Look at the size of my Vegetables - the back garden, non allotment thread.

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Anyone else here into veg? I'm not an enormous fan of the stuff for eating myself - my blood type is Bisto - but I love growing vegetables. The idea of growing stuff people can eat is hugely appealing and highly satisfying.

I don't have an allotment - yet, I may get on the list for one in the village - but I've divided off the rear third of my garden where the bike cabin is to act as my horticultural area. I have a greenhouse, and hope to start work in the coming weeks on the serious business of growing stuff. I had a decent crop of delicious tomatoes kadt year and this year I'm aiming to triple the harvest.

Anyone else into growing veg or mebbe have an allotment?

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

Yes, we have an allotment thread somewhere. We are still working our way through the last harvest:


Squashes. These make for very good risotto, soups and curries. I always try to roast them first. They are a bit past their best but tomorrow’s roast will need to include parsnips:



We have just got a few seeds and seed potatoes ready for this year.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Fantastic! Aside from me Tom's I'm new to this growing malarkey so this year it'll be the easy stuff like spuds, carrots, maybe chilli's, onions. I got a fair bit of space in and out the green house and I've a good supply of plastic boxes I can use for planters.

 

[nicklej]

I wish I had somewhere to grow parsnips...number 1 on my best veg list

 

[Markybeau]

I don't have a proper garden, as such. I've had an allotment for two years. It's my second derelict, but in a much better and safer position than the first. Part of it is still being rescued, and wild.

Last year, I grew squash, peas, beans, carrots, kale, 5 different varieties of tomatoes, peppers, apple tree, 3 cherry trees, raspberries, honeyberries, loganberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants... lots of wildflowers.

I've been given permission to install a beehive, which was a battle.

I love it, finding it therapeutic. But I'm just a beginner... and didn't read the title of the thread properly...

 

[mk one]

Therapeutic? I was offered an allotment which in theory was a good idea, but helping out on a friends I soon realised the work and time involved and eventually turned it down. Still like the idea but just growing small amounts in the back garden, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and plums, proves to be a lot sometimes.

At my local allotment they generally grow one product each, and then share them all out amongst themselves which tends to work out great most of the time, and they end up with things they would not have grown themselves, or had room to.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

I'm very much a beginner too. While I'm considering an allotment I'm fortunate to have reasonable space and facilities at home.

There is indeed something very therapeutic about just being out there. Even in winter I'm often out in the bike workshop at 7am, fire lit and supping a coffee as I read the paper.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

I generate a lot of fine wood Ash from my two fireplaces - would this be good to sprinkle on my vegetables? The double-entendre is purely accidental.

 

[novocaine]

grow chillies and tomatoes.

hydroponics is great, dead easy.
crap at growing almost everything else. I used to grow potatos, still do, but now it's unintentional. I have a pear and a cherry tree, they do everything for themselves except pick and eat, so perfect for me.

 

[raidan73]

My friend has a field with a poly tunnel in. We jumped in with both feet last year, without any prior experience or knowledge. We had a fair few failures, mainly due to lack of time, but had some success too. We got peas, potatoes, kale, butternut squash and carrots from the field. Tomatoes, chillies, lettuce, spinach and various herbs from the poly tunnel. I then built a couple of decent sized planters in the garden at home and we got more lettuce and potatoes, spring onions and some more peas.
Next to us in the same field there was a retired coupled, clearly experienced at growing. They did far better than us and their plot always looked perfect. We didn't really think about how much time it would take up and some of the crops suffered because of it. Lesson learned anyway. We'll go a bit smaller this year and hope for a higher success rate. I found it was very good for my mental health too, which is a great bonus.