Turning 40 this year and the mid life crisis has started most folk buy a sportscar or jump out of aeroplanes i bought a greenhouse.!! :-)
Well growing from seed cucumber,cress, lettuce, carrots, got 50x onion bulbs planted and mushrooms next.
Do mushrooms thrive better in dark rooms like the cellar and to be planted in horse manure? or a mix.
Strawberrys got 10x plants and there doing well & rasberry tree and grape vine for some wine next year.
Also growing 10x sunflowers for the kids to water to watch them grow. :-)
Just built a raised bed last week for some plants and veg mixed in it's 2 foot off the floor 6ft-3ft filled with top soil, horse manure 3x bags boy does it stink and topped with soil.
Any good tips?
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Tomatoes is an obvious one for your greenhouse.
As with many crops, you will tend to get a glut, but Mrs BT may be able to make a gallon or two of pasta sauce and freeze it.
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Runner beans are our most consistent winner but raspberries did well last year as, 2-3 yrs from planting to get established though. Cut & come again salad leaves of various types work well too. When the day job permits Mrs B's has a production line of lettuce type stuff such that we're kept off the supermarket stuff for months.
New potatoes work well in a mix of tubs and ground but realistically they're a treat thats' done in 3-4 weeks unless you've a lot more space than the average estate garden. Strawberries are a flash in the pan as well.
Courgettes ought to be simple but (i) a gender imbalance of flowers (ii) a tendency to mildew and (iii) the fact that they're Marrows after our usual summer holiday make them a waste of space.
Tumbler tomatoes grow well in baskets on a south facing fence - no need for a greenhouse.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 7 Apr 11 at 22:50
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we got an allotment last year and advised not to use horse manure as it contains bacteria
we had a very good year last year
mainly
potatoes (apart from the blighted ones with black slugs living in them)
carrots
peas
sweet corn
courgettes
cabbage
dwarf runner beans
beetroot
celariac
broccelie (purple sprouting)
baring in mind i havent done the veg thing for 40 years i think we did good
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>> Tomatoes is an obvious one for your greenhouse.
>>
>> As with many crops, you will tend to get a glut, but Mrs BT may
>> be able to make a gallon or two of pasta sauce and freeze it.
Exactamundo.
I grow tomoatoes for the same reason. You can preserve them in so many ways so the glut can be evened out over the year.
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Tomatoes are the obvious choice for a greenhouse. Don't combine too well with cucumbers as they prefer a more humid environment that causes problems with tomatoes. Chillies and peppers are very easy to grow. Easiest to buy a few plants from the garden centre. Herbs in pots are a good idea. We use a lot of Basil and its very easy to grow. Indeed if you buy a pot in the supermarket and save it after using the leaves it will soon regenerate and grow into a large plant. Three or four will supply all the pesto you can eat!
A bit worried about that horse manure - You really need to compost it for a few months before digging it in!
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>>
>> Just built a raised bed last week
Railway sleepers, BT ?
Ted
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Just today I've planted out some carrots, broccoli and lettuce - half of a 6 pack of seeds from Poundland so we'll see how they go. I have a south-facing garden bordered on 2 sides by 8ft leylandii hedges so it stays fairly damp and doesn't get the sunshine for very long at all.
I'm just starting to get in to gardening now the weather's picked up.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi {P} on Fri 8 Apr 11 at 00:00
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>> I have a south-facing garden bordered on 2 sides by 8ft leylandii hedges so it stays
>> fairly damp and doesn't get the sunshine for very long at all.
>>
>>
One of the many problems with trees adjoining isn't just the lack of light, but their roots pulling the moisture out from under your produce.
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Railway sleepers, BT ?
No the last thing i want in my garden is something to remind me of work.!!
Herritage walling from Marshalls through Jewson stone built by me and proud of it as it looks the dogs.............
Tomatoes not too keen on these but im doing some chillies and peppers in pots.
The greenhouse is one of these plastic frame tent things 6ft-4ft only £35.00 just to see if i take to it then if i do i'll get one of those polycarbonate greenhouses opposed to glass for safety reasons, anyone got the poly one reviews over glass?
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Do not get polycarb!! you will spend more money and time buying and replacing panes than you do growing things in it! - they are too thin and flex and bend out of the clips in anything other than a gentle breeze. Glass provides a bit of wieght and stability, and doesn`t yellow or discolour or go brittle in cold weather, if you worry about safety reasons, pay slightly more and put either wired or toughened glass in the lower panes.
re your grape vine: dont forget to plant it outside the greenhouse (preferably on a dead sheep) and trail the vine back into the greenhouse, good companion plants for Tommys and peppers etc are Marigolds, intersperse them among your crop and you will reap a much better harvest!
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You're all Philistines:)
Gardens are for growing flowers in, spreading peace and love and aromatic smells, for attracting butterflies and enjoying a superb range of colours.
Vegetables come from fields or supermarkets, preferably ready prepared and in bags.
Don't believe the blurb, it isn't cheaper to grow veggies, it's pretentious!
You just want to sit around a table for Sunday lunch with the whole family gazing at a comisshapenmishapen, manky carrots and convince yourself that they taste better.
And while I'm at it, what's all this 'fashionable' thing about growing them in raised beds?
