Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi there,

I tried my hand for the first time this year and it's been a bit of a mixed emotion experience really.

Started with peas, french beans, beetroot, strawberries, leeks, courgettes, marrows and cabbages. I also companion planted yarrow, sage, dill, marigolds and sweet peas.

Peas - went for a teepee design for the canes which failed quite spectacularly on a number of occasions, which meant I only got a handful of pods.

French beans - never appeared!

Beetroot - was lazy and didn't bother to thin the seedlings out and am now inundated with them! If I make much more pickled, my hands will be stained permanently pink! Lovely though

Strawberries - I managed to get a whole 4, yes 4, edible ones before the rain destroyed everything

Leeks - blimey there's loads! Really nice in the sausage casserole I made the other night though

Courgettes - learned the hard way why you should check your courgettes every few days - there's a monster one in my fridge now that is approximately a foot long and has a 9" girth! lol

Marrows - Got about 4 from two plants, something seemed to like eating them when they were about an inch long

Cabbages - never appeared

I also grew tomatoes in my mini greenhouse, along with some chillis (tiny fruits but very fiery) and a pepper plant (which managed 1 mini fruit before dying).

I've got some peas in my greenhouse starting to shoot and be ready for planting out later this month and I've put some cauliflowers in too.

I'm quite satisfied really, given that the patch I made is woefully too small (about 6 foot square) and I got a bit ambitious too quickly I think.

I'm really pleased to have discovered this forum and the GYO magazine - it seems to be written in plainer English than a lot of sites/mags I've seen.

Here's to 2008!

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Live for something or die for nothing

It sounds like you've done quite well for your first ever year! Put the failures down to a learning experience and move on - even experienced veg growers have things that do badly in some years. My first year was characterised by veg being eaten by everything else, but not by me, slugs, leatherjackets, sheep... it didn't stop me trying again and this year I've had almost non-stop peas and beans, lovely red cabbages, lettuces of every description, such a change from just one year ago. Keep working at it, and enjoy your successes. Ambitious is good!

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

That's a cracking start! Well done. I don't have a huge veg garden myself but it keeps the 2 of us in fresh veg for months in sumer and occasional veg the rest of the year. It's the challenge as well as the flavour, isn't it?

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

Yes, well done to you.

It's not been the easiest year for beginners thanks to crazy weather across much of the country, so you should be proud of yourself. The rule books on what to do when have certainly been re-written.

And who knows what next year will bring!

I too started a veggie bed this year similar size to yours. Like you, I got carried away and got pretty ambitious. It's like I want to grow everything!

I have fared alright but I like to think it's because the veggies that did well are generally 'easy-going' vegetables that works well such as courgettes, runner beans, lettuce, spinach and pak choi. I tried growing French beans years ago and didn't recall that they were as easy as runner beans which to me grow like weeds. My mangetout was pathetic but I recalled that they weren't particularly difficult plants in the past. I guess you win some, you lose some, regardless of whether you're new or experienced in veg growing.

My cabbages are coming along but they might have caterpillar inside the heart because I didn't cover them with nets (from butterfly laying eggs), we'll see. I started off butternut squash late so no prize for late homeworker...so really my own fault even if the weather was mostly to be blamed. I'm growing soya bean and they're coming along fine even though I messed them about by delaying the transplanting. That's the problem with small garden is that you sow too much seeds and when you're ready to transplant the seedlings, you haven't got much space in your bed.

I tried to grow what I thought was Chinese Cabbage but the seeds were obviously wrong (mistake by seed company) so I'm being forced to eat an unknown vegetable which is kind of interesting and fun. You have to take what life throws at you. Anyway hope you'll continue to enjoy growing vegetables and possibly share your new found tips and tricks on tackling a small garden for veg growing.

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Food for Free