Best and quickest producer. Seemed to be a determinate variety with regards to size, but have produced all season long. Has so far been disease resistant, and has even survived being deluged with rain water as I forgot to put drainage holes in the tub. Whilst they struggled, they did bounce back and were still producing flowers even this weekend. Would like to save seeds and grow again next year.
Wishlist of tomatoes to try next year - Honey delight - a yellow cherry. Chocolate sprinkles - a dark cherry, prolific. Pai pai - sauce tomato.
Peas - Not sure of variety, but it was a dwarf one bought from Lidl. They grew well, and produced well, even gave a second, small, crop. But I only did two plants and have learnt that that is nowhere near sufficient.
Runner beans - red flower variety (forget the name). Limited success. The plants established well, and produced plenty of flowers, but very few of them developed into beans. Suffered greatly with a blackfly issue that I was unable to get under control. Would like to try a different variety next year. Maybe in a different location.
Carrots - limited success, but lessons learned. They were in trug with the tomatoes, and I think they got too much surface water, so didn't grow down very well. Will probably try in a different location next year.
Beetroot - First crop did fine, second crop stunted. Not sure why.
Peppers - The ones grown from seed got shredded by hail early on, seemingly recovered but never bore fruit, and then got diseased. Had to pull. Asda 'whoopsie' produced quite a few peppers, but all small in size. Not sure I'd bother again.
Chillies - still going strong on the windowsill at work, currently producing a second crop.
Blueberries - in self watering system. Did great. Will keep.
Blackcurrents - in self watering system. Barely produced any fruit. Might ditch this year in favour of gooseberries.
Courgettes - Fail. Seemed to get some kind of disease, and never recovered. I think I had two courgettes in total, from both plants. Will try again next year.
Strawberries - shop bought June bearing plants were doing well, but suffered a drought whilst we were away on holiday and didn't recover in time to produce anymore. Everbearing variety grown from seed, took ages to get started, but are now producing strawberries. Should all be better next year. Will introduce some water retaining crystals or something to cover our time away.
Purple Brussel Sprout - still growing strong. Suffered an attack of caterpillars, which I seem to have now gotten under control! Phew! Hoping for a good crop. In the trug. If they taste nicer than standard brussel sprouts, then I may try again next year.
Rhubarb - was pot bound before and never performed. Has struggled in clay soil, largely in part to my poor transferring skills. But, has survived and hoping for a better year next year.
Raspberry cane - was only planted earlier this year and took ages to establish. Finally getting fruit forming, and swelling now. Hopefully next year is better.
Wish to try next year - garlic, onions, potatoes.
Phew!February wins: Theatre tickets0 -
I need some advice please. I got a lovely raised bed, made it myself with screwing some wood together. Layed some cardboard on bottom and filled it up. After the first rains in the season, mostof the soil ended flushing out the bottom. I assume it is because either the cardboard didn't break down enough yet or it wasn't layed properly.
Do i need to "bury" the sides a bit into the ground? The ground soil is a bit hard, so will have to add more to it and don't want it washed away again. Thank you!
Hard to say without seeing it, but if it's on uneven ground with gaps around the bottom then certainly soil will leach out, especially if it's got between your cardboard lining & the sides (it might have been better to fold the cardboard up the sides a little). It might only need to be buried an inch to form a good 'seal'. Of course manipulating a full raised bed isn't easy. You can either hoik everything out & start again, lower/bury the frame, or maybe insert some card down the sides below the level of the frame to plug those gaps for a season or two (I think that would only be a temporary solution)
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0 -
What a lovely thread! I have an allotment with my husband in a city. It's about a 20 minute walk from our current home but we will hopefully be moving to our first house soon which is only 10 minutes away from the plot (it was a factor in where we were looking to move to as the plot is really important to us!). Unfortunately I don't know the size of our plot but it's quite a large one and cost us approx. £58 per year which includes water.
What do you like to grow?
So my favourite thing at the allotment is our chickens. We have 4 Ross Lohmans which is quite a cheap and cheerful industrial bird (prolific layers). They are my absolute babies. I love them and bonus they also lay eggs for us to eat!
In terms of growing our favourite veg are munchkin pumpkins. They are so delicious and yet really expensive in the shops. I think favourite fruit is good old strawbs but we bought a mulberry bush this spring and I swear my husband is already salivating thinking about those mulberries! LOL
Are you going to try anything different this year?
This time of year with the harvesting is when I start evaluating and planning for next year. So next year I'm going to try more reliable varieties rather than going for the fancy ones because I am invariably disappointed with the yield. I also have big plants to increase our parsnip success as for the past 2 years we have had nothing yet our first year we had an amazing harvest.
Did you try anything different last year? Did you like it? Would you grow it again?
