Growing your own Vegetables..

**littlerose12345** · 19-01-2011, 03:14pm

Hello

Similar to my herb thread, I'd also like to start growing some veg this year.

What basics do I need to know?

When to plant and what is easiest for a novice to grow :)

**Lilacgirl** · 19-01-2011, 03:17pm

I don't know much as haven't had much success growing in this country.

I would recommend finding out what type your soil is before you start (if you are planting in the garden). We tried growing all sorts but the soil just wasn't suitable.

To be honest we stick to tomatoes and strawberries!

**littlerose12345** · 19-01-2011, 03:18pm

Originally Posted by Lilacgirl

I would recommend finding out what type your soil is before you start (if you are planting in the garden). We tried growing all sorts but the soil just wasn't suitable.

Perhaps a rather silly question .. how?? :S

**Julesb** · 19-01-2011, 03:20pm

Have a look on here

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Grow-Your-Own

**Becci** · 19-01-2011, 03:29pm

Potatoes are pretty easy. If you are short on space in the ground, you can grow them in big tubs (this is what we do)...

Carrots are a good starter as well.. we grew Autumn King and Red Chantenay last year and would recommend both. It's good if you plant carrots with spring onions to keep carrot fly away. We also grew iceburg lettuces (be careful, you can end up with half a million), little gems, and rocket. I think that this year we will stick with various salad leaves, rather than growing whole lettuces. We grew corn on the cob as well which tastes AMAZING, but I don't think that we will do it again because the space that they take and the crop. We got a relatively good crop out of them (in comparison to some we see at my parents' allotment), but got about 15 out of 12 plants.. which isn't a high enough yield given the space required.

At the moment we have onions and garlic in the ground that should be ready in the spring so we can pull them up, store them somewhere dark and then start sewing seeds for the summer crop.

We also grow hanging basket tomatoes in our greenhouse and my husband grows chilis.

Our normal aim is to grow things that will give a big enough yield for the effort.. or that you might like to use a lot, but is tricky to find in the supermarkets. There isn't any point in growing something that you don't use much of - you'll end up with loads of wastage. Salad leaves are pretty handy in the summer.. you can just walk into the garden and grab a few.

If you are growing in an allotment instead of your garden, think of the fact that things don't last as long as what you can buy in the supermarkets, so you need to do a couple of trips a week to stock up on your fresh veg.

**fifitrix** · 19-01-2011, 04:03pm

I grow lots but I do it all in pots, bags and raised beds, so straight into compost. My garden is warm and sunny which really helps; everything seems to grow. So I just grow the things I like to eat - loads of tomatoes, courgettes, several types of beans, carrots, spinach, rocket and other leaves, radishes etc, and many different herbs. I find for the space that is taken up (whether in pots or in the beds) veg gives better yield than fruit (and I live close to several excellent fruit farms) so I don't bother with strawberries etc.

Re planting times, it may be worth buying a basic book - the Garden Expert ones by Dr Hessayon are good - and just flicking through. The BBC often have things on their website too. You'll find as we get into the spring there'll be quite a few threads on Damsels about it as there are some keen growers here and some excellent allotments

Lots of garden centres have packets of seeds for kids to grow - these are often really good for beginners as they tend to be easy to grow and quite hardy varieties.

**LibertyGal72** · 19-01-2011, 08:40pm

As Fifi says, we grow stuff in pots and raised beds too, straight into compost.

Our garden can be sunny - we've herbs. Use thyme and rosemary all the time. Last year we did tomatoes, salad leaves, spinach, beetroot and leeks. This year I want to see whether we can do courgettes, mange tout, (am considering) carrots, radishes, strawberries. Looking forward to the weather getting wamer xxx

**lisa82** · 26-01-2011, 09:24am

Originally Posted by Becci

If you are growing in an allotment instead of your garden, think of the fact that things don't last as long as what you can buy in the supermarkets, so you need to do a couple of trips a week to stock up on your fresh veg.

This isnt true, trust me we have had an allotment for the past 4 yrs!!! There is no difference in growing in your garden to an allotment ( apart from one being outside your door) and how can stuff from a supermarket, which has come from good knows where and how long ago last longer than fresh out your 'growing patch' ???

**Muppetgal** · 26-01-2011, 09:58am

Tomatoes are relatively simple once you know the basics and I'm going to plant some inside next week when I'm off on holiday! Seems early, but I try to do a few seeds every two weeks so they don't all come ready at the same time.

I have NO luck with carrots. I've tried three years in a row and never got it right. They are fussy with what type of soil they like...that's where I've failed.

Leeks...same issue. I've never had a leek grow! Found out last year I was planting the things wrong when I transferred them to bigger pots, but even after doing it properly I still didn't get any!!

I've done courgette in the past and will do this year again. I also had an aubergine plant last year and will be getting another.

Potatoes are very easy. I had some potatoes last year (seed potatoes) that I got from a course I took and it was an afterthought to even plant them. I put them in our garden and never really bothered with them and I had loads! I'll def be doing them again this year.

I have had luck with spring onions and cucumber as well. Pepper plants don't seem to do well in my greenhouse, it's not heated and it was quite a cold summer last year so I guess that is why.

**Dizzy** · 26-01-2011, 10:32am

Last year was the first time we grew our own.We did runner beans , tomatoes ,potatoes and lettuce.

I recommend doing potatoes,they were the easiest.I planted them in potato bags.

Tomatoes are good, but beware of caterpillars ( we had loads)

Runner Beans they grew well, but yet again the insect got to them.

Lettuce grew really well,but after seeing slugs in them i couldn't eat them.

This year i may do potatoes, but that's it.
We spent a small fortune on insect repellents and still they were eaten.