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

The cats have 'planted' a dead rabbit in my veggie patch today. Sigh.

Oh, I said that already and I haven't even had a drink, heehee!!

gro bag soil might have been sterilised ? Dunno...

BTW - has anyone found a dead rabbit on their allotment today ?

Commercial bagged compost, including gro-bags, are generally sterilised.

Re gourds - I'm pretty sure they're like pumpkins in which case you can either let them sprawl, and so take up loads of ground, or you can let them climb up supports.

No rabbits found here today, but next door's cat knows I'm his mortal enemy.

I have today planted 16 cabbages, 2 rows of carrots, beetroot & spring onions, 20 potatoes, 16 onions, 10 sweetcorn & 8 cauli

I've got french beans & sweet potatoes and tonnes of tomatoes to come.....I can't wait

This will be so good for the children

btw I'm using the compost I made 2 yrs ago

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Apparently compainion planting is the way to go - so you put onions next to the carrots to stop carrot fly (or something)

I'm trying organic - but I'm not sure about tomato food...

I got some books from the library to get started

If you're a novice, start with the easy stuff like lettuces - sow them in rows, not all over the place, or you won't be able to tell them from weeds. You should be able to get a crop without doing the serious stuff, like digging in manure or compost, but you'll need to keep them watered, and pull up any weeds which might compete with them. Grow stuff you like to eat!

It's quite easy to grow veg without pesticides, eg you can pick off slugs and snails by hand, and squish greenfly between your fingers
There's a separate thread about killing slugs and snails which you might enjoy reading once you're faced with the problem.

On no, not my 'I don't want to kill anything in my garden thread ?' LOL.

One thing which might also help:

Start from plugs instead of seed.... Save yourself a bit of time, get a more 'sure' start etc. It costs more but it can be a bit demoralising starting from scratch to miss a few day's watering in the heat and lose everything....

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Plug plants are those plants you can buy in supermarkets, DIY stores, garden centres etc, usually a pack of at least six plants in joined-up flimsy plastic flower pots. They're young plants so they've already achieved the stage beyond germinating and surviving as a teeny shoot.

If you can't touch slugs etc then you can buy eco friendly nematodes which will eat them up for you. You can get them from a firm called Wiggly Wigglers, very popular with MN gardeners I haven't tried nematodes but maybe someone else has.

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I bought a massive box of lettuce and another of green bean plugs from New Covent Garden Flower Market in London a month or so ago. £5 each. Plants had been started under cover and were doing well, so that gave me a head start...

Also, the seedlings have been thinned out, have strong roots etc. and I've been lucky with the weather, so everything is growing well.

I have also heard good stuff about the nematode treatments and think I will go down that route... I have, however, managed to pick up a few slugs I found and put them in my pond for Mr. and Mrs. Newt... oh it's all so barbaric.

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