Gardening

[tres]

Well, almost hating admitting it myself, but I really want to grow some of my own veg (hitting mid/late twenties).

I can get myself, say 12sq meters of land behind my little house, which is quite overgrown after previously being used for veg a few years ago.

But, i'm an absolute beginner.

What should I grow, for a good introduction and a fairly good chance at achieving something?

Soil should be good, and the climate is very good (never a frost)

Ideas?

 

[Biohazard]

whats your age got to do with wanting to grow vegtables?



or carrots and peas.

 

[neil3k]

 

[Schizo]

just try anything.

some times it depends on how good your soil is but most will grow any way.

try carrot's and lettuce and courgette which are pretty easy.

i have onion's,spuds,courgette,lettuce,peas,carrot's.

 

[Participant]

Just remember; you can't grow potatoes if you haven't botany.

 

[Cosimo]

Tomatoes and runner beans.

 

[Skidder]

the only thing I can grow in my garden is dog **** and broken glass

 

[michael baxter]

Potatoes!!!!!!

Btw, whatever you grow, you need to get the soiled prepared and dig in some manure/compost. If the land has not been used for a while, it maybe best to double dig (google it).

 

[Parsley]

Just remember; you can't grow potatoes if you haven't botany.

I groaned out loud, sorry .

 

[Parsley]

Boil em! Mash em! Stick em in a stew!

 

[sim0n]

+1 for potatoes,
Onions easy to grow. Lettuce and courgette as mentioned above, again easy to grow and if you leave the courgettes they will go triffid on you, that is very big but not so tasty. Ah just notice you say you are in your mid/late twenties sadly you need to be thirty plus to grow the above. I'm afraid you are only entitled to grow mustard and cress on abit of tissue, on your window sill.....

 

[*Moangroan*]

I'd try the easier stuff first. Potatoes...carrots..toms..cougettes..onions. It depends on what you eat. Try to grow stuff that will save you buying it not just growing it for the sake of growing it ..lol.

 

[michael baxter]

I'm afraid you are only entitled to grow mustard and cress on abit of tissue, on your window sill.....

LOL!

 

[Kutter]

I started growing veg last year for the first time. I grew potatoes, lettuce, onions, spinach, rocket, spring onions ,sweet peas and radish. I learnt a lot, made a few mistakes.
I was also growing peppers and chillies, but my cats destroyed them.

I grew the potatoes and onions and radish in a 8x4 plot next to my pond and the rest in some plywood tubs i made. The tubs worked a treat, but i had lots of slugs visit the plot.

Saved me a fortune not buying the veg, the lettuce i grew wasnt like an iceburg one, they were salad leaf ones so i just went out and cut what i wanted for the meal. I had 2 tubs of lettuce so i used to rotate my picking, to allow it to regrow.

It was well worth the hard work preparing everything, and it gave me something to do when i came home from work.

And it tastes 100 times better than the stuff from the supermarket.
go for it.

 

[daelo]

Good thing to remember is to say have a space allocated for one vegetable and space the time between you plant them, so you end up with a constant crop!

 

[Bear]

I started growing veg last year and grew spinach, mange tout, baby carrots and purple sprouting brocolli. Everything turned out excellent besides the brocolli which sprouted really late and got killed by the snow.

Going to do it again this year but going t put much more thought behind it and try and keep things growing for as much of the year as possible by sowing seed after I have dug some up for eating.

 

[4T5]

He's right you know.
I had my first year as an Allotment holder last year & Spuds are Brilliant, They grow Untold, are easy to grow & produce bundles of edible goodness.
I had so many I gave Buckets away to friends & they were so tasty you could eat them alone with butter.
Green beans are another rewarding grow & carrots.
Unless you actually grow your own food from nowt & then see them peeping out at you as you harvest them you cannot know how good it feels. The bonus is the quality of the produce you end up with as well.

 

[yermum]

Potatoes are really easy to grow for a novice, plus sweet potatoes are good for a change. Get some basic books from your library or have a look in the charity shops. The 'Expert Guide' ones are really good to start with.

Better still, get some chickens. Have a look at this:

http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php

2 girls will give you 2 eggs per day for most of the year, or you could get a larger wooden set up and get more. They cost about 50p per day to feed.

 

[WillyNelson]

Best advice; grow what you like to eat. We had a pretty good Grow Your Own thread on here last year & it's about time to have a new one for this year.

Easiest things to grow & ones that give you most veg for effort:
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Courgette
Lettuce
Raddish
Carrots
Potatoes (though they can take up a fair bit of space but you could grow them in containers)
Squash (butternut, pumpkin, etc)
Runner beans
Asparagus
Jerusalem Artichoke
Strawberries
Blueberries
Don't forget your herbs

Plenty of info here

 

[sim0n]

Rhubarb-really easy to grow, looks after itself. Rhubarb and banana crumble very tasty.