Advice for a hopeless gardener

[steptoe]

Ah forgot to say if you do sweet peppers i use the seed straight out of a bell pepper from the supermarket and get good results i gave up buying expensive pepper seed lol .

I gave up on onion from seed they just never seem to get big enough , i always use sets and i do sow spring onions but again am struggling , i have gone welsh onions now and the eygptian onions and well we did a poundland shop so i grabbed 2 cheap bags of sets , i can not do well with onions here but put some in the raised beds this time in the ground i had one good year but other than that i got bottom rot most years and the land is not to wet but we are right on the canal so it does get damp a lot .

I would say get your lettuce in the seed that is and i do them every month after and i will do extra carrots this year as i love grated carrot .

I am going big on medical herbs this year as i said before in posts but i will also do loads of as i call them edible herbs we love parsley and that is high in iron , but mint i have 8 types in pots i am doing lemon balm but that is like mint a pain in the backside once it gets in the garden it just grows all over lol we found that in the flat garden where we lived i planted one lol well with in 2 years it was everywhere , i can say salad burnett is great lol i have a huge pot of babies to plant out this year .

You just keep growing and enjoy it

[jennyjj01]

Ah forgot to say if you do sweet peppers i use the seed straight out of a bell pepper from the supermarket and get good results i gave up buying expensive pepper seed lol .

I gave up on onion from seed they just never seem to get big enough , i always use sets and i do sow spring onions but again am struggling , i have gone welsh onions now and the eygptian onions and well we did a poundland shop so i grabbed 2 cheap bags of sets , i can not do well with onions here but put some in the raised beds this time in the ground i had one good year but other than that i got bottom rot most years and the land is not to wet but we are right on the canal so it does get damp a lot .

I would say get your lettuce in the seed that is and i do them every month after and i will do extra carrots this year as i love grated carrot .

I am going big on medical herbs this year as i said before in posts but i will also do loads of as i call them edible herbs we love parsley and that is high in iron , but mint i have 8 types in pots i am doing lemon balm but that is like mint a pain in the backside once it gets in the garden it just grows all over lol we found that in the flat garden where we lived i planted one lol well with in 2 years it was everywhere , i can say salad burnett is great lol i have a huge pot of babies to plant out this year .

You just keep growing and enjoy it

I have a load of retained bell pepper seeds. Had no luck with them last year. Might get them in this weekend. I really need a greenhouse........ Oh Boy. Inspiration!!!!! I've just realised that there is a greenhouse I can probably blag some space in for the cost of a bit of tending and swapping.
We don't eat enough lettuce to justify growing it. Truth is we barely eat greens at all. I'll be going all in on peas and carrots.
Last years spring onions from seeds were barely anything. They kept fantastically well without any care or attention after I pulled them up. I still have a couple of bulbs from last years harvest and they look fit to replant or eat.
Was it Jansman put you onto those tree onions? How far did you get? How many have you set? My babies went out just a few days ago.

I had little luck with herbs. Too neglected.

Roll on some longer sunnier days!

[steptoe]

I think it was jans , it was on here but i put in 60 odd eygpian and welsh onions lol i brought them on the bay and they went in one of the empty raised beds and the extras will go in the wifes wildlife middle bit in the garden lol .

I have huge amounts of wild garlic and chives and will do more bits and bobs as i go the trouble i have is the health i have work round it as best i can .

I can tell you if they allow you polytunnels i got a 6 mt x 3 mt it had the green non rip cover but that was rubbish i put a wooden base rail on and then fitted a 720 non drip cover ,it was hard work but we got it done , i can also recommend useing the little grow frames just when you put them together i used pipe glue , but also try and get hold of some of the underground plastic tube the water pipe type it makes great hoops and they last well forever and you can put fleece over or clear plastic and just put soil over the edge where it meets the ground and you have nice warm grow areas .

You will over time work out what is best to grow as we have over the years we have just made lists but also we do grow other stuff lol most gets given away , i did say neighbours hid by mid summer when they see us with our baskets of veggies lol .

Funny they never hide when it is strawberry season lol and raspberries lol we have huge amounts of fruit over every summer so share also i am trying this year the pink currant we have red white and black carrant but i fancied a challenge and the pink came at a fair price so i got 2 bushes this will be there first year fruiting with luck , i also have 3 plums and 4 pear trees an apple and a cooker to lol i just loved this house the garden was mine so to speak the wife said this way she can keep and eye on me if i collapse she can see me in most parts lol .

Just enjoy the fun time in the fresh air the food is a bonus to us , this year i will only do 12 tom plants and 6 cucumber plants it use to be 50 toms and 24 cucumbers lol

[jennyjj01]

I think it was jans , it was on here but i put in 60 odd eygptian

I really need to see photos of yours to compare to mine. I was proud of them when they reached 6 inches tall in the windowsill and I'm worried about them now planted out. Did you start yours in the polytunnel, or bang them straight in the ground?