This year we tried cape gooseberries and sadly we hated them. We thought they tasted a bit pukey. They were ok in a raspberry jam though so will still get used. We also grew cucmelons for the first time and loved them! They are so fun. Though the pickled cucamelons decided to ferment in the heat oops!
Do you have any tips for growing?
You've just got to give it a go. I think growing is the best thing anyone can do for themselves and for the environment. Stick things in a see what happens - but don't be dismayed if things don't grow. Every year is different (environment, climate, soil) so try again next time.
Do you make anything with what you grow?
Aside from the usual daily meals which we have with our home grown vegetable I also make jams and pickles. I dehydrate a lot of our produce too in order to save it for later in the year and I am also begging to try bottling / canning which I am very excited about for next year.
How much does growing your own save you?
We are not sure how much exactly but in the summer months our supermarket shop usually costs about £10 a week for the two of us.Vintage loving, allotment holding, low waste living. Indi = DH. Maisie Bones = fur baby
Credit Card paid off = 02/04/2018
Bank of Mum loan = £450
Now saving for a house deposit!0 -
Euronorris . Thanks for the update. If you like beans, perhaps next year try growing climbing French green beans, especially a variety called Cobra.
The flowers are self fertile whereas the flowers on runner beans are not, which often means you get a better crop. French beans also seem to freeze better. I chop and open freeze mine on trays then bag up loose so I can grab a handful whenever I need some and their nature lends them to this treatment far better than runner beans where the flesh can tend to disintegrate more easily.0 -
Day in for me today as I tired myself out yesterday and it's chemo tomorrow. Got a lot of jobs I want to do today & it's nice & sunny, but I need to rest. Ramen for tea which should keep me occupied until Bake Off. All I need to do is make it down to the raised beds & back without pruning anything or falling over
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0 -
Oh, I meant to ask yesterday. I sowed some garlic bulbs a few weeks back, so that they could grow and be ready for harvesting next year. But one of them has sprouted up through the ground already. Is that normal/OK? Or do I need to protect them from frost later on in the year? Couldn't really find an answer online.
Cheers.February wins: Theatre tickets0 -
Garlic is a very hardy plant and will often start sprouting in autumn once planted if the weather is amenable. Just be sure to keep it well watered in this dry weather to give it a strong start and it should survive the winter OK. Many garlic bulbs are autumn planted and are quite capable of surviving the frost but obviously if you have some cloches or can give them some protection with fleece this may help advance their growth just a little.0
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Thank you! I suppose I just wasn't sure if they were supposed to spring up so quickly, or if they were supposed to stay below the ground until Spring. I have my answer! Thank you!February wins: Theatre tickets0
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VintageLady wrote: »What a lovely thread! I have an allotment with my husband in a city. It's about a 20 minute walk from our current home but we will hopefully be moving to our first house soon which is only 10 minutes away from the plot (it was a factor in where we were looking to move to as the plot is really important to us!). Unfortunately I don't know the size of our plot but it's quite a large one and cost us approx. £58 per year which includes water.
What do you like to grow?
So my favourite thing at the allotment is our chickens. We have 4 Ross Lohmans which is quite a cheap and cheerful industrial bird (prolific layers). They are my absolute babies. I love them and bonus they also lay eggs for us to eat!
In terms of growing our favourite veg are munchkin pumpkins. They are so delicious and yet really expensive in the shops. I think favourite fruit is good old strawbs but we bought a mulberry bush this spring and I swear my husband is already salivating thinking about those mulberries! LOL
Are you going to try anything different this year?
This time of year with the harvesting is when I start evaluating and planning for next year. So next year I'm going to try more reliable varieties rather than going for the fancy ones because I am invariably disappointed with the yield. I also have big plants to increase our parsnip success as for the past 2 years we have had nothing yet our first year we had an amazing harvest.
Did you try anything different last year? Did you like it? Would you grow it again?
This year we tried cape gooseberries and sadly we hated them. We thought they tasted a bit pukey. They were ok in a raspberry jam though so will still get used. We also grew cucmelons for the first time and loved them! They are so fun. Though the pickled cucamelons decided to ferment in the heat oops!
Do you have any tips for growing?
You've just got to give it a go. I think growing is the best thing anyone can do for themselves and for the environment. Stick things in a see what happens - but don't be dismayed if things don't grow. Every year is different (environment, climate, soil) so try again next time.
Do you make anything with what you grow?
Aside from the usual daily meals which we have with our home grown vegetable I also make jams and pickles. I dehydrate a lot of our produce too in order to save it for later in the year and I am also begging to try bottling / canning which I am very excited about for next year.
How much does growing your own save you?
We are not sure how much exactly but in the summer months our supermarket shop usually costs about £10 a week for the two of us.
Is this after your savings from your allotment or before you got your allotment :rotfl:ITS NOT EASY TO GET EVERYTHING WRONG ,I HAVE TO WORK HARD TO DO IT!0
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