[Secret Squirrel]

So, how's everyone's veg patches doing (indoor or out) ?! My sweet basil is growing quite nicely and it tastes fab in the cooking. Definitely going to have to look to expand what I'm growing - I get so annoyed now when I buy other herbs and they dry out after a few days and i've got nothing left to show for the money spent.

Had some lovely fresh peas a few weeks ago from a friend's garden, they were soo tasty!! :bigemo_harabe_net-112:

[GRINBubs]

We do grow some things and are actually planning a large expansion on what we grow. Right now we have a pear tree that puts out around 300 pears anually. We preserve and jelly/jam them, and also eat them fresh. We have two pots dedicated to tomatoes, one small struggling blueberry bush I plan to start over with this, a pecan tree and two loquat trees. We are planning to add oranges, grapefruits, melons, peppers, and we want to start growing most of our own vegetables. My boyfriends mother has 5 acres with lots of wild blackberries, so we get those as well. He and I are moving into a condo but are planning a tierred garden in the back little outdoor area. We want to do lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, and hopefully some onions. But the main projects will be out here at the farm. Planned crops include corn, tomatoes, okra, lettuces, greens, broccoli, onions, chives, leeks, carrots, sweet potatoes, herbs of all kinds, melons, radishes, and green bell peppers.

[Guy_Montag]

GRINBubs, on Dec 22 2009, 01:10 PM, said:

We do grow some things and are actually planning a large expansion on what we grow. Right now we have a pear tree that puts out around 300 pears anually. We preserve and jelly/jam them, and also eat them fresh. We have two pots dedicated to tomatoes, one small struggling blueberry bush I plan to start over with this, a pecan tree and two loquat trees. We are planning to add oranges, grapefruits, melons, peppers, and we want to start growing most of our own vegetables. My boyfriends mother has 5 acres with lots of wild blackberries, so we get those as well. He and I are moving into a condo but are planning a tierred garden in the back little outdoor area. We want to do lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, and hopefully some onions. But the main projects will be out here at the farm. Planned crops include corn, tomatoes, okra, lettuces, greens, broccoli, onions, chives, leeks, carrots, sweet potatoes, herbs of all kinds, melons, radishes, and green bell peppers.

Is this all in Greece? You lucky things - I walked past a garden in Spain about September last year & it was overflowing with interesting veg & fruit.

Got an allotment this time last year, after a bit of a mixed first year, we've decided on:
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic (planted)
Leeks (planted)
Various winter brassicas, but not many (planted, but not looking very exciting)
Beetroot
Radish
Blackcurrents/redcurrents/gooseberry/raspberry (planted)
Runner/french beans
Peas
Broad beans (maybe)

Preparing the asparagus bed.
Erecting the shed.

[Secret Squirrel]

my basil died! haven't got round to replacing it yet...

must try harder to keep plants in general alive!

your allotment sounds fab Guy_Montag

[Guy_Montag]

Secret Squirrel, on Jan 7 2010, 12:01 AM, said:

my basil died! haven't got round to replacing it yet...

must try harder to keep plants in general alive!

your allotment sounds fab Guy_Montag

Thanks, but nah, it still needs a lot of work. Bloody Mare's Tail, bindweed, nettles, couch grass - I've got rid of most of the big docks though.

Still not bought any potatoes, onions or garlic since harvest time last year though!

[Worried Mother]

I spent Sunday and today sowing small quantities of all sorts of vegetables and herbs in pots and seed trays, ready to move on to the garden and greenhouse if/when they are big enough. I am having an economy gardening year, and lots of these seeds are from previous seasons so may not appear at all but I am prepared for that, and have others that can be sown instead if necessary. I am not allowing myself to buy any of those so enticing gardening bits and pieces that I never get around to using either.

I think over the years I am way out of pocket, but as someone said previously it is a great way to spend time, and home grown tastes so much better. I know that I am fortunate to have a garden but I'd still love to have more space to grow in.

Any of you chaps growing again this year?

[Guy_Montag]

Worried Mother, on Mar 16 2010, 04:18 PM, said:

I spent Sunday and today sowing small quantities of all sorts of vegetables and herbs in pots and seed trays, ready to move on to the garden and greenhouse if/when they are big enough. I am having an economy gardening year, and lots of these seeds are from previous seasons so may not appear at all but I am prepared for that, and have others that can be sown instead if necessary. I am not allowing myself to buy any of those so enticing gardening bits and pieces that I never get around to using either.

I think over the years I am way out of pocket, but as someone said previously it is a great way to spend time, and home grown tastes so much better. I know that I am fortunate to have a garden but I'd still love to have more space to grow in.

Any of you chaps growing again this year?

Yeah, but no greenhouse & limited room round the house.

Going for:
Potatoes: Charlotte, <random early>, desiree
Beans: Peas, runner beans, dwarf french beans, borlotti beans
Roots: Beetroot (red & yellow), turnips
Aliums: Garlic (the only thing recently planted), Onions, Leeks, Spring Onions, Welsh Onions
Randoms: A bit of sweetcorn & pumpkins

We have some slightly nibbled leeks & some rather sad looking brassicas in just now.

+ the blackcurrants, gooseberries, rasps & redcurrant.

The allotment is still being tamed & we also have a shed to repair & erect.