I can tell you if they allow you polytunnels i got a 6 mt x 3 mt it had the green non rip cover but that was rubbish i put a wooden base rail on and then fitted a 720 non drip cover ,it was hard work but we got it done , i can also recommend useing the little grow frames just when you put them together i used pipe glue , but also try and get hold of some of the underground plastic tube the water pipe type it makes great hoops and they last well forever and you can put fleece over or clear plastic and just put soil over the edge where it meets the ground and you have nice warm grow areas

I used 20mm conduit pipe softened over a room heater for bending into bows. Will be making some sorts of mini poly tunnels which will be allowed. Big stuff there are some restrictions, but mostly I'm not ready to commit to the expense or effort. The only glass allowed onsite is toughened or that hard plastic stuff......
OMG: Just typing this has reminded me that I have a source of glass and clear plastic. In the form of an endless source of large-ish picture frames and glazed display cabinets.

Just enjoy the fun time in the fresh air the food is a bonus to us , this year i will only do 12 tom plants and 6 cucumber plants it use to be 50 toms and 24 cucumbers lol

I'm hoping to get as many tomatoes as possible but they will need to be hardy outdoor ones. I'm sooooo scared of blight. I'd love to get some Roma going. Had some success with those in the past.

[steptoe]

the guy that ran our allotment use a 3ft x 4ft area with plactis waste pipe just pushed in the ground and elbows for the corners and then just wrapped it in cheap clear plastic , he use to get huge cucumbers in there .

[steptoe]

I think it was jans , it was on here but i put in 60 odd eygptian

I really need to see photos of yours to compare to mine. I was proud of them when they reached 6 inches tall in the windowsill and I'm worried about them now planted out. Did you start yours in the polytunnel, or bang them straight in the ground?

I can tell you if they allow you polytunnels i got a 6 mt x 3 mt it had the green non rip cover but that was rubbish i put a wooden base rail on and then fitted a 720 non drip cover ,it was hard work but we got it done , i can also recommend useing the little grow frames just when you put them together i used pipe glue , but also try and get hold of some of the underground plastic tube the water pipe type it makes great hoops and they last well forever and you can put fleece over or clear plastic and just put soil over the edge where it meets the ground and you have nice warm grow areas

I used 20mm conduit pipe softened over a room heater for bending into bows. Will be making some sorts of mini poly tunnels which will be allowed. Big stuff there are some restrictions, but mostly I'm not ready to commit to the expense or effort. The only glass allowed onsite is toughened or that hard plastic stuff......
OMG: Just typing this has reminded me that I have a source of glass and clear plastic. In the form of an endless source of large-ish picture frames and glazed display cabinets.

Just enjoy the fun time in the fresh air the food is a bonus to us , this year i will only do 12 tom plants and 6 cucumber plants it use to be 50 toms and 24 cucumbers lol

I'm hoping to get as many tomatoes as possible but they will need to be hardy outdoor ones. I'm sooooo scared of blight. I'd love to get some Roma going. Had some success with those in the past.

HI jen mine i just put most in the raised bed wham and take their chances as at the time i was struggling with balaqnce lol , the extra few i put in long deep grow trays from my grow frame i nthe poly tunnel the ones in the ground are slower but look healthier than thiose in the tunnel as they are leggy .
I just found these on the bay that you could use to make small cloche type greenhouses for the lotty , i did the old tennies ball trick when i started as this type of connecter you could not buy it came in the kit greenhouse .
i will try and get some pics of the raised bed i have put leeks and onions between the rows lol i am trying to double up o nthe grow space i am going to do some leeks i nthe ground again this year and pray lol last time they got rust and moth , i love leeks but here have never been able to grow a good crop i have tried so many types to i am back to mammoth
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374282152494 ... %3A2047675

[jennyjj01]

I can tell you if they allow you polytunnels i got a 6 mt x 3 mt it had the green non rip cover but that was rubbish i put a wooden base rail on and then fitted a 720 non drip cover ,it was hard work but we got it done , i can also recommend useing the little grow frames just when you put them together i used pipe glue , but also try and get hold of some of the underground plastic tube the water pipe type it makes great hoops and they last well forever and you can put fleece over or clear plastic and just put soil over the edge where it meets the ground and you have nice warm grow areas

HI jen mine i just put most in the raised bed wham and take their chances as at the time i was struggling with balance lol , the extra few i put in long deep grow trays from my grow frame in the poly tunnel the ones in the ground are slower but look healthier than those in the tunnel as they are leggy .
I just found these on the bay that you could use to make small cloche type greenhouses for the lotty , i did the old tennis ball trick when i started as this type of connecter you could not buy it came in the kit greenhouse .
i will try and get some pics of the raised bed i have put leeks and onions between the rows lol i am trying to double up on the grow space i am going to do some leeks in the ground again this year and pray lol last time they got rust and moth , i love leeks but here have never been able to grow a good crop i have tried so many types to i am back to mammoth
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374282152494

Thanks for that.
I have collected up a good stack of pallet wood, so I'll be getting MrJ to create me some growing boxes, probably Poly covered. I figure if I can get 1.2m high, I could get some decent tomatoes in that. Hopeful that being sheltered, they might avoid any blight spores that blow about.

