Where ti start with growing veg?

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I need to start this by saying I know nothing about gardening. I love the idea of it but lack knowledge. Have a few fruit bushes and some rhubarb and every year grow a few tomato plants etc in tubs which provide about 30 cherry tomatoes and then give up the ghost.

Our back garden is enclosed and small. Decking and then steps up to a very small lawned area and flagstones (about big enough for a table and chairs and a swing seat). Gets some sun but early and late in the day is in shade. There are Leylandi (or whatever you call them) overhanging from next door which is killing the grass but they have birds nesting in there so I can’t cut them back. It’s more sheltered than the front but in high winds gets a bit blowy.

The front is currently all block paved as a driveway, it is south facing and pretty exposed as we are on a hill.

I want to start growing our own veg, but don’t know what I’m doing.

I can start planting from seed this week ready to put seedlings out later but if all I’m going to be able to do is plant up a few pots it seems a bit pointless.

If I get one or two small greenhouses, could I grow much in them out the front of the house? I’m pretty sure the actual ground here is awful for planting so I think anything I do would need to be done in containers.

Does anyone have any suggestions for where to start? Whether a greenhouse is worth it and what to plant in it, what can I use as a cheap container and what can go in it? I have some potato planting container / bags left over from covid.

Thanks in advance for any advice

I would look at the Vertical Veg website and blog which is UK based and all about growing fruit and veg in containers and makes things very clear and simple. The guy that runs it grows a huge amount in pots just in his small back yard.

In terms of cheap pots.....with lots of things that are easy to grow in containers (potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, courgettes, beans etc) you need a pot of a good size. B&M are good for big plastic pots cheaply or you can even use those "bag for life" style reusable bags.... just make sure you put some drainage holes in the bottom.

I have a little plastic greenhouse and find it really useful for growing tomatoes, chillies and salad leaves.

With growing tomatoes in pots, make sure they're big enough to support the growth of the plant. Some varieties need staking (cordon/intermediate) or some are bush. Get the bush ones as they're easier to maintain. Look at YouTube videos on How To Grow for each veg/plant you're growing. They'll give you lots of step-by-step advice eg. pinch out side shoots, feeding etc.

Do you have any groundspace to grow rather than pots? It's more beneficial to growing veg in the ground.

Definitely grow stuff on your drive! You could put cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets, and use an old plastic box or barrel cut in half to grow potatoes and courgettes.

Our ground space is really limited and the soil is awful - like an old building site.

I’ve bought some seeds etc to start with, looked at the blog and these replies (and what they had in the shop 😉); I have tomatoes, rocket, squash, aubergine, courgettes, rocket a load of seeds for sprouting for salads. Oh and seed potatoes. Just thought, I should buy spinach - I eat a lot of that and I think it’s easy to grow?

Will plant seeds today and germinate (is that the right word?) on the window sill then plant out when the weather improves.

Are tomatoes really OK in just grow bags? I normally put them in pots but they never get very big. Watching something on TV yesterday they seemed to have growbags in a greenhouse with netting behind to tie the vines to - would that work?

I’ve grown aubergines before but they never seem to get very big and feel like rocks so have never eaten them, and my one attempt at courgettes they all rotted.

I have big potato planting bags for them (when something says first / second harvest - presumably you plant one on top of the other? First harvest on top?

I think I have another thing that I bought for planting potatoes ages ago - a big plastic tub with ‘windows’ in. Are these only good for potatoes or could I plant something else?

Any suggestions for getting a good crop of strawberries?

Sorry for all the questions and thank you for the help!

Spinach is very easy to grow so I'd definitely recommend that if you eat a lot of it.

The people growing tomatoes in bags and tying string up would be growing cordon tomatoes as you need something to support the stem. Or you could grow cherry/bush tomatoes that don't need supporting.

Not sure about first/second harvest. In terms of potatoes you get first early, second early and main crop which is to do with the time of year you harvest them. E.g first and second early are harvested earlier in the year than main crop varieties.

The potato bags are useful for potatoes or Jerusalem artichokes. Anything where you can open the window to see how the tubers are doing. But they're usually a good size so you don't have to plant potatoes in them and could use as a normal container for courgettes or something else.

I have big potato planting bags for them (when something says first / second harvest - presumably you plant one on top of the other? First harvest on top?

No! You can't layer potatoes like you can bulbs. I grow a lot of potatoes in pots (big black buckets like the ones you see trees sold in sometimes) because my soil has wireworm and it's a pain. The classifications (first harvest/first earlies etc) refer to planting and harvest times. You can buy seed potatoes which are treated or specially stored so they can be harvested at Christmas. These are usually described as second harvest.

