Fruit & Veg growers Club 2007

[nikkie]

What is everyone planning to grow this year?
I have the bluberry bushes, strawberries,apple and pear from last year and hopefully i will get some proper fruit this year.Will be growing peas/tomatos/lettuce for definate as they all did really well. Cape gooseberry plants did well but fruit needed a couple more weeks of sun and never quite made it ,possibly start earlier this time.

my garden's really small too and mainly in shade. it is snaily paradise and i never had much luck with copper stuff. if brick border is raised i think soil heats up quicker which would be good, but this might be advice for the north?

i don't think squirrels will want to come in unless you have have something truly lovely for them to eat in a visible spot. i've got visiting cats and foxes so no squirrels but big smelly poos everywhere - there is no winning with garden mammals.

Right I think a trip to the library is called for. Thank you for all your help. I will keep you posted.

Fishie don't get caried away with the courgettes and tomatos as a few plants give a lot of fruit ( I couldn't face another tomato by Spetember and have a cupboard full of chutney!)

the first time i grew tomatoes from seed they ALL came up and i wsa too soppy to kill any. i had about 35 little seedlings in pots on my kitchen windowsill and had to take a load in to work on the tube

how many courgette plants is good then, two? one? more??

Depends how many you want, last year each plant had about 6-7 and most grew to marrows.I brought some plants home from work as well as my own (didn't wantto just leave them ) and got over run!

thanks nikkie - presumably if i pick them as baby courg they keep producing more? am short on space so don't want more plants than i need, but courgettes are top favourite veg here.

Squirrels seems to love sweetcorn and we lost most of ours last year. This year, we have been told to put a plastic water bottle around each ear of corn so that the ears grow inside the bottle as it were and are protected from the squirrels

Spring has officially sprung - the rocket I planted in the veg patch (under a cloche) sprouted after only 4 o 5 days. Hooray! Stand back garden, here I come...

I have now planted tomatos,peppers, pumpkis,peas,beans,celery,carrots,lettuce and various herbs

Rocket, peas and tomatos all though.
Off to start the tomato thread

A bit late but can I join too, have just planted courgettes, tomatoes, peppers and chillis,(going for the mediterranean patio garden me thinks!)

Hi Bucksmum, guess you'll be eating a lot of pasta to go with that lot then!

Now have rhubarb courtesy of a friend and got some more strawberries the other day as they were mispriced and very cheap!

hurrah, my chilli seeds have germinated, and tomatoes are doing well - no sign of any capsicums, but the seeds were really old so I wasn't holding out much hope for them, anyway

Can I join at this late stage too please?
Last weekend, I planted tomatoes,cucumber,rocket,chives,courgettes,salad mix thingy and some poppies and asters
this weekend I'm going to plant some beetroot, little gems and some spring onions.
Like an idiot I wrote my little plastic tag thingies with a pen that isn't permanent, all my info has washed off and now I don't know what's what - what a prat

just remembered planted some peppers too !!!

welcome new people!

Anyone had the fruit bushes from Wilkos?
I got a gooseberry bush today and am trying it in a large pot.
Also got redcurrant one for allotment.Really hoping I get an allotment this year then I can spread out there as my Dads is already full

nikkie, i bought a gooseberry and a blackcurrant from wilko today. they looked too good to miss.

they had a great selection.

I wanted to buy loads had to really restrain myself

Hello? Can I join the club?
Going in at the deep end and planting peas, potaoes, carrots, parsnips, beans, lentils, broccoli, cabbage, onion, garlic, beetroot, cauliflower, chives, lettuce, raddish, squash, celery, courgette, spinach, swwetcorn, rhubarb, brussel sprouts, goosberries, blackberries, redcurrants, strawberries, um, and lots of herbs. You will think I'm crazy now when I tell you that I have never done this before.... but I'm just going to give it all a go and see what works, see what is happy in our soil.

So my first question is - anyone tried lentils before?

of course I mean planting lentils, not eating

Burek , loads of them will look after themselves though so as long as you water them you'll be fine!

Couldn't resist joining this thread as we moved house last year to get a much bigger garden and DH has grand plans for the garden some of which we have started on and some which we still need to find time for - not easy with a 7 month old and practice for number 2 .

Last year we worked really hard in the garden, although at 6 months pregnant my limits were standing up hoeing or sitting down planting - guess what dh had me doing???!!!!

Anyway based on last years success stories this year we will be growing:

spinach
rocket
little gem lettuce
spring onions
beetroot
carrots
leeks
red onions
white onions
shallots
Early and late potatoes (never knew there was a difference until last year)
runner beans
broad beans
cabbages
courgette
butternut squash (we got 20 from just 2 seeds last year - how is that for value for money!!!!)
parsnips
turnips
cherry tomatoes
regular tomatoes
sweetcorn (new for this year and I really hope it works as it will be a great thing for ds1 to see growing when he is older)
strawberries in the ground, in pots and for this year hanging baskets! (Might need some strawberry recipes from you guys!)
Raspberries
Blueberries ( we started growing these last year and this year they look like they are budding ready to fruit - hip hip hooray)
Apples and pear trees - although we are not expecting to get any fruit this year I hope they will actuallly grow a bit!
And last but not least Rhubarb

Wow what a list I've surprised myself with how much we have got no wonder it always feels like we've got a huge long list of things to do in the garden!

I do wonder how dh will cope if I get pregnant again and have our ds1 running around too. Oh well we'll muddle through and it is so worth it to just pop outside and pick your veg or fruit for tea.

Just don't tell me of anything we haven't planted otherwise my dh will be ordering more seeds and my fridge is already full of half used seed packets!

blimey josie, you'll have to open a farm shop soon!

nikkie - last year wasps got into my strawberries ... and ive got raspberries tp plant this year too... should i gte a fruit cage or something? (oh growing guru, you )