The NSC gardening / Grow Your Own 2010 thread

[The Large One]

Following on from Marc's chillis thread, and THRK's greenhouse query, it seems there are a few people into growing their own food. Me, I'm growing...

Fruit & Veg
Onions
Beetroot (not in yet)
Wild garlic (even though I haven't really planned to)
King Edwards spuds
Rhubarb
Runner beans
Strawberries
Plums
Apples

Herbs
Rosemary (anyone in Brighton who buys rosemary from a shop is a mug - it's everywhere)
Purple sage
Mint
Oregano

I think the kids in the school are growing tomatoes.

So who's growing what? And are we going to have an NSC Farmers' Market at the end of this summer's harvest. And if there's anyone who can pass on their own gardening tips for maximum yield, that would be pretty decent of them.

 

[Brian Potter]

Fruit and Veg
Strawbs
Onions
Spring onions
Green beans
Toms
Spuds (not sure which kind, Mrs P is taking care of them)

Herbs
Oregano
Basil (regular and purple)
Sage
Thyme
Rosemary
Curry plant
Parsley
Taragon
Mint (regular and lemon)

 

[Mileoakman]

Fruit & Veg

Potatoes, (3 sorts)
Sweet Corn
Parsnips
Carrots
Swede
Tomatoes (7 sorts)
Cucumber
Peppers
Peas
Broad Beans
Runner Beans
French Beans
Swiss Chard
Spinich
Blackcurrents
Redcurrents
Gooseberry
Onions
Rhubarb

Herbs

Sage
Mint
Bay

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Brand new house, nothing in yet but Jr's chillis storming along. Will be doing:

Toms
Chillis
Lots of salad
Cucumbers
Peppers
Lots of herbs
Nasturtiums
Courgettes
Squash (grow these - anyone can)
Probably no root crops this year (mybe beetroot)

Big tip - raised beds! No digging, easy to weed, drain well, warmer soil so earlier crops, (slightly) fewer slugs. Built these in brick at our last place and will be doing so again here.

 

[Easy 10]

Got some cress on the windowsill, and some mould growing in the fridge.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Fruit and Veg

Runner Beans
Three types of tomatoe
Courgette
Carrots
Lettuce
Onions ( from seed ! )
Peppers
Purple Sproating Broccoli
Cabbage
Chilli
Beetroot
Apples
Blackberries


Herbs

Rocket
Mint

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Fruit and Veg

Onions ( from seed ! )

Had real success with red onions last year and garlic....my goodness - that was brilliant. Only just run out. Will definitely be doing that again and highly recommend it. Expcted them to behave like onions so was disappointed all Summer since they sent up a pretty weedy single onion-like stem and then started to die back. However, started digging them up and bingo! Garlic all over the shop. Highly recommended.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

Had real success with red onions last year and garlic....my goodness - that was brilliant. Only just run out. Will definitely be doing that again and highly recommend it. Expcted them to behave like onions so was disappointed all Summer since they sent up a pretty weedy single onion-like stem and then started to die back. However, started digging them up and bingo! Garlic all over the shop. Highly recommended.

what garlic and when did you plant it ?

 

[The Large One]

Big tip - raised beds! No digging, easy to weed, drain well, warmer soil so earlier crops, (slightly) fewer slugs. Built these in brick at our last place and will be doing so again here.

Or...

You could do what we did, and have a raised bed surrounded by timber sleepers.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Solent Wight from Marshalls and they were ordered on 9th March so went in around late March I would guess. Might need to be later this year.

These in fact - http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/solent-wight-garlic-pid2434.html - out of stock at Marshalls, but I think they are a pretty standard garlic.

 

[aftershavedave]

i've just finished planting a mixed-fruit mini orchard, all the usual suspects + cider apples
redcurrants
blackcurrants
whitecurrants
strawberries
raspberries
asparagus (english and french)
rhubarb
been a bit slow on the seeds but going to have a go good this weekend (toms, cucumbers, beans etc)
lots of different herbs
and the mrs has been busy planting out seeds for her cuttting garden
it's a great hobby!

 

[Ludensian Gull]

Beetroot
broadbeans
runnerbeans
onions
chillis
carrots
raspberrys
garlic
mixed herbs

 

[Fourteenth Eye]

Spring Onions
Leeks
Garlic
Carrots
Broad Beans

plus purple sage, rosemary Oregano chives & mint

 

[PHCgull]

onions, red onions, garlic, broad beans have all overwintered nicely

first early and salad spuds go in on good friday

Lots of 3 sisters action - sweetcorn, beans and pumpkins.
Butternut and spaghetti squashes
All the usual salad shit
rasps, blueberries, strawberries, currants

Best of all, 150 pints of my own cider from the two cider apple trees at the end of the garden, maturing nicely in the shed, will get bottled around the start of june and then drunk from July onwards... yumzer

 

[aftershavedave]

Best of all, 150 pints of my own cider from the two cider apple trees at the end of the garden, maturing nicely in the shed, will get bottled around the start of june and then drunk from July onwards... yumzer

sounds good! what trees have you got?

 

[PHCgull]

they are cider apple trees, they are really gnarly and old.

I took the apples to the apple fair at stanmer a couple of years ago to see a little old lady from brogdale to get them identified - i queued for 90 mins, showed them to her and she cut one in half and said "cider apple. unspecified. NEXT!" so that was that

 

[PHCgull]

get them pressed at Middle Farm every year. Costs about £1.50 a gallon i think. The juice is LUSH. But theres so much of it from two trees that some of it has to go on cider

 

[aftershavedave]

get them pressed at Middle Farm every year. Costs about £1.50 a gallon i think. The juice is LUSH. But theres so much of it from two trees that some of it has to go on cider

my neighbour has built himself a press and a masher so when the fellas have grown a bit we'll be laughing! good luck with the stuff you've made!

 

[PHCgull]

good luck yourself - make sure you fertilise them properly and you'll get much faster results.

This year Im gonna try pasteurising some of the juice, have been keeping screwtop wine bottles all year, basically you have to keep it in a jam pan at 80 degrees for twenty odd minutes and then it will keep n the shelf, and not hog the freezer...

 

[vegster]

Following on from Marc's chillis thread, and THRK's greenhouse query, it seems there are a few people into growing their own food. Me, I'm growing...

Fruit & Veg
Onions
Beetroot (not in yet)
Wild garlic (even though I haven't really planned to)
King Edwards spuds
Rhubarb
Runner beans
Strawberries
Plums
Apples

Herbs
Rosemary (anyone in Brighton who buys rosemary from a shop is a mug - it's everywhere)
Purple sage
Mint
Oregano

I think the kids in the school are growing tomatoes.

So who's growing what? And are we going to have an NSC Farmers' Market at the end of this summer's harvest. And if there's anyone who can pass on their own gardening tips for maximum yield, that would be pretty decent of them.

Surely this is to wide a subject for a NSC forum thread, surely a radio show is in order ?