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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 12:52 AM #1
lovestuff
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Default growing vegetables

Hi. I have 4 raised beds, they are 9ft by 4 ft and about 6inches heigh.The soil is thick and stoney.We are r eady(ish) for year 2 of veggie growing. Have strawberries in one of them if they survive the rain and frost.

Any tips please?
I would love to achiece a 9 month supply of veggies from our patch.
What should I attempt to grow/do/sew now?
Last year the peas did well and the spuds and salad stuff but that's it really.

My zip-up-plastic green house blew away, not kidding! (WANTED a real greenhouse or tunnel, posted in the wanted section).

Tips, clues, hints, 'ON THE HOW TO'S' all appreciated on veggie success please. I also read the allotment posting with interest thanks.
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 09:15 AM #2
lislaw
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Hi
Last year I grew courgettes which were a great success. The plants produced for months. They grow fairly big and they do need to be tied up otherwise you get little stubby ones. I had one of those zip up greenhouses as well and used it for the seedlings and when the plants got bigger I took the greenhouse part off and used the frame to tie them up - it worked a treat. We had so many that by the end of the season we no longer had courgettes but marrows!!.. I grew them in tyres and it worked out really because the plant can get very big and take over. By putting them in the tyres it restricted their growth a little and it also meant that the slugs (urghhhh my sworn enemy) had a harder time getting to them. And the slugs loved my courgettes so if you do decide to grow them Beware!!

I also tried tomatoes for the second time and for the second time it was a total disaster so I'm giving them a miss this year.

Spuds were brill -very tasty. Growing them again. Same with lettuce, rocket, scallions. Peas and beans worked well too.

We had brocolli too last year. My big tip is not to leave them too long as they go to flower very quickly.

And the carrots were really tasty. I didn't plant some of them deep enough and again the slugs had a field day when they found them. They're meant to grow really well in raised beds - something about carrot fly and height from the ground.

We also had strawberries and I got two raspberry plants. We got a few off them but I'm hoping for more this year as the plants get bigger.

I love this time of year, planning and getting everything ready. I've got my onions and leeks started - they're new for me this year and I'm looking forward to seeing how they get on.

Good luck - and if you need any tyres let me know. I've a thread up in the garden section for them.

Don't forget to Rotate..

Lisa
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 11:43 AM #3
frantasia
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Lovestuff, give it a go, I'm not sure how much your four raised beds will grow - not very good at maths but they sound like a good size to me.
I reckon onions and spuds are the 'basics' for me and I feel, grow them if you grow nothing else. I think your strawberries will survive the winter - mine did, last year.


Lislaw, the last two years were very rainy and with little sunshine, I found that tomatoes did very badly as well. I'm still going to give them another try this year, though, will start them off indoors and move them outside when we (hopefully)get some better sunny weather this year.

I agree with you about the carrots - I grew mine in a bin last year and they were the tastiest ever. Onions were pretty small and not very good, again I feel they were 'washed out' - that's what they tasted like anyway.
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 01:24 PM #4
lislaw
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Thanks for that Frantasia. My poor tomatoes grew really well last year. I got them in a nice sunny spot against the wall for extra warmth. It looked like a get a good crop at first - loads of little green toms. They grew to a good size but then just as they started to ripen they seemed to rot on the plant. Some of them never even ripened. I was very disheartened especially since the year before I got one tomato from four plants!! I suppose I did a bit better last year - I managed to get 2 tomatoes!!

Any suggestions as to why this happened? Is it just lack of sun and too much rain at a critical time or did they get some tomato disease or other? To be honest, there was so much else going on in the garden at that time - and in my life in general - that I didn't even try to find out what had happened. I just decided to write tomatoes off and stick to the stuff I can grow well.

Lisa
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 03:12 PM #5
cascais
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Default veggies

hi lovestuff,

at the moment the veggie patcgh is very bare, we only have some cabbage at the moment, as i find its one of teh only veg to resist the frost in my experience..

chicories are also supposed to be good in the winter , dug deep, although never tried it... yummee ! ( a type of salad for those that never tried it)

last year we managed to get peas, green beans (or french runner beans depending on what you call them), salad, we also managed to get peppers ( but these stayed green and never went yellow or red . they were the miniature species. we kept them at home a long time as they do not like the cold (maybe a couple or 3 of months). beware, the slugs love these !
i also have various herbs, parsley, thyme and a bush ( can t remember the name they are leaves you put in stews and stuff..)
need to try carrots, onions, next year and hopefully: spuds ... have to try !

lisa,
we also tried tomatoes, we had loads of tomatoes, but i did not manage to make them rippen.
i find it easier with the cherry tomato variety. with tomatoes, we also kept them a long time at home ( well over 2 months) in our porch and they loved it. the conservatory would also be a good spot for them. we had to plant them as they did not have enough space/ soil to grow, and we had to put wooden supports ( we found free wood in a skip down the road for it) to make sure they did not collapse with the wieght.
problem is , couldn t get one to ripen ! heard of the getting them ripe in a brown bag, but surely they mustn t taste very nice as no sun around... am i the only one to think this ?

