"The Good Life" growing veg. during lockdown.

[justasking111]

Our neighbour hired a rotovator, dug up his back lawn and has gone back to the good life, growing his own.

We always grow tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, but have added radishes to the list. Do not think that will feed the family. I just cannot bear to lose my lawn.

Anyone else into growing food?

I've set up a couple of raised beds. Currently attempting garlic, onions, peas, carrots, beetroot and parsnips.

Just bought a pop up greenhouse to do some tomatoes.

We have one raised bed. I have big plans for broad beans, runner beans, spinach and purple sprouting broccoli. Not sure if there will be room for all of it.

I have never had any success with lettuce. The snails or sun get to it before we have ever ha a crop. Any secrets to success @justasking111?

Not so far our lettuce last year was bitter and slimy. Think it was the type we seeded. As for tomatoes, cherries all the way, they taste so sweet when sun kissed. My FIL grew amazing lettuce which we enjoyed. You apparently can just pick the leaves you need and mother nature will continue to grow more from the plant.

We did have a horseradish at our old house which grew amazingly. The carrots had some awful biddy which enjoyed them before we did.

OH has built boxes off the ground to grow our stuff so hopefully no slugs will get to them. I do go out at night when it rains with a t orch to get the buggers.

We've given the garden a big makeover, it's terraced so I've commandeered two levels to plant up like raised beds, which has given me loads of space. So far I have broad beans, peas, tomatoes, leeks, carrots, chard, lettuces and some herbs germinating and doing pretty well. We have several containers of potatos planted too, and some hanging baskets waiting for cherry tomatoes. I'm waiting for a delivery of some more seeds including more tomatoes, brocolli, courgettes, onions, and parsnips, and a load of strawberry plants. I'm loving having the space to do it, and the time, and it's keeping DS involved too.

we only have a balcony, but are growing: tomatos, cucumbers and salad leaves (rocket and mustard) and some herbs.

just keep in mind that to feed an average family you need a lot more room to grow than the average family garden allows. also, some crops will fail. and growing your own is not a cheap option.

it's a great way to supplement your diet though and great fun.

Anyone done strawberries in hanging baskets? We tried once but the birds enjoyed them.

Our neighbour who dug up his whole lawn, has now fertilised with pig shit, oh my god the smell.. no windows open here for a while.

Gave up on potatoes years ago a sack of maris piper from the wholesaler £12, so nope not trying that again.

I’ve got four large raised beds,and have had various degrees of success. My permanent asparagus beds are giving us loads this year, which saves so much money. Rhubarb is doing well too. And broad beans have overwintered but only about half I planted have grown.

This year I’m experimenting with square foot growing. Cramming as much in as possible basically and have just come back in from planting carrots, parsnips, spring onions, onions, lettuce, leeks. I’ve got seeds trying to germinate on my kitchen table as I don’t have a greenhouse - aubegine, tomato’s, peppers, celeriac. My seeds are a bit old so I have my fingers crossed they’ll grow. And I have strawberries planted out which my neighbour had spare.

I’m not green fingered and dont enjoy gardening in general, but I get huge satisfaction from growing tasty homemade vegetables and fruits. So much tastier than the shops.

With raised boxes we have slung in flowers behind vegetables just as an experiment. So my radishes will enjoy the fragrance of night scented stock and other stocks. Should be interesting.

We grow veg every year and have turned a section of our garden into a small allotment area. This year we are growing

Potatoes
Carrots
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Garlic
Red Onions
White onions
Chillis
Peppers
Tomatoes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Leeks
Sweetcorn
Lettuce

We also have a pear tree and have grown an apple tree from seed so hoping to eventually have apples

We have victoria plums which are delicious, the damson tree is a sulky mare.

We have have no space. We have one very small flowerbed with my hibiscus plants in and I'm not digging those up!

