Hiya :D

[Alchemilla]

Hi Lindsey! Your garden plans sound brilliant. I am also just starting out. Haven't even started growing yet in my garden - mired in hard landscaping...

At present, our weekly shop always includes fresh strawbs, rasbs, blueb/blackbs, apples, bananas, pineapples, butternut squash, sweet potato, spinach, potato, carrot, green beans.

What we found really useful to adapt our diet to "grow your own" - even before we could grow our own - is to switch our food shopping to a local veg box. Kind of forces you to learn how to cook with what you would get from your garden at a particular time of year.

[Greenleaves]

Welcome to the vine, enjoy the benefits of the advice and humour

[Tripmeup]

Hello and welcome...
I think you will be well able to grow most of the things on your list..
Pineapple, maybe not so much

[jonny the plant pot]

Hello and welcome

[Bigmallly]

Hello Lyndsey & welcome to the Jungle. Your garden sounds brilliant, have you any plans what you would like to grow. You should be able to grow all the things you mention except Bananas, Pineapples & Sweet Potato. It's strange you don't eat Tomatoes............. Enjoy the vine.

[LyndseyP]

Hiya everyone!

Just before Xmas I bought my first home with my partner and one of the things I fell in love with was the 300ft garden (it's skinny, but 300ft nonetheless!)

The estate agent's listing even made reference to the good life...so it seems rude not to try and turn my hand to gardening/growing.

I've always been a bit of a hippy in spirit, but not in diet (lover of processed junk until a few years ago) or in consumption habits.

I'd like to start growing my own for a few reasons- 1. to save money, 2. to try and reduce the amount of chemicals I unwittingly consume and 3. it seems like a nice outdoorsy hobby.

My new next door neighbour has chickens and ducks and has all manner of things growing in the ground and his greenhouse, so I'm hoping that this is because the soil is good rather than because he is some sort of farming magician.

At present, our weekly shop always includes fresh strawbs, rasbs, blueb/blackbs, apples, bananas, pineapples, butternut squash, sweet potato, spinach, potato, carrot, green beans.

In an ideal world, I'd like to grow all of the above, but am sure that Derbyshire doesn't quite have the climate required for bananas :P

Glad I found the forum and, fingers crossed, I'll pick up some great tips!