I plant 4 seed potatoes in a large bucket and cover with a few inches of compost, then earth up the stems as they grow. This increases the number of potatoes in the crop. Pot-grown spuds tend to be smaller than ones grown in the ground but are usually very good anyway. We feed with homemade liquid feed, but fertilizer isn't hard or expensive to buy, and making it yourself is a fairly smelly process! I'm very slack about harvesting and tend to leave all varieties until the flowers are out and then have an experimental delve in one of the pots.

What you can grow without a greenhouse depends on how far north you are to a large extent. Poor soil isn't a problem for herbs, they often prefer it.

Is there an idiots guide to this. I have a similar yard. All decked/paved but would like to grow tomatoes, baby potatoes, mangetotut etc
Rather than the flowers I tried last year. Thanks

if it's about money/economy concentrate on things that are expensive to buy or difficult to get.

herbs and salad leaves
fruit (gooseberries or currants grow well in (large) containers)
unusual varieties of cucumbers/tomatos/chillies

I have a plastic zippy greenhouse and it works brilliantly for growing tomatoes and cucumbers. I use tomato growbags, you cut them in half and stand the two halves upright, which gives you a much deeper growing area. Aubergines really need to be in there too.

I would have another go at courgettes, they are easy. You really only need one plant for a good crop.

Strawberries you really need a lot of space to grow a reasonable crop, I wouldn't bother (although I love strawberries).

I find the Huw Richards YouTube channel very useful.

I’m glad I asked about the potatoes - thank you!

Mange tout is another great idea. I’m quite excited about this

I started out with a plastic zippy greenhouse (now have a polycrub). The zippy one was good, but it took a lot of weighting down to make sure the wind didn't take it. Now it's inside the polycrub and makes an excellent propagator!

We’re so exposed that I’m a little bit worried about a plastic greenhouse, anticipating that it might take off or rip but if I can find somewhere sheltered enough I’m going to get one I think.

You can get heavier ones with wooden frames and panels made from polycarbonate, rather than the lightweight metal frames with plastic cover.
The metal/plastic ones will need to be tied down, for sure. But still worth a go, I think. I loved mine and it helps to save so much money if you have a space to raise plants from seed.

Do you have anything you can anchor it to? Not terribly classy, but we had to tie ours between an old washing machine and a broken dishwasher! It was during lockdown, so taking them to the tip had to wait. The back was against the wall of the house, facing south.
One thing I found saved a little bit was making little watering cans out of empty milk bottles. You just punch holes in the lid (from the inside out) with a skewer. It takes a few goes to get the holes exactly right, but they are lighter than a watering can, the flow of water is gentler, and kids can easily help with the watering. I do the same now for seed trays and seedlings in the polycrub.

A few things.

Choose veg you like, and are generally quite expensive. I can't see the point of growing carrots when they are 10p /lb in the shops.

I grow tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, French beans, broad beans and figs.

All can be grown in pots if you choose the right varieties. It makes it easier to keep them moist & fed. Leylandii tend to pull all the moisture & nutrients out of the ground so pots help.

This. Also things that taste 100000 times better homegrown.

I'd be cautious about anything like spinach that you have to have a large quantity of to make a meal. Ideally I'd concentrate on things that you don't need a lot of to make a difference (like herbs and salad) or that fruits prolifically and/or grows vertically. Tomatoes are a must, you'll never want to buy them in the shops again. Runner or French beans. Courgettes. Aubergines make beautiful plants but need a bit of cossetting to get going. Ditto chilies. Cucumbers. Perhaps mangetout, though you need quite a few to make a meal.

If you're short on space or have less than ideal conditions for seeds, there are ways round it. Pea shoots will grow in a tray on blotting paper, you just need a packet of bog standard dried peas from the supermarket. A pack of living lettuce from the shops can be split up and planted out (and will also give you a lot of variety). Spring onions will grow in a small pot.

I use the black flower buckets from supermarkets to grow tomatoes. They usually give them away for free. You'll have to make drainage holes but that's easy.

You can grow potatoes in buckets but I've always been disappointed in the yield - you have to be rigorous about watering heavily at the right time and even then, it's a bit of a gamble. They do taste wonderful but you might only get a meal or two out of a pot, whereas tomatoes, beans etc just keep on giving.

Good luck, once you get the bug there's no going back!

I must admit, even as a good gardener, I have given up on growing veg. Too much hassle, doesn't save any money, often fails due to bugs or drought.

I have grown potatoes in the soil and in bags. Various beans, courgettes (wonderful but mostly turned to marrows overnight), carrots, lettuces and cucumbers in containers (OK but still not worth the hassle and the aphids).

That bed is now a lovely rose and flower bed instead 😁

I have grown tomatoes in grow bags down the side of my south west facing wall, so very hot and dry, ideal. Constant watering required, and they don't ripen until late in the year, way after the salad crop has finished. Yes, I got about 5 large bowls off the plants, but really, not worth the effort, the cost of the bags, the tomarite, the constant watering. AND you can't go on holiday!