Foolproof, can't go wrong, minimal input, easy to grow veg

[hmc]

Tried to grow veg the summers of 2008 and 2009. Yields so poor relative to time and money invested that I was thoroughly pissed off by whole thing and did diddly squat last year. Feel I ought to do something this year but need to build my low confidence with something foolproof and easy. I am going to do tomatoes in hanging baskets since those were successful when I tried them - can you suggest anything else that is idiot proof?

spring onions. thanks for that.

Right .....I have taken the plunge..... courgettes, carrots, potatoes (in bags) and rocket all sewn. Tomato and green beans are in the green house. Can't wait to see what happens I am a veg patch virgin!!

Beetroot, radishes, mixed lettuce include some cut and come again, spring onions and herbs are the things that are worth growing and save me money (DD's will not eat lettuce so the last bit in the bag always goes smush).
Chills are easy if you have somewhere indoors. Peppers are a waste of time you need loads of plants to get enough to be worth the effort.
I don't grow tomatoes, love eating them, but a green house full of the plants smells evil.
I love courgettes, but have trouble with mildew (I think you need to water them very consistently).
Have grown huge pumpkins (to heavy for me to lift) by planting them on the compost heap (our soil is very sandy I can just about do outdoor courgettes, and a modest crop of runner beans, but pumpkins need more food and more water).
Leeks are a bit of a fiddle, but great fun. Also they keep in the ground well into the winter.
Have had mixed fortunes with sweet corn, first year great. Second year used two different varieties which crossed to give cobs with some rock hard kernels (then the freezer broke and so they came to a sorry end)
DO NOT plant Jerusalem artichokes, they taste horrible, make you fart and take over your sweetcorn bed. DH (who's stupid idea they were) and DD dug out 3 buckets full and covered the area with black plastic. The result we had more of them last year
Oh and I don't do strawberries, too lazy to net them and Mr. Blackbird always gets there first (lots of pick your owns round here and hedgerows dripping with blackberries, so I've decided a proper fruit cage isn't worth it, anyway the best place for it is full of artichokes)

Courgettes are easy, though can go feral and take over if you give them chance.

And runner beans. Dead easy, one of the nicest to eat, and really flipping satisfying to present in a 'look what I made/grew' kind of way.

has anyone tried netting?
I'm about to start a GYO veg and strawberries as part of a feature, was going to order netting to protect from birds/snails from Greenfingers.com, any other suggestions?

also, any recommended plant food? apart from miracle gro

Have you tried chicken poo? You can get it in pellet form and plants seem to go on mad growth spurts after I stick it down, and when planting out I always put a bit in the bottom of the hole first to encourage them.

ooh, thanks for tip Chairofthebored, I have plenty of chicken poo.

I grow mostly in pots due to lack of bed space and I'm going to go to Wilkinsons to get some of their vegetable bags like this which I'll put the courgettes in, I think.

Interesting fact about carrot fly - apparently they only go along the ground so if you plant carrots in pots it shouldn't be an issue. I had a pot full last year and they did quite well (probably would have been better if I didn't keep pulling them up to see if they were ready...)

To keep slugs off the pots, I used copper tape around the pot and some pellets made of recycled wool (called Slug Buggers, or something like that ) but still lost a pot of lettuce to slugs.

so netting is the way to go then????

Borntoyolk I have used bags for life 39p each and they have nice patterns on the bags. The ones from morrisons actually have potatoes on the bag!!

I put netting over the pots last year. I did remove it eventually but them something came and ate my courgettes and cucumbers.

FIL gave 9y DD some seeds on Sunday and some seedling potatoes, so we have planted them out this morning. So this year DD is attempting:

• potatoes
• spring onions
• leeks
• tomatoes
• pak choi
• garlic
• beetroot
• radishes

The strawberry plant from last year appears to have survived the snow again, and the parsley she planted last month is taking off now.

She has also planted (also today) some windowsill pots of sweet peppers, hot peppers, cucumber and tomatoes.

What we actually need now is a diary that pops up on my iphone every day with what needs to be checked, watered, thinned out, repotted, feed, ad finally harvested. Surely there must be an app for that, yes?

Ikea bags are great for growing things in too