Home Grown - A Project by Carl

An early spring update!

Well I finally dug up the old veg patches and moved them to their new spot on the other side of the garden. The two I had were three boards (360mm) high so I've chopped the top board off and made three beds from the initial two. Had some left over timber behind the shed so I've put together a fourth. This will give me double the amount of space to grow this year, 96 square feet :)

It's amazing how much soil and compost you need to fill a bed. For four 6x4 beds, it takes about 2000 litres to fill, which is about 3 tonnes :O I had quite a lot of soil and compost to bring over from the old beds, but I had a few trips to the shop to buy more. They're not quite full enough yet, so I'll need to pick up another 16 bags (600kg or so) to raise them up a bit. I'd love to have shallower beds and use the soil beneath them, but it's all sticky clay and is full of stones, rubble and even toys (I found a Lego crocodile at the weekend).

The blueberry plants are in their pots now, and one is happily growing away. The potatoes are in the kitchen being chitted, so I'll put them in the bags in the next week or two. This weekend I'll hopefully sow the early vegetables. I also need to put a proper gate down the side of the chicken run as one of the chickens keeps escaping past the bags that are down the side (it's always Kip, the noisy one), and I find her just wandering around the garden lol.

This year I'm planning on growing the following in the raised beds:

Onions
Carrots
Parsnip
Tomatoes
French beans
Broccoli
Cabbage (mainly for the chickens to eat)
Winter squash (not sure which variety yet)
Chillies
Bell peppers
Beetroot
Sweetcorn (and loads of it)
Peas
Swiss chard
Brussel sprouts

Plus potatoes in bags, blueberries in pots, and a selection of herbs in free spots around the garden.

At the weekend we ate our first crown prince squash from last year (as seen in this post). It's amazing how much squash you get from one squash :LOL: We had squash curry at the weekend and squash risotto last night (which was lush) and we've only used a quarter of one squash :O The rest is in the freezer, and the other whole squash is still sat happily on the kitchen table.

I'll try and take some photos at the weekend, as this is meant to be a photography project not a gardening project :LOL:
 
The chickens will love the cabbages and sprouts as if like mine were covered in grubs :eek:
 
So far they will only really eat pellets and corn, because I think that's all they're used to eating. They'll quite happily eat grass though. I've tried cabbage but they weren't that interested, so they better hurry up and learn to love it before I've got a pile for them to get through! They are starting to like porridge oats and a few bits of spinach, but that's about it so far
 
Sorry for nicking the thread Carl, but this is all your fault (also apologies for the phone shot)

The veg patch by Andy, on Flickr
 
Well pleased with the £3.99 heating strip.....but it's quite amusing as the strip isn't big enough for this tray and where the heat is more it shows.....by the tomatoes seeds shooting up over the strip.
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Sorry for nicking the thread Carl, but this is all your fault (also apologies for the phone shot)

The veg patch by Andy, on Flickr

Looks awesome Andy! :D What are you growing in the beds?

Perhaps try some kohlrabi too, Carl; it's quite an overlooked veg and something a bit different if growing your own. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/27/fearnley-whittingstall-cooking-with-kohlrabi

I originally had a longer list of veg to grow, and that was on it. But the list was a bit long really and I decided to cut it down a bit and grow a larger amount of fewer items. There's half a dozen things on my list this year that I've not grown before, and I thought any more than that would mean I'd spend all my time with my nose in books trying to figure out what I'm meant to do and when. Thanks for the recommendation though, I've not eaten kohlrabi before so I'll make sure it's on the list for next year.
 
Looks awesome Andy! :D What are you growing in the beds?

We're growing garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, leeks, carrots, petit pois, runner beans, radish, beetroot, lettuce, salad leaves & spring onions. Some will be in the raised beds and the rest strewn around the garden in pots!

I got 5 cordon fruit trees for my birthday (Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry & Damson) which are also in pots but I'm not expecting anything from them this year. Also got strawberries and raspberries. :D

We've always grown potatoes & garlic so some of the other stuff is a bit of an experiment! Have to say, though, the first batch of radishes are coming up lovely! (y)
 
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Some broad beans might be good for next year's list too, Carl. If you sow late October/early November they'll overwinter and should give you a crop around May/early June time. I've found the overwintering seems to make the plant shoots tougher and less susceptible to blackfly too, plus you'll be able to get the finished plants out of the ground early enough to sow another crop such as lettuce for summer salads. Broad beans are nice with parsley sauce, served with gammon steak or a bacon chop.
 
Some broad beans might be good for next year's list too, Carl. If you sow late October/early November they'll overwinter and should give you a crop around May/early June time. I've found the overwintering seems to make the plant shoots tougher and less susceptible to blackfly too, plus you'll be able to get the finished plants out of the ground early enough to sow another crop such as lettuce for summer salads. Broad beans are nice with parsley sauce, served with gammon steak or a bacon chop.

