Anyone growing their own veg this year?

[mcfluffin]

Hi chaps....just thought I'd see what anyone or everyone is growing in their gardens/yards/windowsills this year?

Personally I'm going to go for cucumber, toms, lettuce, mangetout, mushrooms (probably indoors) and peppers....maybe a few others if I feel up to it! I've had some luck before, so it will probably go terribly wrong this year :(

[auntierozzi]

Hi Mcfluffin.
I want to plant some spring greens and kale this year. I have had some good spinach and was getting really excited about my purple sprouting broccoli until the slugs and caterpillars obliterated practically everything! We had a good potato crop and loads of gooseberries and some cherries which the birds enjoyed :-) This year I plan to put nets on everything in time and try and tackle the slug situation. I managed to grow some nice Chinese mustard but pak-choï went to the slugs too..
I hope everything grows well for you :-)

[mcfluffin]

Sounds deeeeelicious! My purple broccoli suffered a bit too last year. Spinach is an idea though....might try it...very nice in salad with my other bits...and some pring onions would be good for that too....Happy growing auntierozzi

[Buddha Belly]

Have re-potted all my plants and am desperate to get all my seeds back so i can plant more for my allotment :(
Chillis
Courgette
Peas
Some edible flower begining with N
Sunflowers

It's all i have here. Get the rest back on Weds.

[Daffodil]

yes I think i will have a go this year. had great success in the past with potatoes and spinach, managed a few carrots one year and strawberries and plums on my tree. good idea :)

[Topcat]

just sowed the first of my veg seeds this week, lettuce, carrots, about to do my peppers, tomaotoes and spring onions. Using my back garden and most will be grown in containers, easier i find for pest control and no cats shitting and pissing on them. Theres some really good websites out there for container gardening. I have one of those little mini greenhouses takes 4 growbags. Going to get another one only £15 from focus .
Apples, raspberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries all grown in garden, amongst other shrubs. Runner bean, peas etc i will grow inbetween my other climbers. potatoes in a dustbin . tomatoes in a hanging basket my garden will look very strange this year.

[crazy_4_veg]

Yep I'm growing my own this year. The following is what I'm growing:

Courgette - Green, Courgette - Goldie, Peas, Carrots - N2 organic, Carrots - Autumn king 2, Parsnips - White gem, Parsnips - Tender and true, Cucumber, Tomato - Minibel, Tomato - Outdoor girl, Tomato - Red cherry, Tomato - Marmande, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Pumpkin, Melon, Sweet corn, Pepper, Leeks, Spring onions, Lettuce (iceberg, cos, butterhead), Spinach, Mesclun (rocket, chervil, endive), Coriander, Chives, Radish, Sunflower, White onions, Red onions, Beetroot, Crab apples, Strawberries - Alpine baron solemacher, Strawberries - Elan, Swede, Broccoli, Mint, Rosemary, Marrow, Spinach beets, Parsely and Basil

Can you tell I have too much time on my hands :lol:. I also have blueberry and blackberry plants that should fruit. I really do enjoy growing my own food as I'm more likely to not waste it and eat it all. Makes food enjoyable again really :thumbsup:.

[genisis]

I am attempting to grow my own veg for the first time :amazed_ani: I have absolutly got no idea what Im doing :( so on advice from others I have started with,what others have assured me is the easiest to grow,tomatoes and peppers.want to grow my own potatoes as well,so any advice on all areas of growing your own veg,would be very very much appreciated :D

[cedarblue]

this is what we are growing this year; courgette, green & yellow/carrots/parsnips/tomatoes/chillis/peppers/aubergine/ perpetual spinach, chard, cavalo nero/collard greens/spring onions/regular onions/mixed squash, beans/sweetcorn/3 different potatoes/cabbages/ salad leaves/ herbs/beeroot/brussel sprouts/radishes/radicchio...there may be more, i can't remember.

we keep putting off planting our first early chits. the weather is lovely then we are still getting frosts but they are desparate to go in........

the cavalo nero is sprouting, as is the garlic and a few early carrots. also some early toms we started off a month ago as an experiment.

[smallhelen]

Some people are much more organzied than me!
I have planted out my courgettes and dwarf beans, and also have mange- tout, potatoes and pak choi outside. Inside have peppers on my kitchen window sill, and will probably grow some lettuce inside as well. It's so nice picking leaves off your own lettuce, quick wash, then onto your plate. No chemicals, no carbon footprint, and tasty salad goodness!!

[missbettie]

i have:

6 different lettuces
cilantro
3 different tomato plants
chives
parsley
tons of basil
green hot peppers
tons of sunflowers

I really want onions to round out my salsa garden, but i'm not sure I have enough room...

[smallhelen]

Salsa garden!
I like the idea. I thought mine was kind of a stir-fry garden, but need to add some bean sprouts, I suppose.
Let us know what the salsa tastes like when everything is ready. :)

[missbettie]

ooo a stir fry garden is a really good idea too! maybe i'll try that next year!

i still need to figure out about the onions though, i loooves onions! but where to put them...? Does anyone know if they need a lot of space?

