Home gardening - "Grow your Own" thread.

Just shifted the broad bean plants from the greenhouse to the veg plot.

Awaiting devastation from slugs/snails/pigeons etc. :ROFLMAO:

Experimenting with the runners - started some in the GH and some planted directly, hopefully we will have some sort of succession harvest rather than overwhelm!!

No signs of life from the asparagus although I only vaguely remember where they are!

Back to work after a nice interlude.
 
Now the playoffs have gone, can concentrate on this.

Asparagus doing well and some spears have doubled in length and grown over 3 inches in just the last couple of days!
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ljs said:
Now the playoffs have gone, can concentrate on this.

Asparagus doing well and some spears have doubled in length and grown over 3 inches in just the last couple of days!
c7822cc40977fbc885a82be589550378.jpg
Click to expand...

Mine have just broken the surface, nowhere near your pro-league!! :)
 
Interesting thread. I moved House last year and have got to effectively start again with the garden. So tips on here will come in handy.
In the past, I’ve stuck to low maintenance / high yield crops like potatoes, carrots and onions. Also herbs that require no maintenance at all like Bay, Rosemery and mint. But now I’ve got a bit more space, I would like to get more adventurous.
This year will be mostly taken up with actually building the garden. With a view to start growing next year. Although i will get some herbs potted up shortly.
Are there any other recommendations for low maintenance herbs?
 
Oslernorth said:
Interesting thread. I moved House last year and have got to effectively start again with the garden. So tips on here will come in handy.
In the past, I’ve stuck to low maintenance / high yield crops like potatoes, carrots and onions. Also herbs that require no maintenance at all like Bay, Rosemery and mint. But now I’ve got a bit more space, I would like to get more adventurous.
This year will be mostly taken up with actually building the garden. With a view to start growing next year. Although i will get some herbs potted up shortly.
Are there any other recommendations for low maintenance herbs?
Click to expand...

Sage, Chives, Thyme (assuming somebody else doesn't kill them) and Tarragon as I do very little to nothing bar a little watering if a dry period. They are all thriving, obviously bar the Thyme. And I'm definitely not good at gardening.
 
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We grow quite a lot of stuff because the Perth climate suits it. A great omen for the upcoming games is the fact that our quinces are starting to yellow-up nicely:
Screen Shot 2022-04-21 at 3.30.28 pm.png
and for the next 2 games we need a massive pair:
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Good to see this dweeby thread emerge. We may have something else to discuss after the 30th but if not we can sit and admire the size of each other's cucumbers (ooh missus).

We got an allotment in 2021 after home-working allowed us more time on it. With an upcoming house move, I'm afraid it will be going but we will be acquiring a bigger garden to get started in. From being more engaged with home growing, you learn some things are fool proof and bomb proof - tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, strawberries, some things are grown to last into the winter months (Crown Prince squashes did well. I still have one stored in the cupboard) and others are temperamental - we had no real luck with raspberries or gooseberries last year.

A few bits of my advice for what they're worth.

1. Grow things that are expensive to buy in the supermarket. A 200g box of gooseberries for example will probably cost £2.50. Grow your own and you save there massively since one plant will give you loads. It's why I have never really bothered with growing onions and garlic that cost pennies whereas blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are extortionate in the supermarket (and you end up with crap 'Elsanta' variety strawberries too).

2. Grow varieties that you wouldn't find elsewhere. Commercial growing is for high yield and therefore profit so the variety types tend to be limited. Home growing is for your own pleasure. We've grown yellow disc patty pan squashes recently alongside our regular courgettes and they produce fewer fruits but with a different texture so offer something different. Websites like 'Plants of Distinction' sell loads of heritage seeds for fruit and veg that has fallen out of favour so you can find all sorts of unusual and different varieties that are unviable for a farmer to grow but easily produce enough food to satisfy a family.

3. If you have surplus stuff, see if a food bank will take it. Our allotment committee joined a collective of allotments who provided surplus veg to a local food bank or either divvied it out or made some home cooked dishes for people. Well worth doing if you can.

Oh, and for the city dwellers, Rectory Farm's asparagus patch opens tomorrow too. Easily the cheapest place to pick asparagus around Oxford.
 
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unification said:
Good to see this dweeby thread emerge. We may have someone else to discuss after the 30th but if not we can sit and admire the size of each other's cucumbers (ooh missus).

We got an allotment in 2021 after home-working allowed us more time on it. With an upcoming house move, I'm afraid it will be going but we will be acquiring a bigger garden to get started in. From being more engaged with home growing, you learn some things are fool proof and bomb proof - tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, strawberries, some things are grown to last into the winter months (Crown Prince squashes did well. I still have one stored in the cupboard) and others are temperamental - we had no real luck with raspberries or gooseberries last year.

A few bits of my advice for what they're worth.

1. Grow things that are expensive to buy in the supermarket. A 200g box of gooseberries for example will probably cost £2.50. Grow your own and you save there massively since one plant will give you loads. It's why I have never really bothered with growing onions and garlic that cost pennies whereas blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are extortionate in the supermarket (and you end up with crap 'Elsanta' variety strawberries too).

2. Grow varieties that you wouldn't find elsewhere. Commercial growing is for high yield and therefore profit so the variety types tend to be limited. Home growing is for your own pleasure. We've grown yellow disc patty pan squashes recently alongside our regular courgettes and they produce fewer fruits but with a different texture so offer something different. Websites like 'Plants of Distinction' sell loads of heritage seeds for fruit and veg that has fallen out of favour so you can find all sorts of unusual and different varieties that are unviable for a farmer to grow but easily produce enough food to satisfy a family.

3. If you have surplus stuff, see if a food bank will take it. Our allotment committee joined a collective of allotments who provided surplus veg to a local food bank or either divvied it out or made some home cooked dishes for people. Well worth doing if you can.

Oh, and for the city dwellers, Rectory Farm's asparagus patch opens tomorrow too. Easily the cheapest place to pick asparagus around Oxford.
Click to expand...
Yes we find little point in growing things that take ages (asparagus for example) when you can pick up a pack in the supermarket for £1
 
eaststandboy said:
Yes we find little point in growing things that take ages (asparagus for example) when you can pick up a pack in the supermarket for £1
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If it was £4 a pack the Eastern European bloke living in a mouldy caravan in Worcestershire might get a better standard of living. ;)

Our cherry tree looks exceptional this year, gooseberry bush seems to improve year on year.
 
eaststandboy said:
Yes we find little point in growing things that take ages (asparagus for example) when you can pick up a pack in the supermarket for £1
Click to expand...
Planted two year old crowns last year and picking spears now. Will cut about half of them this year and all of them from next year onwards and the plants are meant to last up to 20 years. Also a low maintenance crop. Took about 8 spears at the weekend and another 10 today with loads more still coming through.
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ljs said:
Do you grow it? I just collect it from the wild.
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Yes, as I can't bothered to hunt it out around here in my spare time. Planted it years ago and have done nothing with it since so no hardship. When it finishes then the wildflowers for the pollinators come up in the same patch. Works lovely like.
 
Don't buy a young Marjoram plant at nesting time as the Starlings have absolutely destroyed it with one stem remaining. :oops::LOL:
 
Things have suddenly come on a lot over the last few days but we really need some rain.
Peas & various beans looking well. Cabbages (various) & Kale plants had 100% germination rate, and I might become a local Swede dealer if I don`t thin them out PDQ.
Moved the strawberries last year so not expecting much/anything this year.
Gooseberries & blackcurrants are looking good, and the cherry tree looks like a snowstorm.
Its rather therapeutic as well just pottering around on a lovely Spring day.
 
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