Whatever's wrong with planting them in the ground the raised bed stands on unless you only have a patio? It's just a ploy by the timber merchants to be able to sell their off cuts of timber, since no-one buys kindling anymore.
It's a lazy way of gardening, made to look attractive because you don't have to dig the ground, just cut open a bag of compost and fill it.
As Leif ( I think it was) said to me about jogging, no pain, no gain and gardening is the same:)
I bet you all wear gardening gloves too!
While you all boast about your enormous parsnips and peppers all summer, I shall post pictures of my beautiful Aquilegias and Fuchsias:)
Pat
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Veg... flowers??
Grass, hedges and trees here... just as nature intended.
Agree with the raised beds thoughts Pat... a house we cast our eye over last week had the whole back garden covered with 1.5m square raised beds. Needed £1000 spent to restore it to level before you started.
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As a lifetime gardener I'm completely baffled by the idea.
I fully accept them on a patio or even to allow a disabled person to be able to carry on doing something they love, but as a matter of choice I think they look artificial and pointless.
I presume the compost manufacturers have had a hand in promoting them too.
Pat
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Growing fruit and veg involves work.
Our gardens are for relaxing in and all the birds in ours are busy now that spring is springing.
SWMBO and I were sitting out in the beautiful sunshine last night with a drink and feeding the birds who live in our laurel hedge with currants .
The male blackbird is very tame and we were filming him last night dashing off to feed his offspring and then dashing back for some more.... great fun for us watching him and courageous of him because he will now trust us enough to feed from our hands..
The blackbird and thrush have even been known to wander into the house to check out the jar where the currants are kept.
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Why are growing flowers and growing vegetables mutually exclusive Pat. Surely gardening is all about the love of growing things. I have a garden mainly given over to flowers although I do some outdoor tomatoes and various herbs, I would grow more veg in the garden but the soil is not great, being reclaimed land. I also have an allotment and a greenhouse in the garden which I raise most of my own plants from seed.
I don't think many people think it cheaper to grow your own veg. I certainly don't, but it is fun and home grown stuff does usually taste better and there's nothing better than digging up the first new potatoes of the years and cooking them within hours. And who's to say vegetables aren't beautiful? Asparagus is surely surely as fine a looking plant as anything in your flower garden and I recommend Ruby Chard as a striking addition to the front of your border.
As far as raised beds are concerned they are a great way of growing veg in a small area, and make life a lot easier if you have back problems. Don't fill them with commercial compost though, make your own. Making decent compost is surely the hallmark of a proper gardner!
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>>>raised beds are concerned they are a great way of growing veg in a small area, and make life a lot easier if you have back problems.
Yes entirely suitable for a town patio/yard garden of for resolving issues with mobility. They have become a fad though... I have relatives with a 0.8ac garden who have their veg in them because *it's this year's thing to do*.
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They do have other advantages, They are easier to access and you don't need to stand on the soil so it doesn't become compacted. The deeper soil is good for a lot of vegetables too. I intend to make one or two on the allotment next year. Will be interesting to compare results with a standard bed
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>>Why are growing flowers and growing vegetables mutually exclusive Pat<<
*sighs*
They're not, it was a tongue in cheek post and purely a matter of preference.
Mine being the same as helicopters backwards, if you see what I mean!
Pat
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I do realise your post was not entirely serious Pat but you should know that any post where you mention parsnips will get you into trouble Do try the Ruby Chard though- you will be impressed.
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>>> easier to access and you don't need to stand on the soil so it doesn't become compacted.
I guess you have to make a ramp for the rotavator though??
Last edited by: Fenlander on Fri 8 Apr 11 at 09:55
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Rotavator? Work of the devil. Designed to chop up the weeds so you you ten times as many.
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Some say that.... I only do gardening if it needs an engine though. You just need something light for the Mrs...
www.flickr.com/photos/dscn8785/4439342608/sizes/l/in/set-72157623502278191/
Last edited by: Fenlander on Fri 8 Apr 11 at 11:31
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Something like this will suit most plots;
tinyurl.com/3ka5z28
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Funnily enough as we start to look around here at what is never going to fit in the sort of place we're planning to move to I keep wondering what I'll do with a pair of iron wheels off something like that. Might go inset into a wall as a feature.... on the front lawn to keep the dogs off or similar?
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Pat.
The first raised bed is made from stone and is a atractive garden feature aswell as been practical, the front of the bed has flowers in and amongst these will be my carrots and plenty of room for some more.
And i intend to build another larger one in the rear garden not only for the above but you can sit on the wall have a drink and with lights built in for those evening supping bbq sessions.
Thanks for the info on the polycarbonate greenhouse, my son is 3 next and as im sure you will appreciate the saftey aspect i also have kids next door with leather footballs.!! :-(
It's all a nice bit of fun my lad waters the plants he can see them grow and we can eat healthy food which i want him to eat so in theory it should all fall into plan
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I plant flowers so my bees do lots of work collecting pollen and nectar and making honey.
Been growing rasps fo 30 years: about 25 kgs/year - not netted. Frozen and jam.
Plus runner french beans and gooseberries ,pears, cooking apples, rhubarb, blueberries and damsons and plums..
Plus tomatoes and rocket..Our slugs eat our lettuce.
And lots of sprouts.. good for wind
Minimal work.. maximum return.
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Who's into growing veg & fruit? - Iffy
