Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

Hi all. We are Brian and Sue, just moved into a new house with a
large(ish) garden. We want to turn a big portion of it into a vegetable
patch (Initially about 20ft x 20ft with lots of other space for pots and
grow gags, possibly double that in time) and would be interested to know
what people think we should start with. We want to put the emphasis on
actually being able to fill our bellies rather than growing stuff that
flavours our food and isn't an essential. So things like potatoes and
carrots and cucumbers come to mind, rather than garlic and chives, etc.
It's a south facing garden and a real sun trap.

We can think about crop rotation, etc, later on, but for the minute,
what would people recommend us to go at as a happy balance between
learning about gardening and eating lots of organic food?

Brian and Sue.

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:27:59 +0100, Brian Robertson wrote
(in article ):

Hi all. We are Brian and Sue, just moved into a new house with a
large(ish) garden. We want to turn a big portion of it into a vegetable
patch (Initially about 20ft x 20ft with lots of other space for pots and
grow gags, possibly double that in time) and would be interested to know
what people think we should start with. We want to put the emphasis on
actually being able to fill our bellies rather than growing stuff that
flavours our food and isn't an essential. So things like potatoes and
carrots and cucumbers come to mind, rather than garlic and chives, etc.
It's a south facing garden and a real sun trap.

We can think about crop rotation, etc, later on, but for the minute,
what would people recommend us to go at as a happy balance between
learning about gardening and eating lots of organic food?


To get you started, I would suggest growing something easy and quick and,
more importantly, only grow what you like. Courgettes and runner beans are
more or less fool proof and there are plenty of young plants around to buy
since it's getting a little late to sow seeds. When you post on this
particular newsgroup, it's also very helpful (and relevant) to give your
location because what grows well in Devon might not be so happy in Scotland!
Also, I would suggest that if you have a more or less blank canvas, think
ahead about where you might put a greenhouse in time, and where you will put
your compost bins. Speaking from back-breaking experience g it is also
important to have a water supply near your veg beds.



--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through the usenet newsgroup uk.rec.gardening

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

Sally Thompson wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:27:59 +0100, Brian Robertson wrote
(in article ):

Hi all. We are Brian and Sue, just moved into a new house with a
large(ish) garden. We want to turn a big portion of it into a vegetable
patch (Initially about 20ft x 20ft with lots of other space for pots and
grow gags, possibly double that in time) and would be interested to know
what people think we should start with. We want to put the emphasis on
actually being able to fill our bellies rather than growing stuff that
flavours our food and isn't an essential. So things like potatoes and
carrots and cucumbers come to mind, rather than garlic and chives, etc.
It's a south facing garden and a real sun trap.

We can think about crop rotation, etc, later on, but for the minute,
what would people recommend us to go at as a happy balance between
learning about gardening and eating lots of organic food?


To get you started, I would suggest growing something easy and quick and,
more importantly, only grow what you like. Courgettes and runner beans
are more or less fool proof and there are plenty of young plants around to
buy
since it's getting a little late to sow seeds. When you post on this
particular newsgroup, it's also very helpful (and relevant) to give your
location because what grows well in Devon might not be so happy in
Scotland! Also, I would suggest that if you have a more or less blank
canvas, think ahead about where you might put a greenhouse in time, and
where you will put
your compost bins. Speaking from back-breaking experience g it is also
important to have a water supply near your veg beds.




Totally agree with Sally there, you want to grow only those things which
you'll get the maximum benefit from. Sort of grow things where you'll
really taste the difference or which are pricey in shops.

First things in my new garden we're the asparagus bed and a greenhouse for
chillies, tomatoes etc. I am growing potatoes but only on the allotment, I
wouldn't grow them at home as they take up a lot of room, are really quite
cheap to buy and IMO unless you're talking about new pots they really don't
taste that different from shop bought. (I know some folks will disagree
with that but it's a time and space vs benefit thing) Gosh that sounds like
Dr Who's gardening tips :-)

ooh another thought sweetcorn, that's a good one, still should be able to
buy small plants in shops, and then you can get them off the plant, cooked
and eaten in record time and you really will notice a difference.