One of the first things I remember making as a student (that was worth remembering) was gammon steak, mash, broad beans and a white sauce, made on a double gas ring in a shared bedsit. Sadly all bought stuff, the milk from the rectangular "cow" by the corner shop! Great meal though.
 
I bought some tomato plants from them last year when they had a similar offer. Took months for them to arrive and they looked a bit sorry for themselves, but they perked up pretty quickly and gave me a lot of little tomatoes. Was great having so many different types to eat.



Bottling your gin today Janet? :D :beer:

Don't buy from Thompson and Morgan....I wished I'd checked the net as my pear tree is well overdue and they don't reply to emails and their phone is dead and rip off charges if you do get through.....I'll give them 3 more days and will open a dispute with paypal.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.thompson-morgan.com
 
When did you order it Brian? My tomato plants took about two months to arrive last year, and I was just about giving up hope. Plants were ok though, gave me some nice little tomatoes to snack on whilst pottering about in the garden lol.
 
I took advantage of a magazine offer for some freebies from T&M a few weeks ago, only paid for delivery. Everything arrived in less than a week. Sorry!
 
When did you order it Brian? My tomato plants took about two months to arrive last year, and I was just about giving up hope. Plants were ok though, gave me some nice little tomatoes to snack on whilst pottering about in the garden lol.

20th March and on the order said it would be sent within 6 days.....the problem is: - it is a bare root pear tree and it's getting late in the year for planting as we are having warm weather and my other pear tree will blossom soon.
 
I took advantage of a magazine offer for some freebies from T&M a few weeks ago, only paid for delivery. Everything arrived in less than a week. Sorry!

Well my seeds came quick too, H'mm other than seeds they are not reliable o_O compared to other places I have dealt with.
 
Sorry to hear you've been let down, as you say, it's getting very late to plant bare rooted trees now, if it does arrive keep it well watered (but don't drown it!) during the growing season as it will need all the help it can get. Perhaps try Suttons or Mr Fothergill's instead next time?
 
20th March and on the order said it would be sent within 6 days.....the problem is: - it is a bare root pear tree and it's getting late in the year for planting as we are having warm weather and my other pear tree will blossom soon.
If you ordered on the 20th and they said posted within 6 days it’s only the 29th now. Some 2nd class post/ couriers don’t deliver that quickly.
 
Well this thread has inspired me and my wife to have a go at this too. She has been very keen to grow things for a while now as some of our friends do, so I'm making a trip out to the local B&Q tomorrow to get some timber to make a nice big planter.

We have an odd arrangement for our 'garden', a small paved courtyard area in a shared garden area for 3 houses. This space always gets neglected over the winter particularly as our neighbours couldn't care less about their sections and use them as rubbish dumps, and it does rub off sometimes. Even though we try and make ours look nice with pots and plants it does get neglected, but only last weekend we had our annual de-weed and bramble cutting afternoon.

I'm going to knock up a 2m x 0.8m x 0.4m deep planter with a solid base as it's concrete paving, I've done similar on a smaller scale for herbs a few years ago and my handiwork has held up thus far. I'm not sure what we're going to grow yet, my wife is doing some reading on it and is going to ask our green fingered friends.

Sorry to thread hi-jack Carl. But thanks to everyone too for sharing this stuff.
 
FWIW I’ve always had a good experience with Thompson and Morgan.
 
If you ordered on the 20th and they said posted within 6 days it’s only the 29th now. Some 2nd class post/ couriers don’t deliver that quickly.

Well they used the word "dispatched" in 6 days..... a bad delay in the post is not good news for bare rooted plants, so no post today and next post will be 1st :eek:
But if they don't reply to my three emails and I couldn't phone them then I get suspicious that their system is jammed up either because of not enough staff or too many complaints.
 
I can understand your concerns there, Brian. You might want to have a look at the 'Distance selling regulations' which I believe can allow 14 days for you to return an unsatisfactory item. I'm not sure if plants/trees are included, but if I purchased a bare rooted tree/shrub/bush or hedging whips on line and it/ they arrived in such a condition whereby I believed they were reasonably unlikely to survive, I'd be straight on to the supplier to arrange a return and full refund.
 
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We're growing garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, leeks, carrots, petit pois, runner beans, radish, beetroot, lettuce, salad leaves & spring onions. Some will be in the raised beds and the rest strewn around the garden in pots!

I got 5 cordon fruit trees for my birthday (Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry & Damson) which are also in pots but I'm not expecting anything from them this year. Also got strawberries and raspberries. :D

We've always grown potatoes & garlic so some of the other stuff is a bit of an experiment! Have to say, though, the first batch of radishes are coming up lovely! (y)

That's brilliant, Janet. Loads of variety there! Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the strawberries as we're building our (small) strawberry bed this afternoon.

