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?

OOOOH, sprouting beans
takes me back to my hippy days, but yes, must get back into them as they are YUMMY in salads
and the good old trick of mustard and cress on paper towelling in a takeaway box on the windowsill - makes any salad / white sauce / gratin dish more interesting

excellent ideas
and keep them coming - especially for those without access to an allotment sized vegetable garden

Ooh, I buy the big rolls of cotton wool (eg from Boots) & peel a thin bit off, about 1/3 of a layer is enough. It's much better than paper towels for growing cress, as the roots can get into the cotton & they don't fall over when you water them. I'd not thought of reusing plastic takeaway cartons for growing it though, brilliant!

Apparently, radishes grow quite well on a windowsill. I've always struggled growing them outside anyway, as they get attacked by slugs so are barely worth it. Have bought some seeds this morning. Spring onions & mini carrots (e.g. globe or chantenay) apparently also do well on a windowsill.

If you are starting off seeds indoors, put them in soil or whatever in an empty old bog cardboard roll or cut down kitchen towel cardboard roll. You can transplant with the cardboard on directly into the soil without disturbing the roots.
It can be a bit fiddly to set up. I jam mine into old veg cartons (like you get if you buy a pack of mushrooms). Or whatever. Be careful about drainage too.

plonking on to this thread.

I've a well established fruit patch (currants, gooseberries, strawberries, apples, rhubarb) with some random land cress and some over wintering peas.
I'm out of space for veggies, I really don't want to dig up the pretty bits, so,I'm going to do what I can in pots now.

Broad beans have gone into a couple of pots. I used to use leftover polystyrene at the bottom until I suddenly realised today that it releases little balls of polystyrene. oops and bugger. I've shoved in random peas here and there. But I think I'm going to have a look at sprouting.

I've chilli seeds planted. Tomatoes will wait. I can do some salad in pots and maybe a couple of courgettes plants in some grow bags.

I dunno whether to pick up some seed potatoes to go in a big old dustbin I've got.

My main problem is compost. This is going to take oodles. Can I use soil at the bottom of my pots?

Hi there kitten
It is worth shopping around on compost - you should be able to get a 50l bag of peat free for around £5
last year I bought 30

Delurking to wave and say hello. I’m a Westminstenders lurker and someone with slight prepping tendencies who has appreciated bellini’s advice! 😊

I was lucky to get an allotment at the end of last summer. I have spent the winter clearing the waist high weeds and tonnes of rubbish. I managed to get lots of soft fruit bushes planted in January, along with some garlic. Potatoes are chitting and shallot seeds are coming along in the heated propagate. Planning to get peas and peppers sown this week.

I’ve grown various bits of veg before but never, ever on this scale. Not sure I’ll be able to stick to rule one, but I’m getting better at working slowly and steadily at these things...!

30 bags of compost!!!

Lucky you MissInnocent!

MissInnocent
If you have loads of space, the secret to obeying rule one is to plan for successional sowing
so deliberately keep beds clear to use later

Badkitten
I get about two cubic metres out of my compost heaps every year

• which gets dug into the veg beds

and then the bags are used for seeding, pots and around perennials in the flower garden I make my own seeding compost by sieving normal compost

I get about the same out of my compost heaps. I'm not sure I can be arsed to sieve it though!

Kitten
I sieve just what get used for small seeds - so about 50 litres a year.
I do it in batches as I go along.
It means I know exactly what quality compost I'm putting things like padron peppers into

That's not so bad. I should try it. I do have a sieve somewhere in the shed.
I love padron peppers!

ooh! I remember if anyone wants a really prolific crop - tomatillos grow like bonkers in pots.

My tomatillos grew like mad last year. Did not set a single fruit. In conservatory, window open, plus hand pollination

oh that's weird. I grew cape gooseberries at the same time and I wonder if they cross pollinated. Grew them both outdoors.

Nematodes are £14.99 from Amazon. I'll probably wait until May when I'm ready to plant things in the soil.

That's for 12,000,000 - larger packs are available.

I have bought this to plants my pea seeds in. I have a strip of gravel at the side of my front garden I eventually plan to turn over to a raised bed so I'm hoping starting like this will give me a good idea how well things grow there.

Good call.

What a brilliant thread. Thanks op.

I have a daft question. Along with the rose garden/patch, our sellers also left a potting shed. What does one do with a potting shed? . Does it mean i could have a different approach to my veg patch?

I am confused by the potting shed, as there’s very little else in the garden except the roses, but maybe they had an allotment somewhere as well?

Does the shed have plenty of windows ....
as in could you use it for seeds and then non hardy stuff?
Or is it an old fashioned dark shed (full of spiders, bikes and broken garden toys)

Big windows + shelf inside. It gets direct sunlight in the middle of the day.

Ooooh, NICE
so perfect for getting seedlings going and then in the summer you can do chillis and aubergines and basil in pots and a blight free tumbler tomato or two

Ooh good, that’s exciting. I’ve got a lot of learning to do 😄

I've been gardening all my adult life and I still have loads to learn

I'd love a potting shed