Looking for garden ideas

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by jennyjj01 »

Frnc wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 4:44 pm Awesome, decided to do a raised bed version, ordered a 1 sq m kit and 200 litres of compost. Just got to decide what to plant and buy seeds or whatever. If I get into it I can add another one next year. Will fork the lawn a bit and put cardboard down first.
Yayyyyy. two newbies hitting the ground at more or less the same time. Let's keep comparing notes

Tell us about your sq Metre kit? . I see some places that sell premade planters with hinges on the corners. Remarkably the exact same as PlumbFit deliver packing crates.

I have some seeds planted and struggling, indoors, but you are only about a week behind me. Hoping my next two planters are in place by Friday, weather permitting.

As an abject newbie, I solidly recommend Swiss Chard and Beetroot. They are SOOOOO easy to get a good crop. Tonight, I cooked with one of the 4 leeks that I neglected since last summer :) Onions and leeks seem to take forever forever to grow!

While out today, i picked up a certain gardening magazine GN. ( which i daren't advertise) which was only £2.99 and included SIX! packs of seeds, Four of which were ideal newbie crops. Plus there were articles pitched to us small plot newbies. Previous gardening mags have been silly expensive and featured free seeds of whatever they wanted rid of :(

Beggar me if it saved me a massive mistake immediately: Peat compost and Peat free coir compost are not particularly nutritious. I had that all wrong! That will colour my decision when I seek out a car full of compost tomorrow, probably Wickes or B&M. Probably a mix of 1 Topsoil to 2 Compost. Maybe add some B&M bagged manure or soil improver, something with fertilizer qualities. Soil and Compost are stupidly dear from garden centres.

I'll race you from seed to plate!
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jansman
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Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by jansman »

As an aside,last year I grew potatoes under straw ,ala Ruth Stout.I have a lot of used straw,( fowls and rabbits. There is a bit of manure in it ,so it really should be composted.However, I covered a bed with a thin layer,watered the bejasus out of it,laid seed spuds on it,covered with a good layer,kept watering…and they grew. :D The yield was moderate,but it took no work.Still got lots of straw…
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Medusa
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Location: UK

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by Medusa »

We grow potatoes in bags, the first year we planted them in compost and didn't get a great result. since then we have grown them in a mix of mostly topsoil with a bit of compost and some chicken muck pellets and moved them to an area with more sunlight and got a much better result. We harvested the last 3 bags of our main crop this weekend, delicious! Our garden is not huge and so we are mostly container and raised bed gardeners but have an amazing dwarf root stock apple tree which gives us 30-40 apples per year in a container, eaters but we tend just to stew them anyway. We do well with broccoli in the raised beds and carrots in a more shaded area, garlic grows well in containers as do onions, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants and beans. We were gifted a Bramley apple tree 2 years ago, but couldn't understand why it wasn't fruiting and after some research found out that it is a triploid and requires another tree in the same group to pollinate it. We bought one this week and are hoping for more success. We cannot grow decent cauliflowers at all so for us it has been mostly trial and error, but we love it!
Growing old disgracefully!
GillyBee
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by GillyBee »

I tried the potatoes under straw system but had a nasty shock when I was the only allotment holder to get my potatoes frosted one night. Apparently the light colour of the straw means less heat is kept overnight compared with dark earth.
Frnc
Posts: 3182
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by Frnc »

jennyjj01 wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 6:10 pm
Tell us about your sq Metre kit? .

I have some seeds planted and struggling, indoors, but you are only about a week behind me. Hoping my next two planters are in place by Friday, weather permitting.

As an abject newbie, I solidly recommend Swiss Chard and Beetroot. They are SOOOOO easy to get a good crop. Tonight, I cooked with one of the 4 leeks that I neglected since last summer :) Onions and leeks seem to take forever forever to grow!

While out today, i picked up a certain gardening magazine GN. ( which i daren't advertise) which was only £2.99 and included SIX! packs of seeds, Four of which were ideal newbie crops. Plus there were articles pitched to us small plot newbies. Previous gardening mags have been silly expensive and featured free seeds of whatever they wanted rid of :(

Beggar me if it saved me a massive mistake immediately: Peat compost and Peat free coir compost are not particularly nutritious. I had that all wrong! That will colour my decision when I seek out a car full of compost tomorrow, probably Wickes or B&M. Probably a mix of 1 Topsoil to 2 Compost. Maybe add some B&M bagged manure or soil improver, something with fertilizer qualities. Soil and Compost are stupidly dear from garden centres.

