Right then, it's taken me months to get round to getting this thread started but here I go. Last year I made a very poor attempt at growing a few carrots and parsnips and although I did manage to get a crop it wouldn't have fed a large mouse. The fact that I managed to grow food from the ground did inspire me to have a proper go though, and last October I began my project - to section off a part of the garden and build some raised beds for growing veg.

Mainly due to some really bad weather this project has stalled too many times to mention and I feel I need some support to finally get my finger out, especially as I gather I'll need to start sowing seeds in the next couple of months. Here's what I've done so far - which could also be considered my entire vegetable experience...

o read Vegetable Growing: Month By Month by John Harrison.

o decided to go for raised beds as I only have a relatively small area to grow and I hope that they will look aesthetically pleasing. I have a source for scaffold planks which should be helpful on cost.

o the location for the beds is against the side of my house and after initial concerns about the sunlight the area would receive I think I should be able to grow enough veg. If it’s of any use it’s also sheltered from the wind. Here are some pics of the location and what surrounds it:-





o last October after a couple of designs on paper I planned the layout of the beds with string. I also intend on have a small slabbed area where I can put a very small (6’x4’) greenhouse which I will run power to.



The workshy helper is Mini Ledge who came down with swine flu that day!

o here’s where I am currently. I would hope to have the raised beds constructed in the next couple of weeks (weather dependant) and look to filling with compost and manure, although even deciding what to grow the veg in appears to be a science.



o I will be enclosing the area with chicken wire to formally section off the area and to deter some animals. I will also be making a gate so the area is accessible from either side of the house.

Potatoes are easy, so are Marrow (if you like them); Sweetcorn is easy, too, if it is sunny.

Ask Mrs what she spends most on, and grow them

shoes and handbags?

ah lovely, last yr i did carrots spuds parsnips salads brocolli peas beans toms and really enjoyed it, the little un likes digging and planting seeds etc as well, we got her her own little 'garden' an she grew the carotts for the year.

raised beds do look better i think alhough i havnt bothered. And they also avoid the issue of digging which i have to do this weekend.

what i have learnt from last year is really to just concentrate on growing things that you dont rely on daily (pots and peas for example, u eat so many of them that you need a fiels dedicated to them) but to concentrate on things that either you dont find often in the supermarkets (or are expensive) an example maybe kale, purple brocolli. Or items that dont keep well once bought (eg beetroots, radishes also are spicy picked from the garden but i jus thought they were bland from the shops...). This way your garden can just complement your shopping rather than trying to replace it (which isnt really possible).

all in all its a good way to spend (almost every) weekend from now until october!

some of your plants will enevitably go to seed and ruin the veg (our all did when we went on hols last yr so loads of veg went to waste ) but keep some of the seeds for next years crops

Christ, I'm not the quickest updater in the world Here's a quick rundown of what's been happening in the veg garden...

In early April I bought a small greenhouse (£140 from B&Q ) and got that up. At the same time I got around to building the raised beds with scaffol planks from my uncles' haulage yard:-



The potatoies went in on 28th April - Maxine, Valor and Accord.



After all my orders from Suttons have been received I know have the following growing:-

Greenhouse

Peppers
Chillis
Tomotoes (Fantasio and Cheerybelle)
Strawberries
Lettuce
Mushrooms (B&Q in a box thing)

In beds

Potatoes (Maxine, Valor & Accord)
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts

I'm also about to start sprin onions and radishes from seed in beds if I can find any space.

Here are a couple of my most recent pics taken a couple of days ago:-

I'm well impressed. That's a very nice set up.

Put a load of seeds in my self yesterday, parsnips, swede, sprouts, sweetcorn, assorted salad leaves, carrots, runner beans and dwarf beans. Cue a cold damp spell next week.

Also added tomatoes, courgettes and strawberries to my baskets.

Good on you, The Ledge, hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of this as well as good food!

I used the rotten floorboards from my last house to make raised beds in the back garden in my last house in Stornoway - reckon I raised the value of the property a few grand, too!

