Anyone going to bother with growing veg this year?

I intend to grow veg in pots as I have a small garden. Last year I grew basil from seed, strawberries and lettuce, all in baskets and tomatoes from seeds in a small pop up greenhouse. I have two large pots of herbs. This year I'll repeat the strawberries, although some of them were nibbled by mice. I fancy growing a selection of peas, beetroot, onions and carrots in pots and see how they do. There are lots of slugs and snails in my garden so I might be feeding the wildlife!

Beginning to get ancient now, and bending is hard work so During the first year of covid and lockdown we saved absolutely loads not going out, so used the money and invested in 2 large vegetable Trugs and 2 smaller ones, plus a herb trug. We now veg garden at waist height and it is a joy.

Last year was our first year and they were really successful. Everything we grew was successful, but this year we have decided to cut out some stuff, like parsnips, leeks, and perhaps others as they are in the ground so long and the space could be usefully taken up by quicker crops, like salad, carrots, etc.

At the moment in the Trugs we have spring cauliflowers beginning to heart up, summer cabbage, Salad, broad beans, carrots, mizuma, beetroot, garlic and onions.

Grew cucumbers and tomatoes on the kitchen windowsill as we thought we would try not using the propagator or soil warming cable in the interests of economy, but both are very leggy and not pleased with the results. So May call it a day and buy a couple of plants.

Next week looks warmer again so must do some more sowing.

Chewbacca

I think it's a fruit OnwardandUpward they're a fresh tasting fruit, a bit like a stone less cherry.

Well I never! That's my 'something new' learnt for today.

It seems you can make jam from them too - now that might raise a few eyebrows at the village show

Ah, but I've just remembered that I don't actually have any fuchsias in my garden.

A general question here: Doesn't it work out really, really expensive to grow everything in containers?

It's because of the cost of compost that I am going to grow even my tomatoes semi-direct (as described in one of my posts upthread) in the soil this year.

That said, I do understand that if one's main reason for growing produce is for freshness, rather than economy, the cost might be unimportant.

I’ve grown tomatoes for the past two years (small garden, no room for anything except in pots) but can’t be bothered this year - they need so much attention, at a time when you can buy such nice, U.K. grown ones in the shops. I had no blight, but the flavour was disappointing both times, too.

This year I have two big pots of sweet peas! Which you can’t buy in the shops, or at least I never see any.

I have previously grown French beans in a big pot, but many of them got to - and past - best for picking stage while we were away in September.
I did make a v nice Greek green bean stew (fasolakia) with the past-their-best ones, though. Highly recommended for anyone with a glut!

Chewbacca

You can eat the fruit of fuschias MissAdventure. If you put a trailing fuschia in your hanging basket, they start to grow small black berries that are so sweet and delicious. Hardly anybody around here eats theirs which is good news for me cos I nick 'em!

Really?!

Doesn't it work out really, really expensive to grow everything in containers?

That's a good question Oldnproud! I'm growing potatoes in spud sacks because I'm getting the GC interested in vegetable gardening and with the sacks, they can lift the flaps at the sides to see how the tubers are growing and what's going on underneath but, by the time I've factored in the sacks and seed potatoes, I could have bought a ton of spuds for the same price! But you can grow spuds in any old container; deep tubs, boxes, sacks etc and just use your ordinary garden soil to keep earthing them up. Same with any other vegetable container growing; just use your garden soil and plenty of feed and as much organic compost as you can lay your hands on..

we have spud sacks and some huge pots we got from the garden centre but yes, it does cost a lot in compost. Obviously it can be reused year and year again. The reason we have used pots is because we have started stuff off in the greenhouse (and house ) and will move outside in a month or so's time when we are ready to move the tomatoes into the greenhouse. I think you have to do what works for you

Callistemon Yup! Have I ever lied to you? If you're having a summer hanging basket this year, stick a couple of trailing fuschias in and by mid summer, elongated black berries will start to come on. Wait until they're dark and ripe, pick and eat. If you have a perennial fuschias bush in the garden or see them when out walking, they'll have them too.