Duncan

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

Sally Thompson wrote:
On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:27:59 +0100, Brian Robertson wrote
(in article ):

Hi all. We are Brian and Sue, just moved into a new house with a
large(ish) garden. We want to turn a big portion of it into a vegetable
patch (Initially about 20ft x 20ft with lots of other space for pots and
grow gags, possibly double that in time) and would be interested to know
what people think we should start with. We want to put the emphasis on
actually being able to fill our bellies rather than growing stuff that
flavours our food and isn't an essential. So things like potatoes and
carrots and cucumbers come to mind, rather than garlic and chives, etc.
It's a south facing garden and a real sun trap.

We can think about crop rotation, etc, later on, but for the minute,
what would people recommend us to go at as a happy balance between
learning about gardening and eating lots of organic food?


To get you started, I would suggest growing something easy and quick and,
more importantly, only grow what you like. Courgettes and runner beans are
more or less fool proof and there are plenty of young plants around to buy
since it's getting a little late to sow seeds. When you post on this
particular newsgroup, it's also very helpful (and relevant) to give your
location because what grows well in Devon might not be so happy in Scotland!
Also, I would suggest that if you have a more or less blank canvas, think
ahead about where you might put a greenhouse in time, and where you will put
your compost bins. Speaking from back-breaking experience g it is also
important to have a water supply near your veg beds.




Thanks for that. We are in Manchester. Never thought of location. Doh!
We have areas in the garden that are tailor made for greenhouses and the
like so we are quite lucky in that respect. No problem with water supply
either. We toyed with an allotment a few years back so we have a tiny
bit of experience, but not a lot.

Green fingers crossed!

Brian and Sue.

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

Brian Robertson writes
Hi all. We are Brian and Sue, just moved into a new house with a
large(ish) garden. We want to turn a big portion of it into a vegetable
patch (Initially about 20ft x 20ft with lots of other space for pots
and grow gags, possibly double that in time) and would be interested to
know what people think we should start with. We want to put the
emphasis on actually being able to fill our bellies rather than growing
stuff that flavours our food and isn't an essential. So things like
potatoes and carrots and cucumbers come to mind, rather than garlic and
chives, etc. It's a south facing garden and a real sun trap.

We can think about crop rotation, etc, later on, but for the minute,
what would people recommend us to go at as a happy balance between
learning about gardening and eating lots of organic food?

You're just about in time this year for runner beans, especially if you
buy plants not seed. Swiss chard will give you leaves for the autumn and
through the winter, purple sprouting grows easily and seems to go on for
ever. Next year, add french beans, broad beans.

Carrots definitely taste (and keep) better home grown. Other roots which
are straightforward are parsnips and beets.

Forget cucumbers - they really need a greenhouse.

Potatoes are a problem - they're easy, but you can eat so many of them
that what you grow in a garden doesn't begin to meet your requirements.
--
Kay

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

"dr" wrote in message
...


First things in my new garden we're the asparagus bed and a greenhouse for
chillies, tomatoes etc. I am growing potatoes but only on the allotment,
I
wouldn't grow them at home as they take up a lot of room, are really quite
cheap to buy and IMO unless you're talking about new pots they really
don't
taste that different from shop bought (I know some folks will disagree
with that but it's a time and space vs benefit thing)

It's not. It depends on the variety. I wouldn't grow potatoes you can buy in
shops but very special ones, which really are worth eating and different in
flavour and texture - and sometimes colour - from what can be bought.

Exactly the same applies to tomatoes. I grow asparagus so that we can have
it so fresh that the stalks are leaking, it makes a difference.

Mary

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

K wrote:

Forget cucumbers - they really need a greenhouse.


I have never had a problem growing cucumbers outdoors in a sunny spot.
Both my outdoors plants currently have 2 small cucumbers each on them
and lots of flowers (I started them early indoors and they went outside
mid-May).

It's too late to start from seed this year but should be possible to
find young plants around. Always a good idea to ask on Freecycle as
people often have surplus plants if germination rates were good and are
happy to give them away.

Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.
 

Sandy writes
K wrote:
Forget cucumbers - they really need a greenhouse.


I have never had a problem growing cucumbers outdoors in a sunny spot.
Both my outdoors plants currently have 2 small cucumbers each on them
and lots of flowers (I started them early indoors and they went outside
mid-May).

Whereabouts are you?

We still can get frost into the first week in June.

--
Kay