I agree with what the stick said, grow stuff that is expensive in the shops - or specialist strains like fir apple potato or full-flavoured tomatoes.

I grew spinach, which tasted fantastic, and mixed salad - not something I like usually, but fresh from the garden it was delicious - both of which are quite costly in the Hebrides and tend to go off quickly as they're already quite old by the time they reach us!

Fresh herbs were great to have, too. Plant close to the door so they're easy to grab when it's raining.

I also grew carrots and onions which were great - but they are so cheap in the shops I felt that the land could have been better used for pricier things.

I tried caulis and celery but both failed. I didn't realise you had to wrap up the cauliflower in its leaves to get the flower white, and it was just too windy for the celery, which was very stringy - good for soup stocks, though.

I used seaweed and chicken crap fertiliser and the plants shot up. Make sure you label the growing areas as it can be hard to tell a spring onion shoot from a pickling onion shoot in the early days.
Also, when I went away for a week caterpillars decimated my spinach and salad crop, so I think I'll net against egg-layers next time.

Never been interested in gardening but loved 'food production' and will make sure it's high on the list of priorities come my next property. Best of luck with it!

In hindsight I realise I may be growing the wrong things, or at least the wrong amount of things. Of the three beds I've currently used I only have broccoli, brussels and potatoies growing. I may get rid of some of the broccoli and sprouts to start some other veg though.

This first year is definitely a practise year though. I have to say I do love it though - you can't beat pottering about every evening keeping the babies wattered and fed. The thing that concerns me is getting them frm a living state to producing something edible as there appears to be a skill in that and I'm as novice as a very novicy thing

Wish me luck

Maybe you could harvest the broccoli and pots early as 'baby' and 'new', so as not to waste them completely, then re-sow with something that will be ready in Autumn?

Oh, I also grew 'land cress' which was nice and bitey - just a foot square was enough to add a bit to salads every now and then.

Rhubarb was another goody - rhubarb and ginger jam is lovely!

Also, look at ways to preserve your excess crop - or choose veg that preserves well. Eating your own stuff come Christmas is a real treat.

Know what you mean about those evenings out the back - bit of weeding, bit of watering each night to keep everything happy, blackbirds singing ....
Btw, I had a lot of trouble with cats digging up the plants and shitting in the beds early on - bought a sonic cat scarer and that did the job nicely.

Top work The Ledge - It's good to have a few things in your "plot" that just come back every year - no maintenance required. We have rhubarb, gooseberries, strawberries and raspberries (mainly) - they require little or no maintenance (save shielding from the birds when laden) and they taste blinking good (and are quite expensive).

Potatoes are good in that they are easy - they taste well and store - the only downside is that they are quite land intensive (and sheap to buy).

I would get a wigwam of runner beans in as these look great! Wonderful flowers.

1 courgette plant will keep you in courgettes all Summer.

I find broccoli hard to grow - very little yield per plant and bolts easy - perhaps its more suited to Scotland.

Do not underestimate the importance of pottering and just sitting back and admiring your handiwork - perhaps the best bit!

Looks a great set up.
New potatoes dug up and cooked on the same day taste fantastic

You're doing it wrong...

Well spotted tedbull.

Hey Ledge,

That's some nice veg

Here in that London i've just got the front "garden" to work with ................. but the herbs are planted!

Things are growing

In the beds

Potatoes - I expect to harvest the first earlies next week and even bough a couple of hesian sacks today.
Brussels Sprouts - originally I had 18 plants in a bed, although have reduced this to 5 and they appear to be looking healthy.
Parsnips - I sowed parsnips earlier this week using the space where the discarded Brussels were.
Brocolli - as with the Brussels I've thinned these out as I had too many plants although still have 10.
Strawberries - I planted 6 (of 10) plants out into the beds a week ago.
Cucumber - planted out a week ago and made a frame to support the two plants.
Lettuce - planted out a couple of weeks ago. I kept about 8 of 18 plants.
Radishes - just sown on Sunday and they're already showing signs of life
Spring Onions - sown on Sunday with the radishes.

