Want to grow veg

[tothelefttotheleft]

I've grown courgettes and tomatoes before but want to grow more.

How do others go about this?

I'm pretty basic and have no real knowledge. I buy seeds, stick them into the soil during the planting window, water them when I have time and mostly it's fine. The packet tells you when to harvest. Sometimes pests eat it before I can. Sometimes a thing does really well. I'm not that bothered either way. I'm not much of a gardener but I like eating fresh food. No greenhouse, fertilizing or fussy stuff like transplanting seedlings. I don't even know what type of soil I have but as I'm not about to re-soil the garden, it's irrelevant. Seeds get poked in it. I water and weed. They live or they die.

@CandlesAndCrystals sums up the basic process.

What do you fancy growing? What space do you have available? Is it shady or sunny?

I grow French, Runner and Broad beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, courgette, spinach, magentaspreen and kale. If I had space, and especially if my soil were lighter, I would also grow parsnips and carrots, and if I had a lot of space, asparagus.

My garden is almost totally in shade, so my vegetables are split between the greenhouse and a dozen pots on the terrace where we park the cars

decide what you fancy eating/what costs a lot in supermarket and then google to find out how easy it is to grow. I like growing something different each year and tend to plant stuff that isnt available at supermarket. better still if it self seeds the next year. i give something two seasons and then if it doesnt grow or is difficult/not nice to eat dont bother.

I’m going to give it a go this year too.

Do it! Growing veg is so much easier than most people think and so rewarding.
How much space have you got OP?

The only thing I would suggest is to make sure you're aware of predators that favour your choice, for instance carrots are loved by carrot fly. The easy way to get around that is to use resistant varieties.

Gardeners World, the RHS and Charles Dowding have loads of free information on their websites which can help with your choice.

Good luck!

Grow what you like eating. Expect a learning curve, probably for the rest of your life.

Remember that every year something will not do well. It happens to everyone, so don’t be disheartened. I notice that novice gardeners say “I killed it”, more experienced gardeners say “It doesn’t do for me” or “it doesn’t like my soil”