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.

I'm in Harrogate, so North Yorkshire. I checked the Yorkshire Water website, but we obviously get so much rain up here that they don't need to encourage us to conserve

Paintbrush, lol!

Can just imagine trying to pollinate my whole garden with one (actually sounds like a job to give ds )

Can I join.

I am very excited about my veg patch which I am planning at the moment. I have bought some seeds. I have a greenhouse - inherited from previous owners. Have planned on my calendar when I will pot up various seeds. What else do I need to do?

Is it worth getting some rotted manure to dig into my new veggie patch?

Whoops - just realised I missed the bit where someone had already warned about J. Artichokes. Yes hold them prisoner (or be prepared to keep pulling them up) otherwise treat pretty much like potatoes, except you don't have to be as kind to them - and bear in mind how tall they get!!

Betty - If you are Yorkshire water

this is their water butt offer

I want a cheap water butt - can't find any special deals fro Anglian

I can recommend courgettes and leeks - the leeks are gorgeous and are much more fragrant than the ones in the shops. Ours did look a bit more like spring onions though.

VVV - another thing to remember with Blueberries... they need acid soil as you said, but can be grown in large containers elsewhere if you water them with rainwater not tap water.

Anyone who has hard water will probably find that raspberries don't do well, but you can give them a helping hand by watering them with an Iron Tonic.

And don't forget to cut your raspberry canes down to about a foot high each autumn.

Aha mrsvern, that seems a pretty good price- free delivery, too.Marvellous!
Now I can have the big butt I've always wanted

lol Betty - I hope you get you big butt

sorry if someone has already explained this - but what sort of size tubs (width and depth) do i need to grow my veg in? We have a patio garden. Think i'd like to grow potatoes, onions, carrots, courgettes, salad stuff and anything else that is easy for a complete novice! (ideas welcome!) Have heard of doing potatoes in a barrel or car tyre - how does this work?! TIA

Betty - I know what you mean, about thwe water butt. Recent birthday requests from me have included a metal bin thingy with chimney lid to burn rubbish in and a wheelbarrow! we're so High Maintenance, us women eh?

cheriton girl, my dad has grown carrots in half a barrel very successfully (obviously, you can't grow a huge amount)
Salad leaves are very easy, as are runner beans (you will need to make a 'wig-wam' out of bamboo canes to support the beans)
Some tomatoes are good in hanging baskets too!
Courgettes need a bit more space than a container, I'd have thought. But I have just seen a 'mini aubergine' plant suitable for container growing, in a gardening catatlogue, so who knows!!
I also have a mini apple tree and pear trees in a container,(self-pollinating strain) along with blueberries.

here

Yes forty, I think I mentioned further down that I grown mine in pots.

Potatoes can be grown in deep containers such as dustbins (must have drainage holes in the bottom though so useless as a bin thereafter).

Or in old compost bags. (I did this way last year)

Basically - the principle is put about a foot or so of compost and plant three or four potatoes about 4- 6 inches down. When you see shoots appear - 1 inch or more, cover it with more soil/compost. (This helps protect against frost as well as making sure the tubers dont go green). Keep doing this until you are a 8-10 inches from the top of the compost bag/dustbin. When you harvest depends on what type of potato - the pack of seed potatoes will always tell you.

For car tyres similar thing but you stack 2 tyres, and fill with compost and plant three or four potatoes about 4-6 inches deep. When shoots appear, stack another tyre on and fill with compost. Keep doing for another 2 tyres.

Wehave those apple/pear trees that go in pots with the apples/pears growing out of the trunk IYKWIM.

Cleaned out yard thsi am (well nearly ) Found most of teh mini greenhouse thing but the plastic and some poles blew away

United Utilities have the cheap water barrels too.Now where can I put one ?

FMF - did you see my seed list.....?

I did m'dear - but am at work so not really on here, see!
Will have a proper look at home - in the unlikely event I have anything you don't, we can do swapsies

(Cannot believe how much you have!! Cannot believe you have time to plant so much! )

LOL - im not planning to plant all of those!!!!!!

Maybe a third or quarter - tops.

Cece, are you willing to share your calender/ planting dates with us? Im abit of a novice so would like an idea of what to sow and when.

justbeme - thats a good idea actually....if we put on here when things are due it will remind us all.

Top idea!

Half the reason I have so many seeds this year is I'd forget to plant them at right time...

BTW, novices - there is always some leeway, no matter what the packet says, especially bear in mind if you're up north, it does pay to plant things a little later, in terms of frost etc. But, for example, there's no point planting sweetcorn out halfway through summer - when they need a good 4 months of sunshine to ripen..

justbeme

All I did was look at the back of each packet to see when they should be sown/planted out. I then sat down and wrote on my family planner calendar which week I was going to plant each thing.

I wanted to make sure I made good use of my two propogators and also that I spread it out over a few weeks so I didn't ahve to plant them all the same weekend iyswim,

FMF - i have sweetcorn.....

So, if we start a new thread, say, every two weeks suggesting what needs doing in that fortnight, linking the new thread at the top of the previous fortnight - what do you all think?

I'll check out my stuff, but, I think the most people need to do around now is

* Dig their patches/plots over with some compost/organic matter.

* Think about what you want to grow and order/buy the seeds asap (packets will let you know when to sow and harvest so will help you plan).

* When you have your seeds, plan your beds/containers ie what goes where and when, and, when it can be harvested. You might be able to grow some radishes alongside/on slower growing parsnips. Or, after harvesting some spring onions, plant some beetroot in the same space.

Anyone got any other suggestions for the next week or so?

It sounds like your very clever , knowing how to do links etc - i havent got a clue!
But it could be abit like the "Fly cleaning thread ", as you say. Then we'll all be doing/planting at similar times and can even compare growth etc!!!!