I’ve grown various veg but to be honest its not worth the hassle. What the slugs, bugs and birds don’t get, had to be tended, fed,watered and weeded. Yes, they taste nice but it’s a lot of work for a small return

We have just got our first ever allotment and I'm so excited about growing some veg! I've always wanted one but the waiting list was always too long but recently a plot became available and after making sure it's all compliant with social distancing we've gone for it. The plot has not been touched for two years and it's an utter state so we're just weeding at the moment and about to put tarp down on bits we can't weed yet. I'm not expecting much to come out of it this year, but would love to plant potatoes, carrots, peas, strawberries etc. We'll see how it goes! We used to grow lettuce and tomatoes in the garden of our old house and they were always much tastier than shop bought.

Yes I grow veg in containers - potatoes, tomatoes, courgettes, carrots, spring onions, lettuce.

Plus we have 3 raspberry bushes, 1 redcurrant, and 3 blueberry bushes.

The berries are the best producers, we always have plenty to freeze. The veg, it depends on the season, and the slugs! However I've found growing lettuce in containers that hang on the fence means no slugs can get them!

DP and I have half-joked about it, but if food supplies became really short then it might become reality.

Now is a great time to plant, frosts gone days getting longer so more sun.

We had a frost last night in the south east. Very nervous about planting my leggie tomatoe plants outside yer.

I usually have a large collection of pots and planters full of bright bedding plants. As I am not sure I will be able to get bedding this year I am going to plant them up with veg instead. In the greenhouse I have got toms, cucumber, runners, courgettes and parsley coming on. Also some flower seedlings (cosmos and lavatera) for the few gaps in the beds, which mostly have permanent planting in them.
I had too many tomato seedling, so have swapped some for a bag of strong flour with a neighbour. Bartering at its best.

Yep! We moved house in the summer, so now actually have the space for a proper vege patch. We got ourselves a little PVC greenhouse and have dug up a sizeable area in one corner. We have planted loads! It's a really good distraction for me :)

I've got a mixture of flower beds and veg beds, plus a greenhouse and fruit trees.

Currently growing:
Apples (1 dessert and 1 cooker)
Pear
Redcurrant
Gooseberry
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Chillies
Cukes
Courgette
Basil, Thai basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, mint
Kale
Lettuce (lollo rosso and webbs)
Swiss chard
Radish
Mooli (great veg to grow)
Spinach
Green beans
Runner beans
Beetroot

I grow lots of veg but it isn't quite the good life, what with the pigeons blackbirds partridge squirrels rats slugs snails caterpillars aphids and more all competing with me for the end result, sadly.

I love the blackbird families that live in my garden but even they infuriate, and fly into my greenhouse to dig in the dirt of my potted up baby veggies. I try to tell them they won't find any bugs there but they simply do not believe me. I have had to put some young plants in an old rabbit cage for protection.

So it isn't all sun and flowers and flutterbys. It is also looking like a mad person to the neighbours when you run after the lettuce-eating pigeons screaming howling and clapping like a person deranged.

I'm growing lettuce, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, chillies, courgettes and potatoes, all in pots. I'm not expecting much - experience tells me it all starts off very well, but then the Irish 'summer' kicks in and everything ends up in the hedge. Nice to see things sprouting, though!

We grow basics but I don’t over stress as sometimes it’s easier to trade locally or just use a shop.
We have
Apples
Pears
Quince
Plums
Fig
Mulberry
Raspberry
Alpine strawberry
Tomato
Pepper
Chilli
Garlic
Onions
Potatoes
Rhubarb
Squash
Cucumber
Courgette
Celeriac
Beans
Peas
Nasturtium
Beetroot

I have an allotment and this year will be growing:

Red onions
Garlic
Runner beans
French beans (green, purple, yellow and zebra-striped!)
Broad beans
Peas
Beetroot
Lettuce
Raspberries
Strawberries
Rhubarb
Parsnips
Apples (cooking and dessert)
Pears (only a handful as it's a young tree)
Potatoes
Butternut squash
Courgette
Pumpkin
Sweetcorn (baby and standard size)
Leeks

In the garden we have a little greenhouse as well as a small amount of growing space and will grow:

Strawberries
Raspberries
Peas
Chillies
Peppers
Cucumbers
Cucamelons
Tomatoes
Various herbs

We have loads of space in comparison to many and still won't be anywhere near self-sufficient!