I think I've had a total crop of about 6 medium leeks over all of time. I still have a couple in the ground. Trouble is, if one gets white rot, can't that spread to onions and garlic too?

March is sneaking up on me. Sowing time will be here before I'm ready unless I pull my finger out. Cleared one of my beds yesterday, which was easy with very light weeds.

The allotment is NOT getting enough time and attention I need at least 3 or more FULL days on it. It doesn't get FULL days, yet.

The triffids went out into the bed and that night was a frost. Poor little devils. Three in reserve on the windowsill looking out and crying for their cold sisters. My garlic seems to have suffered some losses, too. So I've resolved to keep my onions on the windowsill for at least another month. They are near 3 inches high but very skinny. The Rijnburgers have not even sprouted yet

If you have ebooks, maybe try to get the software 'Calibre'. I think you can print from that. First print to PDF then print the PDF to paper. Calibre is handy getting some of the dodgy free books into your kindle.

[steptoe]

Jen don't forget if you are planting out at the lotty if you know someone like use we use 5litre bottles of water as i have a dyhration issue health wise these bottles make a great cloche cut the bottom off and to stop them blowing away on a windy plot just take the top of and push a cane down that way it does not blow away they are great for protection of early stuff , i use to put all the courgettes under these when i put them out .

Just go slow on the lotty and enjoy it and the rules are there but ours never use to force them only after a plot stood a season unused did they say anything to people , just do what you can and if anyone asks just say you have been pushing as hard as your health allows most times they are ok .

You will over time figure out what your family like but i promise you they will notice the difference in taste straight away , i was never a big fan of shop lettuce so use to not eat it much when i grew my own well the flavour no chemical after taste and i did notice last year when we did buy in a couple of shop ones they had a salty taste and when i looked in to that it appears some growers who grow on the hydro systems added salt to the water to kill diesea or so it was reported .

I am dying to get the leeks out but holding off as long as i can i am trying to sow loads of veggies this year to share because times are going to hurt this year .

wait until the sun starts warming the allotment and you can sit out after a few hours there you will love it a cuppa in the hand or a glass of whatever

[rik_uk3]

Starting out with fresh seeds this season which all arrived today and I'll start plant in trays end of the month. I'm growing less varieties this year, things I know will come up.

Herbs for me are always hit and miss so I'm sticking with what worked last year. Only growing two types of lettuce, Iceberg and Lollo Rosso, both grew very well last year. Only three tomato varieties, Sungold, Buffalosteak and the amazing Veranda Red. The VR are a determinate cheery busting with flavour and you can grow them in small pots and produce a load of fruit; I plant these about 6 weeks apart and that gives me beautiful toms right through to October.

I tried three different cucumbers last year and the easy winner is the F1 Beit Alpha which produce lovely cucs about 6"-9" so I'll plant these again this year and they do not need pollinating which is a bonus. Then courgettes, aubergines, sprouts, radish and thats about it. My back problems are not getting better and doubt they'll call me in for an op in 2023 so I'm sticking with low maintenance crops this year

[jennyjj01]

So, I found 3 bulbs of garlic in the food cupboard which were seriously past their best. Indeed they were starting to decay. I could see that they had the odd whisker of new root growing and some tiny bit of shoots forming.

Waste not want not !

https://youtu.be/vr3ZxWexS5c

Crikey Moses!
Just 10 days later, these cloves have now grown to over three inches tall. Just a couple of no-shows as of yet.
IMG_20230102_160105.jpg
Variety? No-Idea.
Did I sow too soon? or too late? I don't think I did because they were on the cusp of going rotten.
These will be transplanted ASAP when I get my plot keys. Or should i separate them into pots for a while? Should I pop the tray outside to get them used to the cold?
If I transplant them how far apart? I'm thinking 6 inches or so?

Patiently awaiting my ordered few seeds and sets.

Well, that didn't end well........ Of the dozen or so cloves of garlic, only two conspicuously still exist. I think the rest rotted after I sowed them outside. Too wet? Probably. Oh hum. More room for onions and leeks.