[benborg]

Worried Mother, on Mar 16 2010, 05:18 PM, said:

I spent Sunday and today sowing small quantities of all sorts of vegetables and herbs in pots and seed trays, ready to move on to the garden and greenhouse if/when they are big enough. I am having an economy gardening year, and lots of these seeds are from previous seasons so may not appear at all but I am prepared for that, and have others that can be sown instead if necessary. I am not allowing myself to buy any of those so enticing gardening bits and pieces that I never get around to using either.

I think over the years I am way out of pocket, but as someone said previously it is a great way to spend time, and home grown tastes so much better. I know that I am fortunate to have a garden but I'd still love to have more space to grow in.

Any of you chaps growing again this year?

I'm growing but space is very tight. To combat slugs & make most of a paved patio, I've built a timber planter a bit like this:



looks a bit like this when it's planted:
:

A few canes can give a lot more height and growing space.

Can be built very easily from fence posts, basic technique here, or bought flat-packed online (link). I've put wooden feet on mine & a strip of copper ant-slug tape around the feet and then another strip around the whole planter. No slugs or snails so far. For soil I've used a mixture of rotted manure, growbag compost & topsoil. If you wnat to grow tomatoes it helps to start with sterile soil/compost etc. so they're less likely to pick up blight spores.

It's a great way of growing veg in a rented place as you can turn a patio, yard or balcony into what is effectively a mini raised bed, without touching the garden, and farm it intensively. It does need a sunny spot though. I've got mange tout peas (4), endive cut-and-come-again lettuce (4), cherry tomatoes (2) and coriander (4) in mine, with three cane wigwams to give the tomatoes & mange tout plenty of height. Doesn't need watering as often as a growbag as it has so much soil.

If you don't have any outside space you can still grow loads of stuff in a hydoponic "aerogarden":


They look fun, and can probably be used for all sorts of "fine herbs", but a sunny windowsill probably just as good.

[ellenmyfanwy]

GQT today. In response to a question of what could be grown in a westerly area behind some tents in a FOB in Helmand, the suggestions ranged from pomegranate trees to grape vines and enriching the soil with potato peelings. How much more Marie Antoinettesque can the BBC get?

[benborg]

ellenmyfanwy, on May 14 2010, 09:46 PM, said:

GQT today. In response to a question of what could be grown in a westerly area behind some tents in a FOB in Helmand, the suggestions ranged from pomegranate trees to grape vines and enriching the soil with potato peelings. How much more Marie Antoinettesque can the BBC get?

surely opium poppies are the way to go out there. will look forward that that one when my ipod picks up the podcast - gardening with headphones is great fun.

[Guy_Montag]

Well, we're almost through the main growing season:

Runner beans - millions
Pumpkins - about 8 ~ 1 per plant
Courgettes - not great, a bit slow getting them in, prob had about 15 from 3 plants
Spuds - not great, prob a bit dry early in the year, but what we've had are lovely
Cabbages - really nice
Kale - not really eaten
Beetroot - small but yummy
Peas - poor, only a few snacking pods
Soft fruit - a bit mixed, a few goosegogs & blackcurrents, but we should have had more.
Sweetcorn - falied.
Leeks - just gone in
Garlic - from last year, bloody brilliant. Esp elephant garlic.

[benborg]

Guy_Montag, on 31 August 2010 - 11:25 AM, said:

Well, we're almost through the main growing season:

Runner beans - millions
Pumpkins - about 8 ~ 1 per plant
Courgettes - not great, a bit slow getting them in, prob had about 15 from 3 plants
Spuds - not great, prob a bit dry early in the year, but what we've had are lovely
Cabbages - really nice
Kale - not really eaten
Beetroot - small but yummy
Peas - poor, only a few snacking pods
Soft fruit - a bit mixed, a few goosegogs & blackcurrents, but we should have had more.
Sweetcorn - falied.
Leeks - just gone in
Garlic - from last year, bloody brilliant. Esp elephant garlic.

impressive range you've got there. My runner beans did well on just one bamboo teepee but the beans were a bit tough & stringy.

I recommend trying one of the thornless blackberry varieties. I've got one and the blackberries are very delicious. The plants grow well even in deep shade, so you can squeeze one into any garden or allotment, and lack of thorns means you can let them go rampant without having to worry about prickly brambles becoming a nuisance.

[Guy_Montag]

benborg, on 02 September 2010 - 12:30 PM, said:

impressive range you've got there. My runner beans did well on just one bamboo teepee but the beans were a bit tough & stringy.

I recommend trying one of the thornless blackberry varieties. I've got one and the blackberries are very delicious. The plants grow well even in deep shade, so you can squeeze one into any garden or allotment, and lack of thorns means you can let them go rampant without having to worry about prickly brambles becoming a nuisance.

We need to get on top of our soft fruit, didn't get much this year - I think we need to get better at pruning.

The rest, well the allotment is 26 x 6m or so, only 1/3 of a standard allotment (£11/year).

Next year I think we'll get some unusual varieties of spuds, more beetroot & interesting onions. The rest we'll probably do the similar to this year, just with some more unusual varieties - things we can't get in the shops.

[Worried Mother]

Garden was a disaster and I gave up. The 5 fox cubs based in the garden of the empty house next door dug everything up, including troughs on the patio, and rolled on it all. I tried netting the beds but they got tangled in it, and I thought for a few minutes that I would have to call the RSPCA, but they freed themselves causing even more destruction. So far I've had a couple of ridge cucumbers and a handful of courgettes. A long way from the cornucopia I was hoping for.

I'm investigating the feasibility of electric fencing, but I doubt it will be cost effective. I might enjoy hearing future generations of cubs yelping though