enhjoying the veggie threads anyway !
keep it up...

cascais
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 04:48 PM #6
Chuck
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Default Buy seeds for vegetables

Hi - I too am hoping to start a veggie patch. Where's a good place to buy seeds? Do you go somewhere like woodies or online?? Would really appreciate and advice. Am hoping to grow spuds, onions, carrots, parsnips, letuce and hopefully tomatoes (hear they are quite hard)

Thanks for any advice,
Chuck.
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 05:20 PM #7
lislaw
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Hi Chuck
Any garden centre will have a range of seeds and even seedlings. It's also a good place to pick up herbs for a few quid. Later in the season is an even better time to buy them as you might get a reduced price if they are not selling well. The plants are more than ready to be moved to bigger pots by them.

You should get some advice on what will grow well in your type of soil, any improvers you can use etc and what pests to look out for at particular times.

Tesco and I'm sure the other big shops all usually do seed packets as well.

Good Luck, let us know how you get on.
Lisa
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 06:19 PM #8
dublindy
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Default Blight

If you grow potatoes and tomatoes do you remember to spray for blight? Both are susceptible and that is one reason that tomatoes don't ripen. Also potatoes take up a lot of space for the return from a monetary point of view - unless you can get really early crops in and then use the space for something that is higher value and fast growing afterwards.

My advice would be to pick those vegetables that cause a big hole in your pocket in the supermarket - for me it's runner beans - and they can crop heavily for months - until the first frosts kill them off.
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 06:46 PM #9
JOG
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With tomatoes it's important to grow the right variety. My Dad and my siblings have been experimenting for years and are unanimous - Gardener's Delight is far away the best one to grow. It's a cherry tomato, grows indoors or outdoors, ripens even in a bad summer,and tastes like tomatoes used to taste when you were young. What more can I say?
Mangetout peas also good as more to eat for your time/energy/space.
Parsnips very easy to grow,and can be sown soon. Only problem I find with parsnips is persuading anyone to eat them.
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 06:54 PM #10
lislaw
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I think blight might have been my problem with the tomtoes last year. I never even dreamt of spraying them for blight. And it does seem like that could have been the problem. Ah well, now I know.

I only wish I had a porch to grow them in. My neighbours across the road do and I'm always very envious of their very tall, very fruitful tomato plants.
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 07:37 PM #11
the young one
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Default About the Broccoli.....

I have a feeling that broccoli and cauliflower bolt much quicker in rich ground. If you have a less fertile area, try this space for these veggies. Leeks and Kohl rabi are dead easy to grow (especially the leeks - we're still pulling ours from last year and no predators). Be warned, though, the caterpillars will devour the kohl rabi leaves and stunt the bulb.
Mary
PS re parsnips - roasted in olive oil with cumin seed - magic!!
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 08:46 PM #12
rosheenjones
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Hi, buy magazines for veg growing they usually have free seeds at this time of year, also they do really good free seed special offers inside, they say it's for Uk res only but I send sterling coins for p&p and have always received them. A polytunnel will be your best investment ever, I love mine, I get great tomatoes, chillies, aubergines, melons, cucumbers in summer and loads of herbs and salad all winter. It's also MY space!!
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Old Posted: 27-01-2009 , 08:50 PM #13
lovestuff
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Default growing veggies

Thanks everyone for useful and interesting tips. Enjoying it very much.

Yea my tomatoes were a disaster too but will try the variety JOG mentioned 'Gardeners Delight'

And Lislaw you have convinced me to try corgettes this year
and I have to confess to THE YOUNG ONE that I have never heard of KHOL RABI but I will look into it and it sounds wonderful. Also will try leeks.

As for herbs I got most of mine last year in Aldi and they grow in pots at the back door (handy for the kitchen).Bay winters well outdoors as does sage, thyme, mint, spearmint, rosemary and my parsley has survived too. I got 2 varities of sage fron Aldi. 1 green and ordinary another has a varrigated leaf and looks pretty even on a gloomy day. Aldi lavander still blooming also!

As for parsnips convince them to eat 'parsnip chips'. Oil and rosemary (and what ever else you like) in a baking tin, peel the parsnips, then shread them up into little thin strips with the peeler and roast till crispie. Try them. I can't wait to grow my own!
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Old Posted: 28-01-2009 , 10:06 AM #14
steptoes
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Default Potato blight

I am inspired to try again after reading these notes re vegetable growing and will have to learn a lot more to do it right this year. We moved to the country a few years ago and have a very large garden but my attempts at growing potatoes the last year was very discouraging. Colmpletely killed by blight. Is there an organic spray against it as I don't want to use chemicals?
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Old Posted: 28-01-2009 , 11:55 AM #15
lislaw
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This site:

http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about1313.html

provides some good advice and mixing quantities for herbal treatments for blight.

I found it very helpful

Good luck with your attempts this year.
Lisa
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