Just harvest my first home-grown crop!

[spokette]

I have grown lettuce and cress in pots and yesterday I collected some of each.

I made cress soup which I am having for lunch today and tonight will have chicken salad.

I feel really virtuous!!

My 5yo DTS will not eat either the cress soup or lettuce though despite being involved in sowing, planting and watering the plants.

Next year I intend to grow potatoes,tomatoes, carrots and if possible, broccoli because at least the boys will eat those.

[frostyfingers]

It's so exciting isn't it. We've been eating radishes for a while now, they're really good for fast growing. The lettuces have started too, I'm not sure that planting 4 rows (my dh did that) is such a good idea, but I do have a recipe for lettuce soup on standby!

Every evening I go and check my veggies and ask them how they are - broad beans are a bit bent after all the rain, but I have a baby (about 2cm) yellow courgette coming and I can't wait! Sweetcorn, potatoes, peas and beans are all growing well, and toms in the greenhouse are beginning to shoot up, but no flowers yet. We've grown carrots and haven't been hugely successful - probably only about half have come up so not sure I'll do those again!

[spokette]

I do wish I had been more adventurous instead of just doing cress and lettuce. I will add peas, sweetcorn, runner beans and courgettes to my list of things to grow next year!

[sis]

Spokette, It isn't too late to sow runner beans or sweetcorn. You can also get varieties of peas that can be sown up until the end of June and I think it is still okay to sow courgettes too. You can also sow beetroot (there is a yellow variety that doesn't 'bleed' so less messy). If you like tomatoes, you can buy plants now that are ready to plant out - more expensive than sowing the seeds but still worth considering.

To be honest, you can sow most things now and get a crop apart from things like chillies, peppers, aubergines etc which should be sown in Feb and March.

[spokette]

Thanks for the tip. I will try runnerbeans, courgettes and peas.

Can I still sow potato seeds?

[throckenholt]

if you have them (spuds) then try sticking them in - they may well come to something if they don't get blight - worth a try

[sis]

Some people plant a couple of seed potatoes in August so that they have new potatoes for Christmas day! Not sure if the grow them in a greenhouse though.

[snorkle]

Fresh new potatoes are very yummy! I harvested our first from the allotment (had a few in tubs last month) today.