Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Way I see it is that some food lowers the shipping bill and tastes FAR better than anything in the supermarket



We have just finished our onions from last year

Lettuce is idiot proof to grow and we had a 6 year old catapiller who forget about sweets


Carrots did ok but not spectacular


Radishes did fine

Parsnips were poor in terms of size and quantity

And dwarf beans were ok
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14354

[ForgeCorvus]

With growing your own you can talk about Food-Yards when the resident Eco-Bore gets on the subject of Food-miles

Here at Crowville we don't grow as much as we want to, but I think if everyone grew something this little ball of mud would be a better place.


Eat what you grow, Grow what you eat....... And don't worry about your produce being smaller, wonkier or uglier then the stuff in the supermarket, what you see there might be only 20% of the crop

[Deeps]

I can tell you but I can't untell you.

Its rude.

[jansman]

With growing your own you can talk about Food-Yards when the resident Eco-Bore gets on the subject of Food-miles

Here at Crowville we don't grow as much as we want to, but I think if everyone grew something this little ball of mud would be a better place.


Eat what you grow, Grow what you eat....... And don't worry about your produce being smaller, wonkier or uglier then the stuff in the supermarket, what you see there might be only 20% of the crop

Like it!

Eat what you grow,grow what you eat.Simple but wise advice ForgeCorvus.

Basically there's just the two of us here now-Yay!-and our vegetable needs are much simpler.I drew my garden plan up yesterday as it happens.

Climbing peas,lovely fresh,but we dry a lot for Winter use.
Jerusalem Artichokes.Perennial for Winter use
Rhubarb. Perennial.
Blue Lake climbing French bean.Eat fresh,but mainly dried for Winter use.
Spaghetti marrow.Wonderful Winter squash.
Chillies. Just six plants in the greenhouse supplies us for the year
Basil in pots in the greenhouse
Coriander.as above.
Cherry tomato ( indeterminate) in same greenhouse.
6x pots of new potatoes forced in greenhouse
3x10'rows of new potatoes
2x10'rows second earlies

That nicely takes us up to Autumn when we can pick up 25kg sacks of spuds for £6.

In the polytunnel are tomatoes.Various varieties,including a nice yellow one,and this year some Eastern European ones ( thanks Brambles),and these are eaten fresh and dehydrated for Winter.And I just enjoy growing them!

Perennial onions,very reliable
1 row of spinach beet,lasts all year
1 row parsnips
Borlotti beans for Winter use ( thanks again B!)
Couple of courgettes and marrows
6 Marmande outdoor tomatoes
Espalier/ fan trained pear apples and plums.
Oh yes,and salkad leaves and strawberries in pots.
A good part of this is in containers on patio space,and square foot beds and takes far less space than it sounds.I don't try to grow everything,as there is not the space,time and nor do we use a lot of anything.Vegetables are cheap.

I am a fan of square foot beds,and they are a great place for beginners to start.They work well in modern,small gardens too.

[jansman]

Here's a nice link for beginning.https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/beginners ... ble-basics.

I have a lot of time for the RHS.

[jansman]

And this one.http://hub.suttons.co.uk/featured/compl ... vegetables

[lsnduck]

I'd add more weight to the start small advice, at least for a season or two. My wife has been over ambitious with her planting the last couple of years, and with our other time constraints, it has meant a lot of wastage.

I'd also be prepared for things not to go as well as they could whilst you get the hang of it. If you go for carrots carrot fly are a right pain to keep off your crop and can ruin it. Similarly, if you go for brassicas, be prepared to spend time squishing caterpillars.

We have had a lot of success with courgettes, strawberries, and tomatoes. Also I like leaf salads; they can grow rapidly, and be rapidly replaced in the soil for further crops.

As already mentioned, pots and tubs are a great way to keep a controlled environment for some crops, and can make use of otherwise wasted space.

[ukpreppergrrl]

I'd also be prepared for things not to go as well as they could whilst you get the hang of it. If you go for carrots carrot fly are a right pain to keep off your crop and can ruin it. Similarly, if you go for brassicas, be prepared to spend time squishing caterpillars.

Frickin' snails decimated...no...that would be merely one in ten...99mated my baby crops in spring last year None of my (admittedly small crop of) carrots made it to adulthood. Major anti-snail measures being brought in this spring... And for the first time my chard, normally so reliable, got devoured by a leaf-miner, if I didn't inspect every day and squish I would lose the entire plant! It did all make me realise that if I were dependent on these crops for food, I would have starved last year

[featherstick]

Great ambition and great advice on the thread.

As others have said, start small, grow what you like, be prepared for failure.

Spend a bit of time looking at your site. Where does the sun fall? Where is the shelter? Where is the soil driest? Plan your veg accordingly. You can grow greens in tricky semi- or full-shade patches, tomatoes in full sun.

Think about fertility. How much do you have, how will you replenish? Do you have space for a compost heap?

Don't buy loads of seeds - for the first year or two it is fine to buy plants from the garden centre while you get into things. Growing from seed adds a level of complexity and takes up a lot of space.

Garden Organic has lots of info on their site too.

And as for resources, the Larkcom is good, but I think that John Harrisons Veg Growing Month-by-Month is one of the best books for beginners on the market. No connection etc.

Let us know how you get on.

[lsnduck]

Have you ever tried nematodes for pest control? We trialled the slug specific ones last season and they were very effective. You can get nematodes that target a lot of different pests, and the slug ones work on snails as well (although they are a bit less effective as snails are surface dwellers and it is harder for the nematodes to catch a ride).

If you use multiple types the cost will mount up though. A full season's worth of anti-slug for our fairly small garden was £30. I just discovered that a carrot fly variety is available, so I might try them this year with a bigger carrot crop.