Well this thread has inspired me and my wife to have a go at this too. She has been very keen to grow things for a while now as some of our friends do, so I'm making a trip out to the local B&Q tomorrow to get some timber to make a nice big planter.

We have an odd arrangement for our 'garden', a small paved courtyard area in a shared garden area for 3 houses. This space always gets neglected over the winter particularly as our neighbours couldn't care less about their sections and use them as rubbish dumps, and it does rub off sometimes. Even though we try and make ours look nice with pots and plants it does get neglected, but only last weekend we had our annual de-weed and bramble cutting afternoon.

I'm going to knock up a 2m x 0.8m x 0.4m deep planter with a solid base as it's concrete paving, I've done similar on a smaller scale for herbs a few years ago and my handiwork has held up thus far. I'm not sure what we're going to grow yet, my wife is doing some reading on it and is going to ask our green fingered friends.

Sorry to thread hi-jack Carl. But thanks to everyone too for sharing this stuff.

Glad to hear it Craig! Looking forward to seeing some photos of your work. My favourite vegetables that I grew last year would probably be tomatoes, peas and sweetcorn, so I'd definitely recommend those if you're stuck :)
 
Just a few pics for now, as I had a roll to finish in the R3A last weekend.

These were taken when we were filling the beds.

F207S28.jpg

F207S37.jpg

Kip trying to "help". Didn't take her long to figure out that us digging up soil meant lots of worms for her to eat. After that it was impossible to keep her out of the way!

F207S35.jpg
 
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I can understand your concerns there, Brian. You might want to have a look at the 'Distance selling regulations' which I believe can allow 14 days for you to return an unsatisfactory item. I'm not sure if plants/trees are included, but if I purchased a bare rooted tree/shrub/bush or hedging whips on line and it/ they arrived in such a condition whereby I believed they were reasonably unlikely to survive, I'd be straight on to the supplier to arrange a return and full refund.

Well assuming cheapest delivery would exclude sat and sun and if no delivery on monday then I'll get paypal onto them.
 
Just a plug for fig trees. Grow easily from cuttings so free if you can find a tree. Brown Turkey is completely hardy and tastes so much better than the (unripe) ones you find in shops. Grow in pots or in the ground — train against some of that fencing.
There was a thread here: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/any-gardening-experts-on-the-forum.683373/#post-8235423

Edit to add reference.

Agree I've had mine for about 3 years but I'll have to study mine as I did what they suggested and planted in a large container in the ground as they say you just get roots at the expense of fruit....but last year was rubbish and am not sure whether they need a massive amount of water or I should thin the growing figs out.
Lucky the birds haven't found out that they are edible although last year we had two parrots in the garden (they might like fruit) and I'm suspicious they chopped off all the small growing pears........but think the magpies, kites or buzzards have driven them away as no parrots this year.
 
Just a few pics for now, as I had a roll to finish in the R3A last weekend.

These were taken when we were filling the beds.

View attachment 240972

View attachment 240974

Kip trying to "help". Didn't take her long to figure out that us digging up soil meant lots of worms for her to eat. After that it was impossible to keep her out of the way!

View attachment 240973

In the past I just used to cut the eye off a nice shop potato and plant that...but there must be a reason why people buy seed potatoes h'mm probably because they are not cheap skates like me :D
 
In the past I just used to cut the eye off a nice shop potato and plant that...but there must be a reason why people buy seed potatoes h'mm probably because they are not cheap skates like me :D
I just buy Sainsburys Vivaldi Anya spuds and plant in containers.

Edit: potato variety. Brain fart. Anya are exclusive to Sainsburys and are a cross between Pink Fir Apple and Desiree. In the shop I notice the early ones come from Cornwall and work their way North through the season.
 
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Agree I've had mine for about 3 years but I'll have to study mine as I did what they suggested and planted in a large container in the ground as they say you just get roots at the expense of fruit....but last year was rubbish and am not sure whether they need a massive amount of water or I should thin the growing figs out.
Lucky the birds haven't found out that they are edible although last year we had two parrots in the garden (they might like fruit) and I'm suspicious they chopped off all the small growing pears........but think the magpies, kites or buzzards have driven them away as no parrots this year.
Yes, containing the roots is the official method. My original fig in in a 18” square plastic pot but long ago pierce the bottom and rooted through into the ground - probably very poor soils and next to the SE house wall. A couple of others in largish pots that get watered. Another I planted directly in the garden about 3 years ago, no root restriction, partly to screen a shed in a fairly shady position.they all fruited well last year.
I haven’t tried this but there is an interesting YouTube video putting cuttings in a nearly sealed ziplock bag which I think I’ll try. I like figs, as you may suspect ;) see
View: https://youtu.be/30nPgCJdNrM
 