In pots/planters

Strawberries - when I took out of the greenhouse I planted some in beds and 4 in a planter.
Herbs - the corriander, oregano and basil are doing OK although I keep forgetting to water them as they're kept i a different part of the garden.

In the greenhouse

Tomatoes - two types planted into 10" pots and supported with canes.
Sweet Peppers/Chilli - 8 plants planted as per the tomatoes.


The lettuce, radishes, spring onions (no sign of), strawberries, cucumber and brocolli:-


My tatties Compare this pic to the earlier one!


The peppers and tomatoes in the greenhouse:-


And a wee extra - the old shed was rotten and my TFF divisional £1k bought me a new shed which I treated this evening. I'm hoping to have it built in the next week weather permitting:-

Looking good!

We had our first strawberries last night - you forget how good they can taste after buying from the supermarkets!

Good work Ledge & like the progress! I started a blog on my Veg plot so I could look back next year and see what I did (and what I did wrong).

http://javahart.blogspot.com/

Great blog javahart - rest assured I'll be following your progress and taking some tips. Between a diary and this thread I'm hoping to have a reference on what I should and should not be doing next year. It's amazing how hit and miss vegetable growing appears to be, I suspect a continual learning curve.

Happy growing

Ledge - very interesting thread. I decided to start growing a few veg this year - just potatoes to start with, then last weekend I planted some carrot seeds, a few herbs and tomato plants. Looking forward to seeing how they progress - the potatoes (planted a month ago) are already looking good, but not as prolific as yours!

Can anyone advise me as to when you should be looking to harvest your potato crop? Would it be about 3 months after planting?

Cheers, and good luck with the growing!

Cracking thread, Ledge. This had passed me by. Love the before and after pics, and it all seems to be going well.


It depends on the species of spud and when you planted them, j0nners. Great website here for advice:

http://www.gardeningdata.co.uk/vegetabl ... tatoes.php

If you plant in sacks or containers though, even planting now or later, and with somewhere to put the containers when it gets colder, could see you cropping around Christmas time. Lovely!

That depends what you want from them - dig them up sooner than that you will get new spuds - later big spuds.

We usually wait until they have flowered and started to die back for our main crop - and I would say that is usually a bit longer than 3 months probably nearer 4 months. Depends to an extent where you are in country too.

When you dig one up - if you like what you see - keep going! getting them out of the soil means less bugs and things too which can be a problem if you leave it too long.

On harvesting the potatoes I'm thinking of having a go in the next week, but I guess I should give it a fortnight? Incidentally when I've harvested my first earlies should I think about sowing something else in the space left for later on in the year?

I usually put my leeks in where the spuds were. Start them off tonight in deep trays in the greenhouse - you might just get there (assuming you like leeks!) - turnips, kale and spinach in the past have worked well.

I'll pick up some leek seeds on my way home later

Looking good Ledge - nice work!

I grew strawberries in the greenhouse for the first time this year. Ate them when we got back from holiday at the beginning of June. It was a real treat to have proper tasty straws so early.
Two grow bags with eight plants in each - not a huge crop, but I'll certainly do it again.
Plenty more coming along in the garden!

That is soooooooooooo true

Strawberries are one of the biggest differences when you grow you're own IMO

Thanks Jonathan and others for the tips. I'll have a look at that website now..............

Time for another update. I took these pictures on 30th June and I'm now reaping the rewards for the first time

First earlies were picked a couple of weekends ago. Had them a couple of times and they're superb:-



I also harvested my first cucumber, which was a bit wierd seeing as the rest of the crop are still very immature. The best cucumber I've ever tasted - even gave the neighbours some:-





I've started feeding the strawberries, tomatoes, chillis, peppers and cucumbers and intend on doing so every ten days. Hopefully this will see them come along a bit quicker.



The shed's also now built although there was a bit of bad news in that when I dismantled the old shed, taking away shelter from the pond, something scoffed my four fish.