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?

winecigs
I was being a bit cheeky !!
I've been growing veg for over 30 years, at this house for over 20 years and it was an established garden when I bought it.
My veg area is 100 feet by 25
BUT
that is why I started the thread because I've made loads of the mistakes already
In theory I have a huge greenhouse too but its full of DHs strange ornamental plants (legal, just odd)
hence why I got him to build me the polytunnel

I didn't get any garden stuff done yesterday as I'm still recovering from a trip to London on Friday. However, I bring you this list of gardening related insta accounts as an offering.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/13/20-best-garden-instagram-accounts

So many lovely garden pictures!!

At last some more of my seedlings are starting to come through (to replace the ones the DC 'looked after!), although DS1 has been at the freesia bulbs again and poked them in random places round the garden, so who knows where/ if we will see any?!

I use crushed up eggshells round my little plants to keep away the slugs, seems to be working so far, although summer will be the real test. Apparently they won't crawl over them because they are sharp? Fingers crossed 🤞

Pretty we have loads of ants in our garden nothing works for me apart from getting the pest control chap in to sort them out. He sprays any areas they might nest in with a clear substance which dries and seals them in. It's not perfect and has to be re-done every year or so but much easier than anything else I tried! Plus it was only £30 so not too dear even if it doesn't work!!

I've had some success with bran in the past for slugs and sails. They don't like going over it apparently. The only problem I felt was that when it rains it turned into this rather yucky claggy mess. This year I'm trying egg shells and coffee grounds as we have plenty of both about the place. I'm also intrigued by the nematodes, which I hadn't heard of before this thread some will investigate those more as well I think.

So I'm discovering my house is not great for seedlings - nowhere with practical space to keep them is light enough The kitchen window used to be ok-ish until my neighbour build a huge extension two years ago that blocks all the light from my side return...

Hoping to fix my leggy seedlings when I pot them on and will maybe have to look into grow lights for next year. Does anyone have good grow lights to recommend? Not too expensive but still good quality?

Hi - please can I join?

We moved house last July and now live quite rurally so I wanted to brighten up the garden (it's literally just grass!) and learn how to grow some of my own food.

DH bought me loads for my birthday this week - planters, tools, etc. and I can't wait to get started! I'm going out to the garden centre today to buy seeds, compost, etc. What do you suggest I get as an extremely un-green fingered novice?

Hi Bokky, the easiest things I've found to grow are: tomatoes, courgette, runner beans and salad crops. I especially like radishes as they're quick to grow. I think the most important thing is to grow what you like to eat! Will you be growing in containers or the ground?

I haven't been up to the plot since Monday so will try and get up there today, even if it's just to pick some rhubarb. Anything else I can do with it other than crumble or gin?

I might be completely daft here.
I've dug out loads of weeds, how do I get rid of them?
Loads of ground elder. It's all sitting there, wet, in buckets and black bags. And there's way more where that came from.

7days
If you have easy access to the Council dump, take them there
If you have access to a bonfire, let them dry for two days and burn them
If no, then you need to let them dry out COMPLETELY (I put mine on the back of a black plastic plant tray with another plant tray on top - they cook in the sun) and then when the roots are wizened you can compost them

but basically you need to make sure they are very dead before composting

burning is good as then you keep the nutrients (the ash goes back into the soil) with no risk

Bokky
As I said in the opening post - grow what you fancy eating
and not too much of any one thing except tomatoes, you can never have too many tomatoes

Thanks Hunky that all sounds delicious!

Pyxie
Cook the rhubarb and then freeze in takeaway tubs.
What you do not freeze will last for over a week in the fridge
and is LUSH stirred into yoghurt for breakfast

Hello - just stumbled across this thread. Mind if I join?

We bought our house 6 months ago and now have a garden. I had over enthusiastic ambitions of growing everything! But dh talked me down from my self sufficient plinth. We both work full time have one dc and another on the way...and neither of us have grown anything before. Apart from orchids. I’m suprisingly good with orchids. I was told they were difficult. But I water maybe once in a blue moon, they die off and then come back. So I’m obviously doing something right!!

Anyway. We dug up a palm tree and freed up a raised bed in the garden. Dh has planted salad leaves. In pots we have strawberries and courgettes. And herbs. Basil, mint, coriander.

I proudly sowed the entire packet of basil mint and coriander seeds into their relevant pots without realising that you’re not meant to do that and a pack of seeds would have probably lasted 2 years...! But we shall see what happens. Dh repotted the basil into one massive pot yesterday. Fingers crossed!!

We’ve been fairly thrifty so far and have managed to nab some pots from family who were decluttering. Hooray. I never realised how expensive they were!

Welcome to the gang emenem
Gardening is not cheap
and its stressful
but its also very good for the head

I hope you replanted the palm somewhere else - they are great for hanging epiphytic orchids during the summer

We actually didn’t talk. But we have others.

I’ve asked Dm to consider garden centre vouchers for gifts For us now.

It is incredibly therapeutic.

I love palm trees !!!
But veg beds are more productive

Gardening really can be expensive!
I'm rather skint at the moment though and so am working on frugal gardening. So far I'm doing well at using random containers and packaging for with holes popped in the bottom for pots. Have also repurposed an old set of shelves for a raised bed and an old plank for edging another bed.

Thanks Talk.
The bonfire route sounds best. How do you work your drum bonfire?

This is what we have to play with. Grass out back. Dh is pinteresting garden ideas.

powerbadgers - I use old toilet rolls/half of kitchen rolls as pots for beans/peas as they can be put straight into the ground without disturbing the roots. Old plastic trays for meat or, say, samosas or bahjis, well rinsed, are good to hold them in. It makes it much easier if you fold the bases of the toilet rolls to fill them with compost - it was an epiphany for me when I realised that!

I've also just started using egg boxes upside down as root trainers. The central "bit" looks just the right shape to be able to plant direct.

I tried using toilet rolls but they went moldy. Maybe I was over watering, but it was a bit yuck for the windowsill so I swapped to using yoghurt pots, which we seem to produce tons of and work fine. Meat trays are great for putting pots in and make me feel slightly less guilty about the amazing amount of plastic that comes with our food.