Anyone know anything about growing veg?

[SecondhandRose]

Need to start a veg patch in the garden from scratch? How much sun should it get?

What is best compost for veg?

I have planted pumpkins, peas and squash seeds so far and I've got them in the kitchen. What veg are easy to grow for a veggie virgin?

Thanks

beans are very easy as are potatoes leeks sweetcorn beetroot carrots, we have peppers aubergines courgettes sweetcorn and french beans in seed trays at the moment but put carrots potatoes onions and garlic in the ground yesterday, we have an allotment but have only had it for a year so still very much learning as we go

We dug a patch last year and jsut planted what we fancied and most came up well. This year we have done shallots (easier than onions apparently), garlic (used the last few cloves on a bulb that we bought and they seem to be coming up nicely), potatoes and carrots, lettuce and spring onions. We jsut put all of these directly into the ground. WE have cabbage, cauli and broccoli in seed trays and also have rocket in a trough.

We have just started a compost heap but its not really got going yet but I did find a tip in our gardening book which is to fill a bin with water and drown all your weeds in it esp the ones you cant put on the compost heap like bindweed and dandolion. then leave for 6 weeks and itll give you brillaint plant food. Only downside is that it is very smelly so not the best for using in the garden near the house but does bring the veggies up a treat.

hi, we have just moved and this year instead of just potatoes and carrotts, we have gone for sprots, parsinps, onions, toms, pots, raddishs and carrotts,so far we have had the raddishes and they were great, the rest seems to be growing really well too. my dh got most of his info out of this book, we also have very bad clay soil and have mixed in a load of horse muck into it and it makes the best soil to grow vegies in. HTH

Hi there

In my old patch (now sadly a patio area :-( )the only thing that did really well was spinach. I heartily recommend it for veg virgins as we got loads and loads and it lasted a good 4 or 5 months.

This is very exciting. We are hopefully moving into a house with a big garden this summer and I am plaaning on having a veggie plot. Runner beans are an absolute doddle to grow, as I remember, and carrots quite easy too. You could also consider buying a fruit bush (blackcurrant maybe) as they yield a lot of fruit for not much space.

forgot to mention rhubarb weve jsut planted some nad its supposed to be really easy. I hope so cos I love rhubarb yummy.

I've just embarked on a veggie plot, too! So far I've just got spuds and fruit bushes in but, if I can tear myself away from MN, am about to plant seeds of peas, beans, carrots, lettuce etc. Although not edible, I've got gourd seeds, too.

Are you all planting seeds in trays or in those cell units? Which is best?

I don't grow veg any more but in my last house I had a huge veggie plot and grew all sorts. Loved it.

My tips are...Dig and dig and dig before you plant.

Check daily for first signs of pests and diseases so you can deal with them before they take a hold.

Grow things that are unusual or expensive in the shops - herbs, soft fruits, yellow tomatoes, etc. It's soul-destroying to break your back only to find the same produce very cheaply in the shops at the same time as your harvest.

Pick your veg when small and succulent.

have 3 different varieties of strawberries in a grobag atm...dd1 on anti-slug duty

Yes, yes that's a good plan - pick varieties that fruit at different times so you have a constant supply.

also have some rocket seeds..would it be ok to just chuck em in ? (ie without bringing them on in seedling pots)

Pumpkins are easy to grow, but remember to cross polinate the flowers. They also spread so once you have sign of fruit take off any extra side shoots or else train them to go upwards so they don't take over the whole patch.

bundle - should be fine to chuck them in but the advantage to growing on in seed trays or pots first is that you transplant an established plant. Throwing them straight into the ground you may struggle to distinguish the rocket from the weeds when they are really tiny. If you leave them to grow big enough to tell then the weeds would also be established.

Oh and another tip is to stagger planting. Put extra seeds in every couple of weeks or so, then you have a constant supply once they have grown to maturity.

Thanks so much for all the replies. Is it alright to plant everything out now then or is it still too early?

The tender stuff might still die if there was a cold night. I put my runner beans out a couple of weeks ago and they nearly died! Just managed to salvage them. If you want to be really safe, I usually reckon the half term week is when anything can be left out without worries.

Okay, what do I do next, please? The courgettes have germinated on my windowsill and are looking strong. They're in those individual cell trays. Do I need to put them into bigger pots or wait until it's warm enough to plant outside? Should I be feeding them as well as watering? It doesn't say on the seed packet.

Dd2 and I planted peas and carrots the other day, so hope they come up. Do they need feeding while growing and if so, with what? I've strawberries in a pot and have bought a growbag for tomatoes. Can you also grow lettuce in grow bags? I was going to try them in the ground but after the vet told me that the most common way to get worms is from homegrown veg I decided not to plant them in the veggie plot!

Although inedible, the gourds are coming up, too. It says they need about one square metre each to grow in and I've got 15! Are gourds meant to climb up supports or do they spread across the ground?

Whatt??? I'm about to start planting our new patch and you say you can get worms from home grown veg? Please tell me it's not true!!

You won't get worms from home grown veg!!

threadworms can be present in soil, so you must wash your produce! but you can just as easily catch worms in this way if someone has handled them in the supermarket, when being packed , prepared, picked etc... eeeeeeeeeeeeeuuw! and they are a carrier on thier hands, under their nails etc!

Okay, better explain myself before I cause panic on MN!! We have a couple of cats, one of whom, the kitten, seems to get worms on a monthly basis atm. The vet said that they get worms (thread/round worms? I'm not sure which) because they keep catching furry woodland creatures. The worm eggs get deposited in the soil and can be transmitted to people, although the worms are not the usual type that live in humans. Vet said that the most common way to get infected with animal worms is from homegrown veg BUT but but the problem is easily eliminated by washing the veg. I just thought I'd grown lettuce in growbags because it's so much harder to clean a lettuce thoroughly than, say a carrot or onion, and of course, isn't cooked. I'm probably being overcautious as vet told me that they've trusted hundreds of soil samples from all sorts of places and virtually all of them have worms eggs in them. If I didn't have cats who have used the garden as loo, I'd grow them in the ground, it's just me being over fussy. I hope I haven't upset anyone and put you off your veggie patches.

A bit of a hi-jack question here. Dd and I have planted a few tomato plants in a gro-bag but half of them have now gone a bit black and wrinkly. Is that frost damage - and could they recover???

Courgettes etc anyone?

Btw, the bl%dy cats have 'planted' a dead rabbit on the veggie patch today, grrr!

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