29th March "Grow your own" newcomers welcome here

[TalkinPeece]

In light of lots of posts on lots of other threads I thought I'd start one for those who are looking at their gardens in a whole new light this spring.

Rule One of starting to grow your own
do not be over ambitious
A couple of growbags and pots at the start will give better results than trying to dig up the whole garden

Rule Two of starting to grow your own
grow stuff that will actually cope with your conditions
Look at where the sun shines on your garden at different times of day and what access to water you have

Rule three of starting to grow your own
grow what you will enjoy eating fresh from the garden
as the crops will be smaller but tastier

Rule Four of starting to grow your own
prepare to develop an obsession with the weather forecast

HOWEVER
Tomatoes against a wall of the house are easy in most of the UK
Herbs in small pots on windowsills are easy in most places
Lettuce / salad greens can work in pots, tubs or even hanging baskets
Spinach can be seeded soon and every few weeks from then on to keep you in greens for months
Baby carrots are quick fun and easy to grow in a tub
Beetroot ditto
Dwarf french beans later in the year are well worth growing even in a tiny garden

If we assume that the biggest newcomer plot is 2m by 1m (or 8 feet by 4 feet in old money)

How much yummy veg can Mumsnetters produce?

I've just ordered a load of blackthorn for hedging. Nice and spiky for security and also provides lovely delicious sloes. We were just going to get some random spiky shrub but this thread inspired me to find something with some edible fruit. DH is already planning gin and I love sloe jam.

Badgers they may take a while to grow into a hedge.
A couple of hawthorns and a selection of gooseberries would help your hedge along.

Gooseberries would be nice, I might add some in later when I have some spare cash. It's only a couple of metres of space and there's no particular hurry. The ones I have ordered come as 2-3ft bare-root bushes and it says they grow about a foot year. We're not really needing immediate dense hedging and don't want anything that'll get too big or tall too quickly, so it should be fine for our needs.

I was wondering if I could grow raspberries amongst it once it's settled in. Do you think that would work?

I would put a mixture of things in with the blackthorn. We planted a bareroot mixed native hedge about 10 years ago. Its still not really what I would call a hedge. You really do need to keep chopping it to encourage it to bush outwards rather than just grow upwards. Its lovely to have though.

Keep in mind that what arrives is likely to look like single spindly sticks

That's what I was thinking Cloud 2-3 ft bush = 26 inch stick.

Raspberries like to be cut back, could be tricky in a thorny hedge. Badges get a selection of stuff to pad out the hedge. Check things like church fetes for suitable cropping plants.

Thanks. It's not so much for a full on hedge as a general deterrent under dd's window (we're ground floor). I want to discourage her from climbing out for fun as she gets older but not have anything so serious it means she couldn't leap out in a fire or something (yes I do over think things now you mention it). So it's a bit of a balancing act. I think I'll see how it settles in over the year and add in extras as needed. I do like the gooseberries idea. We have a full on native hedge in the back garden, but I think that would be too much for the space this is for.

I hadn't thought of that issue with the raspberries Pesty. Good point.

Just repotted a load of seedlings with the 'help' of DS2(3) - not sure how many will survive his attentions

@RubySlippers77 , but how chuffed is he going to be if even one of those works. That, of itself, is a good investment.

The joys of small children "helping". Bless their enthusiasm.

You may need a stiff drink after a couple of hours "help" but it is still worth it.

DS2 "helpfully" jetwashed my seedlings one year to give them a drink

Cloudtree I physically shuddered at that!

He does love gardening bellinisurge but mainly the messy bits!! Him and DS1 are also very enthusiastic waterers, the hose has been removed from the garden for now

Rubyslippers
Could you distract them with the old 1970's style carrot tops in a saucer as well as mustard and cress on a windowsill
then they get to see things growing and start to learn the pace of plants

Those are fab ideas @TalkinPeece . When I was little we used to grow cress on cotton wool in an empty eggshell that we had drawn a funny face on. So the cress was hair.

RubySlippers I bought my DD a simple spray bottle last year. She spent hours outside ‘washing’ the garden

Could be a less destructive alternative to the hose?

Hello - I’ve finally got round to starting off my Rosemary from seed. I also potted up some broad beans and have got some oregano on the way. Next stop: getting some broccoli and sprouts starting off from seed.

I’m loving the prickly bush ideas.

My propagator arrived and now I need people to use more loo paper so I can use the roll to plant more seedlings.

Anyone else for good tips for recycled containers for starting seeds in?

Bigly
I have a thing called a "paper potter" which lets me turn leftover newspaper into temporary pots ....
I was given it but its rather cool

I make paper pots out of old A4 paper using origami.

but any plastic container can be used for seedlings; cut down milk cartons, the trays that come under tomatoes etc...

Useful gardening stuff will be in the Aldi special buys tomorrow! They have some very nice looking windowsill propagators for those of you lucky enough to have windowsills.

Empty bog roll . Put four inch (ish) snips in the bottom so you can fold them in to the centre. Wedge these in something like a plastic tray that had mushrooms in it. Use for single seed plants and then transfer the whole thing - bog roll and all into final space when seeds have germinated and seedling has grown sufficiently.

If you are greedy like me and have boxes from mini flapjacks or brownies, these can be used for germinating with a mini built in lid. Make sure there is air flow during the day and close up at night.