I'll race you from seed to plate!
Ok, my raised bed kit is a [am I allowed to say the make?] RAISED GROW BED, £34.80 free delivery. Recycled black plastic. I don't know if it's food grade but the same one is sold by the compost shop so I'll assume it's ok.
Compost I ordered: 2 x coco Peat Free Organic Coir Compost - 5kg Block, Expands 70 Litres of Premium Compost, £14.99 each free delivery.
Plus this [am I allowed to say where from?]: Soil conditioner organic and vegan friendly 50L compost mulch £13.99 free delivery.
I also ordered some seed potatoes £5.99 free delivery from a Scottish seed potatoes company. Ordered some categorised as first early I think, you get them quicker, lower yield but less prone to disease. You can grow them in a raised bed, you just have to pile a bit of compost on top of any potatoes near the surface.
Not gonna fork the lawn, Dowding reckons no need.
So, I just need to do some research and order some seeds. I don't like beetroot. I fancy some beans, carrots, onions, lettuce, cauliflower, and, can you grow peas? I love peas. You could live off that mix, just about. Swiss chard sounds OK though, I'll probably give that a try.
Should I be adding soil as well?
Race is on!!
I'll have a look for that magazine, thanks.
Last edited by Frnc on Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
Frnc
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Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by Frnc »

GillyBee wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 7:05 am I tried the potatoes under straw system but had a nasty shock when I was the only allotment holder to get my potatoes frosted one night. Apparently the light colour of the straw means less heat is kept overnight compared with dark earth.
Dark colours absorb heat during the day obviously, but I would have thought that at night when it's dark and cold it makes no difference. Maybe it's partly down to the structure - the cold air can probably get into the straw a lot easier as there's more air. Same if the soil/compost is too loose. I did get told to compact it when I planted some anti-intruder bushes at the end of my garden, to protect from frost. Also Dowding was walking on his no-dig, to firm it up.
Last edited by Frnc on Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
Frnc
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Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by Frnc »

sorry, seem to have duplicated a post somehow and don't know how to delete
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by jennyjj01 »

Frnc wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:15 am
jennyjj01 wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 6:10 pm
Tell us about your sq Metre kit? .
I'll race you from seed to plate!
Ok, my raised bed kit is a [am I allowed to say the make?] RAISED GROW BED, £34.80 free delivery. Recycled black plastic. I don't know if it's food grade but the same one is sold by the compost shop so I'll assume it's ok.
Compost I ordered: 2 x coco Peat Free Organic Coir Compost - 5kg Block, Expands 70 Litres of Premium Compost, £14.99 each free delivery.
Plus this [am I allowed to say where from?]: Soil conditioner organic and vegan friendly 50L compost mulch £13.99 free delivery.
I also ordered some seed potatoes £5.99 free delivery from a Scottish seed potatoes company. Ordered some categorised as first early I think, you get them quicker, lower yield but less prone to disease. You can grow them in a raised bed, you just have to pile a bit of compost on top of any potatoes near the surface.
Not gonna fork the lawn, Dowding reckons no need.
So, I just need to do some research and order some seeds. I don't like beetroot. I fancy some beans, carrots, onions, lettuce, cauliflower, and, can you grow peas? I love peas. You could live off that mix, just about. Swiss chard sounds OK though, I'll probably give that a try.
Should I be adding soil as well?
Race is on!!
I'll have a look for that magazine, thanks.
I don't know if you are allowed to say. I expect so, but I know some outlinks are frowned on.
You went long life, expensive * kit, which compares to my blagged pallet home build lash up. I've given instructions to cut corners on construction quality 😀 last planter used a hundred quid of decking. These will only have nice decking on the most visible side. Last night I downloaded and read a pretty good book on no dig. Cover to cover by 1àm 😀 will ping you a link.. Actually your plastic kit sounds great value. Send me a link?
Just been to b&m, Wickes and local garden centres and checked various compost prices. Will probably go for a mix something like 2 topsoil to 2 general purpose compost to 1 farmyard manure. A bit of a cheapskate I'll try to pick out compromise value for money stuff based on cost per litre. I will avoid peat and coir after reading they are nutrient poor.

Spuds... I read they need full sunlight.
Peas and beans are supposedly dead easy and as a vertical crop will use little space. I'm not big on eating greens but Swiss chard sauted with garlic and butter is to die for. Also a spinach substitute if you like spinach. Grows like crazy. Photos to follow. I'll show you mine if you show me yours 😀
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Frnc
Posts: 3182
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by Frnc »

Damn, though the cat problem had gone when next door moved, but found three deposits today. Got to find a way to deter them. I used to have some ultrasonic things with lights, but I can't find them and they weren't much use anyway. I've read all sorts, but the thought of them using my veg patch as a litter tray is terrifying and none of the ideas I've read sounds very reliable. One of the best I've read is to put a litter tray out for them so they go there. Would have to be covered. Another one that's not bad is a motion detector with a loud alarm and it connects to a hose to fire water. One drawdack is they tend to go off when it's sunny. Another is covering around the bed without over-watering the actual bed. They have about a 120° arc. A physical barrier like chicken wire might be better but of course you don't want a load of faff in order to do any gardening.
Frnc
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Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: Looking for garden ideas

Post by Frnc »

jennyjj01 wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 3:57 pm I will avoid peat and coir after reading they are nutrient poor.

Spuds... I read they need full sunlight.
Peas and beans are supposedly dead easy and as a vertical crop will use little space. I'm not big on eating greens but Swiss chard sauted with garlic and butter is to die for. Also a spinach substitute if you like spinach. Grows like crazy. Photos to follow. I'll show you mine if you show me yours 😀
Peat is also bad for the planet (I mean digging it up out of the ground, it stores loads of CO2 if it's wet). I'll look into what nutriets I need to add as I did order a lot of coir. Couldn't face carrying loads of 50 kg bags. Peas and beans growing vertically sounds ideal! Swiss chard definitely on the menu, so to speak.