Chewbacca

I think it's a fruit OnwardandUpward they're a fresh tasting fruit, a bit like a stone less cherry.

It's not that I don't believe you Chewbacca but I'm going to check it out.

This is the woman who planted an Amelchanchier but has never eaten the fruit.
One person told us the fruits are edible, another said the seeds are poisonous.
Even the birds ignore them.

Chewbacca

Callistemon Yup! Have I ever lied to you? If you're having a summer hanging basket this year, stick a couple of trailing fuschias in and by mid summer, elongated black berries will start to come on. Wait until they're dark and ripe, pick and eat. If you have a perennial fuschias bush in the garden or see them when out walking, they'll have them too.

Yes, we have a lot of fuschias.

I could have a new source of food!

It's not that I don't believe you Chewbacca wink but I'm going to check it out.

I'll be right here waiting for you Calli!

Callistemon Yup! Have I ever lied to you?

Are you Lee Mack?

I wasn't going to bother as I feel it is getting to be too much for me, but the way food prices are rising, I am wondering whether I will be forced to grow more potatoes not fewer this year!

Callistemon21

^Callistemon Yup! Have I ever lied to you?^

Are you Lee Mack?

lets hope she's not Bob Mortimer, he is such a successful liar

Of course I believe you and yes, you're correct, Chewbacca.
?

There's actually a hardy fuschia variety called Berry because its fruits are so abundant, large and juicy.

Cheers JJ! I think

JaneJudge

Callistemon21

Callistemon Yup! Have I ever lied to you?

Are you Lee Mack?

lets hope she's not Bob Mortimer, he is such a successful liar

But several posters thought Bob would make an excellent Prime Minister

Oh, wait a minute, isn't that a requirement of the job .....

Back to berries ??

Definitely, onion sets are in, first batch of seeds are in propagators, potatoes are chitting, raspberry and blackberry canes are sorted, strawberry plants are in and the early rhubarb is waiting to be picked ?

Oldnproud

A general question here: Doesn't it work out really, really expensive to grow everything in containers?

It's because of the cost of compost that I am going to grow even my tomatoes semi-direct (as described in one of my posts upthread) in the soil this year.

That said, I do understand that if one's main reason for growing produce is for freshness, rather than economy, the cost might be unimportant.

I may try that this year, maybe feed the beds a bit and put the tomatoes in there, the price of compost is a huge factor, especially as I wasn't able to recycle it last year as I usually do. I normally tip half the contents out onto the flower beds, and then top up with fresh, but tomato blight put an end to that. I shall grow tumbling toms in hanging baskets, they don't take an enormous amount of compost and generally grow well. We do have a lot of slugs and snails in our garden, and don't use any pesticides. I think a few tomato plants and then lots of flowers is this years plan, a jug of freshly cut flowers is a joy.

Blight doesn’t live in the soil Oldnproud I’ve reused soil/compost/grow bags for over 20 years, no problem.

I think gardening can be expensive, or relatively cheap, depending on how you choose to do it.

My best potato crops were grown in shopping bags.
A drop of wee contains nitrogen (I think) which is good for composting.
Solar lights threaded into the ivy round my door, at 99p a set.

I'd ideally love to be almost self sufficient, but it isn't going to happen in my few pots, with no land, so I'm just a dabbler.

Onions, onions and more onions! These are my most successful crop because they don't have any predators.

I also grew leeks for the first time last year and was very impressed by them, I still have one meal's worth left in the veg garden. No other b8gger seems to eat them, either!

Runner beans and courgette do quite well, too.

Apart from that my success with veg is patchy. It's a constant battle between me and the wildlife that like eating them. Did you know that rats absolutely adore carrots and will dig them up to eat them ? (and the ones the rats leave are riddled with carrot fly grubs...)

So my veg gardening really doesn't make us self sufficient or save us money, but I enjoy doing it.

I nearly always regrow the tops of things.
It's very satisfying eating the same lettuce twice.

My pots have really been neglected, so I had thought I would do away with them all.

We'll see.