Growing Fruit & Veg

[RainyDayBear]

I'd really appreciate a bit of advice! I'm a bit of a novice gardener but really fancy having a go at growing some fruit and veg this year. I have a raised bed about 2.5x1m, a lower shallow bed about 2x1m, and a raised one about 1x0.5m. They are former fish ponds that we've drained and filled in but no soil yet as I don't want weeds growing before I plant things, and they're in the sunny end of a south facing garden.

Any suggestions of what might be fairly foolproof for a novice gardener? I quite fancy strawberries and possibly potatoes but really not sure what else to attempt!

what do you like to eat? think about things that cost a lot in the supermarket. also google easy fruit and veg to grow. raspberries are very expensive in supermarket, so they are defiinately one thing i would grow....assuming you like them

Do any of your beds back onto a fence or something similar? You could grow something like climbing beans. If not then you can grow dwarf beans.

Also broad beans have a low ground area with a good return. Fresh broad beans cost a fortune.

You can grow courgettes in a grow bag. Then at the end of the season the grow bag contents can go onto your beds.

Things that are fairly easy to do and have decent yields, off the top of my head

• pole beans (French, borlotti)
• courgettes
• salad leaves
• herbs
• blackcurrants/redcurrants/strawberries.
• tomatoes

Raspberries are good, but they need a bit of space - they'll probably take up most of one of your beds!

Courgettes are easy
Peas taste much nicer grown in the garden
Leeks take ages but are really nice
Carrots
Potatoes are easy, i do mine in tall grow bags
A raspberry bush
Spring onions, just buy some from the supermarket and use the white bits with roots on to regrow

I was frustrated by trying to grow carrots and basil, not sure about other herbs.

Tomatoes are easy, and I think beans, too. (Didn't try beans, but had some sprout while I kept them in water to prepare for cooking, so ...)

Radishes are foolproof and grow very fast; I found them a good way to at least have some success if nothing else works.

I have currently a potato growing in a pot and am very pleased with how happily it grows despite it being winter and all. Would recommend that. (Look for interesting potato varieties; there is so much more than the ones commonly sold in the supermarkets. The one I have in a pot is a blue variety.)

I'm a novice gardener too, and I've been told that tomatoes and broad beans are the easiest to grow. (And potatoes, but I don't eat potatoes much so haven't tried.) Tomatoes have the downside that they can easily get blight and you may feel very discouraged if all your tomatoes die off. Try a blight-resistant variety. I've really enjoyed growing peppers last year and managed to rear three very large specimens on an indoor windowsill.

Chard is super-easy to grow -few pests, can be harvested for months and unlikely to fail. And the coloured ones look so so pretty and can be interspersed amongst other things.

Agree with going up, and doing beans on some canes. Either runner or French will crop prolific ly for months. Broad beans are lovely, and give a harvest when not much else does, but they don't crop quite as long.