On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 23:16:45 -0000, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

~
~"Andy wrote in message
~ I was wondering if anyone could advise me. I'm planning on growing some
~veg
~ for the first time next year, but it's going to have to be in pots in my
~ back yard. I live in Bury in the Frozen Northern Wastes (Lancashire), and
~ I'm not really sure which veg would be best a) in pots and b) in the
~North.
~ I was thinking of growing some peas up a trellis, but I'd like to do some
~ root veg too. It's probably a bit cold for tomatoes etc unless I get a
~ lean-to greenhouse. Another thing is, I have a lot of slugs and
~ (particularly) snails. I'm a vegetarian so I can't eat the snails!!! ;-)
~
~
~Thinking what I've seen growing in pots at the RHS Wisley "allotment" I
~think I remember:- Runner Beans, tall Peas, Onions, Shallots, Carrots,
~various Chillies/Peppers, Strawberries, Courgettes, Tomatoes.
~Don't remember seeing any brassicas though, but don't see why not. Parsnips
~should be good in tall pots 'cause that's the way the exhibitors do it.
~Probably anything would do well if cared for enough especially in your
~"walled garden" and despite you being a bit up N. :-)
~
~To keep snails and slugs off your veg put a thick and wide layer of Vaseline
~around/under the rim or each pot making sure it's continuous. They won't
~climb over it.
~
OK here seems like the best place to jump into this thread.

Until I got my allotment I grew marrows/courgettes quite successfully
in growbags. As long as you drown them every day, they do very well. I
grew them as a girl in the Peak District, and they are probably the
main reason I love growing veg today. (That's my excuse and I'm
sticking to it.)

Dad (who still lives there) grows his runner beans in a large pot at
the sunny end of the garden: I think it was one of the Wickes specials
- a fiver for a huge black plastic thing with rope handles. Each year
he fills it with the cheapest compost he can find and gets a great
crop.

I've also grown carrots in a pot (you don't get forked roots if
they're in a sieved peat and John Innes mixture, or even neat JI) and
last year I accidentally grew a huge butternut squash indoors in a pot
(5 fruits). I say accidentally as it was supposed to be temporary
while the frosts finished, but it grew too fast and so stayed potted.
The only reason it didn't move outside was cos it was growing up the
cucumber supports by then...

Spuds are great in a pot. So are shallots, garlic and just about every
other allium. Plant garlic now. I always grow my chillies in pots and
tomatoes in hanging baskets.

Another good organic way of keeping slugs/snails off is by using a
moat. Buy pot saucers which are far too big for the pot base, and
stand the pot on pot feet or stones, well above the saucer edge level.
Fill the saucer with water. Make sure it is kept topped up, which
should happen anyway if you water daily. Also has the advantage of
keeping the pots well-drained.

Good luck

--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

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