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?

Got some of these terracotta watering spikes www.amazon.co.uk/Bio-Green-HW-4-Recycle-Terracotta/dp/B00IOP8XFC/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=terracotta+water+spikes&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1549902062&sr=8-4 last year and used them with two litre water bottles with my tomatoes, they were pretty good.

Was lucky to be given some Autopots www.autopot.co.uk which are great. I think your can use them without soil so an option maybe for Hazards, but they aren’t cheap. My tomatoes loved them, they were in soil. Might have some old pics, will have a look.

Thank you for the suggestions on slug killers.
This is a really inspiring thread.
I've been planning to grow some yellow beans for ages as they're so hard to come by. Might have a go with some strawberries as well.
I have some wooden pallets I've been wanting to turn into planters for a while as well.

Thank you TiP and Post it's very intriguing. Didn't realise it was so pricey. Have south facing kitchen and living room so I think I'm good for light which should keep the costs down.

Am i right in thinking it's tricky to set up but if you get it right from the start it'll take care of itself? Perhaps I'm being optimistic

Ooh, can I join in please? I have three 6x3 ft beds and a 4x4 ft high bed which I normally grow salad in. I also grow a bit of fruit in pots. For years, I have grown very easy stuff like spuds, runner beans, salad beetroot and carrots - basically anything you can chuck directly in the ground. However, I'm going a bit more adventurous this year and also doing:

Kale
Courgettes
Tomato (outdoor girl variety)
French beans
Peas
I'm moving the spuds into bags to make room. I got all my seeds from moreveg.com they do small packets which is great if you only want a few seeds. I've started collecting plastic bottles, egg boxes, yoghurt pots and anything else i can get my hands on

And I've also got a bit of a woodland garden towards the far end, thinking of planting some comfrey here to make my own fertiliser.

TIP will know more I think Hazards, think you’ll need to keep an eye on nutrient levels as the plants will be totally reliant on the,
M. I did herbs and strawberries hydroponically in a system but can’t remember what I did, there was some measuring of something but I think that was a bit more of a complicated system then a lot of them.

Tremolo if you have a moment have a read on permaculture and forest gardens,

TIP makes a very good point about the veg looking attractive. In the past have done scarlet flowered broad beans, purple and yellow French beans, purple mange tout, rainbow chard, yellow courgettes.

On subject of courgettes apologies if repeating anyone, there are two types , a bush one and a more sprawling one which would be trained upwards if you wanted to.

TremoloGreen I envy you your garden and your plans I grew comfrey years ago and it can really take over, but does make great fertiliser - although the neighbours a few gardens away commented on the pungency when the lid was taken off the bucket! I read somewhere recently that the tender stems can be eaten, even though there has been some slight controversy about possible liver damage. Found the article below which I thought interesting, also the comments following that.
herb.co.za/cooking-with-comfrey/

Hazard
I suspect that the kits are a very pricy way of getting the equipment.
Any hydroponics shop will have DIY bits much more cheaply.
You have to explain that you will NOT be growing stuff in your loft and behind closed curtains
but then the folks who run them really do know their stuff.

Grenzen
I grow comfrey next to my compost heap and am lazy, just ripping it up every month or so (in a vain attempt to control its spread) and bunging it in the heap.

Making a productive garden look attractive is really important for those without huge amounts of space.

And in many cases, the pretty varieties crop less heavily but over a longer period - which is more usable at a domestic level.

Veg to not bother with as a beginner

• brassicas (because they take up LOADS of space and are 9 months from sowing to harvest)
• celery (unless you have exactly the right soil)
• sweetcorn (loads of space to get a small crop)

Veg everybody should try
Carrots
Tomatoes
Pimento type peppers
Spinach
Broad beans
French beans
Runner beans
Peas
Courgettes
Leeks
Basil
Coriander
Nasturtiums
Pak choi

Really looking forward to planting a few things this year, however we're currently in a flat and moving as well so don't want to do too much.

Probably some tomatoes and some strawberries, maybe some courgettes as the store bought ones are a bit iffy- a random courgette fell behind some shelves before Christmas and was only rediscovered last week and it was absolutely fine despite my very warm kitchen... Didn't eat it!

Runner bean plant in a pot trained up a wigwam (bamboo and string) is sooo pretty .

Hello, thanks so much for this thread. Can any wise ones help me? I bought parsley thyme oregano and basil. On window sill in cold kitchen but gets light (bit of day). Window steams up when cooking. They are all looking raggedy. Parsley not really growing back, got white bits on the few leaves it still has. Thyme looks ok but haven’t cut it yet - how do I? Basil is shrivelling. Oregano leaves going black on edges. What am I doing wrong? Am I giving too much water?

TalkinPeece I grow comfrey next to my compost heap and am lazy, just ripping it up every month or so ... and bunging it in the heap.

Ah! I was going in for the more or less instant liquid stuff. Your method would seem a lot more sociable

oatmilk

I'd be really surprised if there was enough light this time of year for herbs on the windowsill - those herbs require loads of light and heat - how cold does your kitchen get over night?

oatmilk
I agree with Laurie Basil is a warm weather herb
and none of them will cope with still cold air
they should never stand in water - they need to run slightly drier than you think
but they all need good light

Oregano is bone hardy, but likes fresh air

Oregano is bone hardy, but likes fresh air and is dormant at this time of year. It will be back in a month or two.

Basil likes summer.

Thyme is quite rugged, mine has kept growing all winter.

My parsley is running rampant outside at the moment - maybe try repotting it and sticking it outside if you can?

I'm joining this thread hopefully to get advice for my first foray into solo gardening. Bought my first house last October and armed with this book stolen from my parents house I'm hoping to grow peas cucumbers and tomatoes this year. My front garden faces east and the back faces west so fingers crossed I can grow something

Just parking myself here so DD2 can come and check it out for ideas tomorrow. She had a very successful year last year, first time of trying and we had loads of salad veg, various herbs, chillis, carrots, kale and more tomatoes (four different types) than we could use before the season ended. Good to get some ideas for this year.

aph
That book is a good place to start
enjoy

Marking place to read later!

Eek is the smell really awful? Hopefully we're far enough away from the closest neighbour...

Yes I am aware of the forest garden idea. I try to keep the woodland bit as a social space in summer as its far from our house so you can sit out there and play music/ have a little fire in a chimimea on an evening. It's also full of wildflowers at various times of year (also nettles!) and it's own little eco system so don't want to mess too much. Saying that i was at a friend's house this weekend and they have wild strawberries growing in their garden which gave me a few ideas!

I've just ordered a couple of second hand books for 1p on Amazon, so if either are any good, I will share.

I need help as have lush tops but very small carrots and parsnips ... will read tread but wanted to place mark as well

Brilliant thanks for your replies...I can definitely see what I’m doing wrong. Will order that book!

Tremolo that sounds really lovely and totallynsee why you want to leave well alone. We have wild strawberry, though more accurately they have parts of the garden, they’re enthusiastic on the growing front,

Oatmilk i’m Crap at carrots and parsnips in the scheme of things, so,done who can carrot well will be able to fill you in properly but I know they like sandy soil so I think soil lower in nutrients and suspect the lush growth means the soil is too rich for their liking. Maybe next time dig a trench and mix some sand in if you want to do them in the ground or try pots. I am probably wrong on this though.

Someone has posted on another thread that Lidl have their seeds in, start from 29p.