[Buddha Belly]

ooo a stir fry garden is a really good idea too! maybe i'll try that next year!

i still need to figure out about the onions though, i loooves onions! but where to put them...? Does anyone know if they need a lot of space?

Spring onions in a 6inch deep window sill box? Normal onions can be done in a 10 inch pot but would need a 6 - 8 inch diameter pot.

[missbettie]

i think i want normal onions... i think i may have enough space in one of my boxes...hmmm thanks BB

[cobweb]

ooh, everyone has great ideas :)

so far me and hubby seem to be competing with tomato plants - i gave him a wooden window plante which he filled with seeds, i must transfer them now actually - and i have random seedlings around the place.

I'm also trying to grow cabbages and cauliflowers though usually mine get munched to bits by cabbage whites and i end up with a colony of butterflies and nothing to eat!. I am setting up my mini greenhouse for them but am currently awaiting some strong bungee cords i bought so i can tie it to the fence. Things have a habit of getting blown into the sea round here! :eek:.

I'm doing various lettuces, too, and parsley, also growing raspberry canes but they are only babies still. Oh, strawberries, too, will soon be planted.

[twinkle]

At the moment I'm just growing tomatoes. Was very excited to see the tiny shoots had come up when I came back from a weekend away on Monday :)

I like the idea of container potatoes as well. I looked up dustbin potatoes and the same site gave the idea of just growing them in a compost bag, which seems pretty simple. Can't beat fresh potatoes, can you?

[Buddha Belly]

At the moment I'm just growing tomatoes. Was very excited to see the tiny shoots had come up when I came back from a weekend away on Monday :)

I like the idea of container potatoes as well. I looked up dustbin potatoes and the same site gave the idea of just growing them in a compost bag, which seems pretty simple. Can't beat fresh potatoes, can you?


Never thought of doing them in a grow bag. Good idea.

[DavidT]

I'm lucky to have a job; unfortunately my wife lost hers last year.

But the upside is, with frugality, we can manage ok - meaning she's out in the garden all the time now. She's planted spuds (lots), carrots, broad beans, leeks, artichokes, kale, spinach, parsnips plus has plans for other stuff like peas and broccoli and has plenty of stuff being nurtured under cold frames.

Someone gave us some old windows and frames last year and I've knocked these together into mini-greenhouses.

We have a plum tree, five varieties of apple, a pear, plus rhubarb, strawberries, blackcurrants and a herb garden we harvest from every day.

Also, we always have something sprouting on the kitchen window, usually alfalfa or mung beans; we have cress at the moment for a change.

So long as I keep my job, I'm happy for her to grow food to offset the loss of her job. And so is she, of course! She's studying vegan organics and is even thinking about teaching it when she's confident enough. If I lose my job, who knows what'll happen then?

Next is a polytunnel, which we're currently saving for.

[CrunchyMomma]

Every summer we grow yellow squash, zucchini, pickling cucumbers, hot peppers, green beans and tomatoes. We're going to try and grow sweet corn again this year organically, although last time we had a lot of trouble with the corn worms. I've heard a dab of mineral oil on the tassels, once they turn brown, will deter the moths so we'll see how that goes. In the fall we are hoping to plant spinach, broccoli and lettuce. I'll also be growing chives, dill and cilantro on my windowsill again this year and wish I had a small greenhouse to that I could grow strawberries and keep the birds out of them.

[DavidT]

CM: it sounds like your weather's warmer than ours. Not surprising, as we're roughly 52 degrees north...but the weather is described as 'equable', meaning temperate and stable and we're warmed by the Gulf Stream.

There's a desperately cold east wind blowing today though.

Anyway, fair play to you for your organics. As for the strawberries, most plantations I've seen, the strawberries are low to the ground and covered in long lengths of clear flexible plastic, taken from a roll. I've never seen any in a greenhouse but what would I know?

[shellymi2nv]

Last week I saw in the local nursery 3 green pepper plants labelled organic. So now I have 3 pepper plants planted in my front yard next to the driveway (only place where I amended the soil a gazillion years ago so it's not the caliche AKA cement dirt). I'm anxious to see if they grow in the full fury of a Las Vegas summer :lol:

[missbettie]

my basil sprouted and then it died :( but my cilantro is doing really well. Tomatos are starting to flower but still no fruit...sunflowers are doing awesome only they are getting munched on pretty bad.

How do I make the bugs not want my plants? I heard that spraying soap and water on the plants helps, has anyone tried this?

[Ms_Derious]

I'm growing tomatoes, courgettes and kale. I'm kinda excited about the kale, as it'll be cheap greens throughout the winter :) Yay.

[pickleo]

Wow, impressed by all the growing going on!

The soap solution is simple and fairly benign but kills the bugs by dissolving their little waxy keratin bods...:eek:. It depends how far your veganism extends! How about encouraging lots of predator insects instead, by planting lots of bright flowers (esp. for hoverflies) and providing overwintering spots for ladybirds, etc?

At least then the blood is on their little mandibles and you might feel less bad.

Try looking up companion planting, too, or planting strong smelling plants such as garlic nearby to distract the 'pests'.

There is also a vegan organic network here in the uk which has a website www.veganorganic.net (http://www.veganorganic.net) with lots of helpful tips.