Growing your own veg

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16024

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Looked for previous threads but couldn't find any related. Has anyone got a vegetable plot in their gardens. I would love to start and figure this is probably the best time to start digging, planting etc. Anyone out there any tips (area required, best choices to plant, etc). Any help appreciated.
 
Hi 16024
Congrats on even contemplating a veggie patch ... well worth the hard work. I started small ... a few lettuces/scallions/herbs.

I've upgraded to a full patch this year ... space is not an issue for me so I've started digging out the beds ... 4ft wide by about 16ft long. I intend making about 3 or 4 of them in total to rotate the crops in. If you don't go any wider than 4 foot you don't have to worry about trampeling on the beds ... you will be able to reach the middle from both sides. I am edging the beds with brick ... because I have access to some, but timber would work well too. Make sure the paths around/between is wide enough for a wheelbarrow. If you are planting salad crops make sure you have access to a hose ... they will need watering in the summer.

Choosing the position is also important. It should be sunny but sheltered. Don't have any trees overhanging the patch.

Do your best to improve the soil before you start. If you have heavy clay dig is some grit. (not so important for potatoes which will grow just about anywhere) Most importantly dig is a good compost/manure before you plant ... veggies are very greedy.

Only plant vegetables that you like ... there is no point planting courgettes if you can't stand the taste of them! Don't plant too much ... salad veggies will run to seed very quickly so you should sow seeds little and often. I found the cut and come again lettuce (loose leaved) was brilliant.

The weather is pretty good at the moment so it's a good time to get digging. If there is heavy rain forcast remember to cover the plot so it doesn't get waterlogged before you get to plant in it.

Good luck ... if you need any more advice, I'll be glad to help.
 
Thanks Henny Penny

Thanks for the informed reply. I will probably be picking your brain again some time soon. One further question if you please. I never knew there was so many different types of seed for the same veg. How do you go about choosing which is the best to plant?
 
I'm also planning on growing my own veg.....however, for my first year I am planning on growing in containers...just to see how I get on. There are lots of edible delicious things you can grow in containers (strawberries, tomatoes, garlic, potatoes etc) apparently and I am even going to plant a few lettuces in the flower border to see how they do. Might save me a bit of heartache!!!
 
There are plenty of books and magazines you can buy to help you along. I enjoy Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Cookbook. It does have receipes in it but also details on how he started out growing all his own on a smallholding in Dorset. It's a good read and he gives recommendations for a few other books he found helpful.

Check the gardening forum on boards.ie as well, there was a discussion on this topic not so long ago.

FWIW the last edition of Organic Matters had a run-down from three different vegetable producers on the seeds they had used during the past year and how they did.
 
Hi all ... to answer your queries ... rabbits were a nucience ... digging up all my bulbs etc ... but since we acquired a couple of cats it's not really a problem. You do need to bury the chickenwire fence ... little blighters burrow under it.
Choosing the vegetables to plant is a matter of trial and error. I pick mine for taste rather than appearance. Disease resistance is also very important ... no point growing veggies to spray them with chemicals. You won't believe the taste of the veg ... especially salads ... the shop bought stuff will never look the same. It's amazing that in about 3 weeks the lettuce has turned from a tiny seed into a lettuce ... it's very satisfying.
This link to gardeners world might be useful. [broken link removed]
As regards containers, I think there is a lot of work in watering them which I'm too lazy to do ... but for strawberries and similar soft fruits they work well ... keeping the fruit clean. The bigger the container the slower it is to dry out ... and remember you do have to water it even when it rains. You can grow potatoes in a dustbin ... Helen Dillon did this on Garden Heaven once ... it worked really well. It was very easy to earth up the potatoes.
Another good tip was to sow seeds in old gutters and when the seedlings are big enough to go into the ground just slide them into a trench ... saves disturbing the roots etc.
 
Just wondering if there are any tips to avoid spraying vegetables? I don't want to spray but I also don't want plant diseases. Thanks
 
Your soil preparation depends somewhat on what you're planning to grow. If you're planning on growing carrots, you don't want to add a lot of manure to the soil as it results in lots of top growth, and split carrots. With carrots, you actually want a relatively poor soil so that the effort goes into growing the carrot rather than the tops.
 
june said:
Just wondering if there are any tips to avoid spraying vegetables? I don't want to spray but I also don't want plant diseases. Thanks
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Grow a good mix of different crops from the different families e.g. brassicas, root crops, legumes etc. By avoiding over-specialisation you make it less likely you'll be decimated if and when the nasties inevitably attack.

Give each plant enough space and light - overcrowding your crops reduces air circulation, which promotes fungal diseases, and lack of light makes your crops spindly and weak.

Rotate your crops if at all possible so that you leave a minimum of three years before a vegetable family is grown in the same spot again - this not only prevents against a build-up of soil pests and diseases, it also prevents the nutrients in the soil from depleting - each family has different nutrient needs, so you don't have the same nutrients being used every year.

Don't overfeed, particularly with nitrogen-rich fertilisers - this promotes fast, sappy growth, which is just too tempting to the neighbourhood slugs and greenfly!

Inter-grow flowers like marigolds among your crops - these encourage things like ladybirds and hoverfly, which will strongly curtail the numbers of nasties.

Grow vegetables that are suited to your particular climate. Ask some neighbours etc. or if you live rurally, see what local farmers are growing. If it grows well for them, chances are it will grow well for you.