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Yes, containing the roots is the official method. My original fig in in a 18” square plastic pot but long ago pierce the bottom and rooted through into the ground - probably very poor soils and next to the SE house wall. A couple of others in largish pots that get watered. Another I planted directly in the garden about 3 years ago, no root restriction, partly to screen a shed in a fairly shady position.they all fruited well last year.
I haven’t tried this but there is an interesting YouTube video putting cuttings in a nearly sealed ziplock bag which I think I’ll try. I like figs, as you may suspect ;) see
View: https://youtu.be/30nPgCJdNrM

I'll take a cutting and put in a pot and see if it prefers somewhere else in the garden as maybe the fig tree although sheltered is in ground sucked dry by the hedge roots.
First planted 4 years ago
CNV00020-600px.jpg

and if you have room a greengage is sweet and juicy
CNV00021-600px.jpg
 
I'll take a cutting and put in a pot and see if it prefers somewhere else in the garden as maybe the fig tree although sheltered is in ground sucked dry by the hedge roots.
First planted 4 years ago
View attachment 240984

and if you have room a greengage is sweet and juicy
View attachment 240985
Definitely something wrong with your fig I think. In mine planted in the ground in a shady spot has got maybe 20+ times the growth of that.I have poor slightly alkaline soil and there is broke rock a spade’s depth down. If I accidentally leave the hose running all night in dry weather (as I did once) the ground is not even damp around it!
Could be the roots are going round and round? Anyway, cuttings the way to go, good luck!
 
Could be the roots are going round and round?

Well the shot was when first planted and it's about 3 times the height now. But it does seem illogical going by the recommendation to plant in a container as the lateral feeding roots have no where to go eventually and if it has a main root (taproot) which is going through the hole at the bottom of the container that won't be much use as I'm in an area where you can only go so far down before you hit solid gravel.
 
Well the shot was when first planted and it's about 3 times the height now. But it does seem illogical going by the recommendation to plant in a container as the lateral feeding roots have no where to go eventually and if it has a main root (taproot) which is going through the hole at the bottom of the container that won't be much use as I'm in an area where you can only go so far down before you hit solid gravel.
What I was thinking of (it’s happen to me but is a known thing) is that sometimes a trees roots are going round in the original container and if not spread out a bit when planted in the ground they have a mental breakdown :) and grow in a tight circle. Very unlikely to be your problem, more likely lack of water or some other thing.
 
I'll be watching this thread more now. After the initial fascination with the veg photos, the idea of growing veg has been festering in the back of my mind. So I've just built up two 6x4 veg beds surrounded by timber but using the earth underneath after removing the turf to a reasonable depth, rather than lining the beds and having higher walls. I'm building up a compost layer today, and will think about what to plant over the next week or so. Not having done this ever before, I want to start modestly with things I can't kill too easily. I planted a number of trees (pear, plum, apple) around the garden and have 5 other patio pot mini ones also starting (all planted a few months ago), but to be honest they were more to attract birds into the garden than for the fruit ourselves!
 
What I was thinking of (it’s happen to me but is a known thing) is that sometimes a trees roots are going round in the original container and if not spread out a bit when planted in the ground they have a mental breakdown :) and grow in a tight circle. Very unlikely to be your problem, more likely lack of water or some other thing.

I'll take a cutting and grow another one, in the greenhouse, in a pot.
 
and will think about what to plant over the next week or so

Well although a hobby I've always decided to grow what's expensive in the shops and don't bother with things like carrots, potatoes and onions etc....also don't bother with sprouts, cabbages and similar as I believe in growing green and not using chemicals and they always end up with loads of grubs (probably the pesky white butterfly).
Anyway enjoy your choice for what to grow.
 
I'll take a cutting and grow another one, in the greenhouse, in a pot.
Looking at your fig photo you have several ties round it — not cutting into the bark is it?
 
Blimey, it looks like we might have to start another forum just for the veg growers. :D
 
Well although a hobby I've always decided to grow what's expensive in the shops and don't bother with things like carrots, potatoes and onions etc....also don't bother with sprouts, cabbages and similar as I believe in growing green and not using chemicals and they always end up with loads of grubs (probably the pesky white butterfly).
Anyway enjoy your choice for what to grow.
Yes, regarding expensive, but there’s also taste. I always grow some tomatoes because I just like the plants and the smell of them but also the flavour freshly picked is much better than from the shops. Also I usually grow continental varieties that are mostly not available in the shops, the other thing I grow are climbing (French not Runners) beans which never seem to get pests once the get going (mice and slugs get them if sown outdoors) and you just can’t buy similar in the shops and freshly picked the flavour is great.
 
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