Above all, don't worry - you're going to have pests and diseases, even the most aggressive spraying programme won't fully protect you. But by growing a good variety of plants, inter-cropping with flowers, rotating your crops annually, and encouraging beneficial insects and other wildlife, you'll usually have more veg than you know what to do with - and all without poisoning yourself, your neighbours, and nature.

Good luck!
 
I also have started a plot this year after a few abortive attempts. As it's reclaimed farmland, it's very weedy (nettles, thistles, dandelions, couch grass and the ever present sharlock (prassia)). If you have a weedy area, I recommend you dig and rake (removing as many of the weeds as you can) wait a couple of weeks until some of the weeds come up and then spray with a kill-all (like round-up) or weed before you plant. It will save you endless weeding between your crops if you have a big area. (Not that I was in time to do this of course - the usual too late nonsense - I'm still putting in "early" potatoes!).

For digging spud drills, I also recommend using a mattock. It's sort of like a pickaxe with a wide flattened end - you see African farmers use them in documentary programs. It's the biz for speedy drills!

Lots of luck.
 
16024,
I'll try not to repeat any of the good practical advice given by all the responders so far. so here's a few ideas to get you thinking,


It's still time enough to start digging and do some planting, though the best time to dig is in the winter, to let the frost break down the soil. What type of soil do you have? Adding compost or farmyard manure will help build up the fertility. Knowing the soil pH would be useful too. All the brassica crops (ie cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) like a limey soil (easy to achieve by adding lime before sowing).

Start small for now, what veg do you like or buy regularly? As was said previously, don’t grow veg that you don't really like, it will just rot sitting in your garden.

Get yourself a good gardening book, that deals with most aspects of vegetable growing.
Get some seed catalogues, Suttons (www.suttons.co.uk) and Thomspon and Morgan (T&M) (www.thompson-morgan.com) will send catalogues (and seed) to the Republic and are a good source for quality seed. They’re also full of good information about soil requirements, planting etc etc. T&M website is certainly worth a look. Surf the net for some good gardening websites, ie BBC gardening, RHS. Build up your knowledge as you go along and build up your confidence. even the best gardeners will have crop failures. So don;t give up if something goes wrong! Stick at it!


I buy all my seed online, as you're always sure of the freshest seed and not seed that has been lying around in a shop unsold from last year. Buying poor quality or cheap (within reason) seed is a bad investment.

Start with some easily grown veg (assuming you're like them) Salad crops like lettuce, scallions (grown from shallots) and maybe radishes are easily grown. Try some onions (from sets) too, Consider some carrots, maybe cabbage. Maybe get some strawberry plants. If your space is limited, I think stick to veg that crop several times in a season or what you would use on a regular basis like lettuce, scallions and carrots.

IMO, for a small garden, I'm not convinced of the merits of growing potatoes. You wait all summer for just 1 crop, certainly worth the wait but buying a few kilos of organic spuds in your local supermarket makes just as much sense and you could put your veg patch to better and more productive use.

Buying plants for transplanting into your garden is a good idea for this season, you can sow some seed for your own plants early next year inside.

Try some herbs, like parsley (slow to germinate, need to soak your seed), chives, mint, dill, basil. The seed companies mentioned sell "seed discs" which is a small disk with the seed attached, just put it in a pot of compost and cover it and water it and wait for it to grow. For the future, think about setting up a nice herb garden near the back door, or in a window box.

Consider sowing some carrots using a Seed Tape, this is like a roll of masking tape with seed stuck to it, just unroll it in a shallow drill and cover with soil. No thinning needed and great as thinning attracts Carrot root Fly.

Consider making your own compost, very worthwhile and environmentally friendly aswell. Easy to do, using your kitchen waste, teabags, egg shells etc. Great for building up your soils fertility and mulching shrubs etc.

Since you're garden should be relatively pest and disease free, try your best to keep it that way. Easier said than done! As mentioned already, learn the importance of crop rotation each year. Be very wary of bringing in soil from another garden, even if you’re getting it for free. The two things you don’t want to bring into your garden, is Potato Root Eelworm and Clubroot. Both will survive for years and make it almost impossible to grow potatoes and any brassica crops successfully.

Those a just a few quick ideas, feel free to contact me if I can be of any help,

Good luck with the gardening,
 
Has anybody grown mushrooms at home?

We must spend at least €2 per week on purchasing them but it looks very strightforward according to [broken link removed]

We have a garage that we could use to grow them, although the temperature might be a bit low in the winter.

What manure should I use, we have horse manure but it stinks a bit - a no-no in the house, would peat moss work?
 
Jumping on here as I am curious about the mushrooms too! I bougt one of those kits in a white polystyrene box last year in woodies or somewhere but only started it iup this year but nothing happened, can you just get mushroom seed/mould or whatever they come form in a packet and plant them in manure??? Sorry bit ignorant on the ol mushroom growing...

Ta
 
I might buy one of them kits off suttons and see. It says all cultivation instructions are included.
 
Thanks a million for all the replies. Lots to keep me going there for a while. Food for thought you might say!
 
MrKeane said:
Has anybody grown mushrooms at home?
Click to expand...

Tried for the first time this year. Bought a kit in Aldi. As with all Alidli purchases, it can be hit and miss. I was expecting something by now but not looking too good.
 
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