Work Growing

[WorkWonder]

I cleared a small area outside of my workplace and was hoping to start growing some veg. I'm new to all this growing business so forgive me for being a bit ignorant in not knowing all the gardening technical terms. Are there any low maintenance vegetables that can be grown and what will I need?

Cheers

[alan refail]

Hi WW and welcome to the forum.

It's getting rather late now for sowing for cropping this year, but there are still plenty of things to sow for overwintering.

Before you get suggestions, maybe you could define your question a bit.
What is the soil you have cleared like?
What is the "aspect" of the site: i.e. sunny/shaded, sheltered/windy?
What would you like to grow?
What do you mean by "low maintenance"?

[WorkWonder]

Hi Alan and thanks for the reply

The soil is pretty much just dust and stones so I'm thinking along the lines of raised beds or building some pretty deep planters etc.

The area is relatively open to whatever the weather throws at it to be honest and as for what I want to grow, I was kind of hoping the knowledge of some people on here would help me decide. The low maintenance idea I mentioned was simply growing something that doesn't take a lot of looking after, basically amateur growing. (If such a thing exists)

Would it be beneficial to get composting so as to be ready for next year? Or is there anything I can do now?

Cheers

[alan refail]

Hi again WW

Thanks for the info. I was thinking you wanted to start growing straight away. Over the winter you could work on improving the soil - plenty of compost in raised or deeper beds.
As for "amateur growing", most (but not all) of us on the forum are amateurs (some more, some less than others).
Very few vegetables are very low maintenance, in that they can be ignored for long periods of time. The need to water (and possibly feed) varies with the plant and the weather, of course. To get you thinking about what you want to grow, have a look at this list

http://www.meadowscape.co.uk/online/pla ... asyveg.htm

I would not necessarily agree that all of them are "easy". No doubt other forum members could add to the list.

Best of luck with your venture

Alan

[Primrose]

It's fairly late in the year to think about sowing or planting from scratch, especially if the soil's in poor condition, so if I were in your shoes I'd concentrate on getting the area prepared and really improving the soil conditions. This will certainly pay dividends next spring.

I'd also start with growing the things you enjoy eating - no point in growing courgettes if you hate the things. Salad stuff is fairly easy. Most people enjoy tomatoes, and if you don't want to bother staking them up and sideshooting them, you can grow the low bush types which are suitable for ground growing as well as in hanging baskets. If you have access to a local library, borrow some vegetable gardening books. They'll give you a good idea of what's involved and how/when to sow & transplant, etc.

And don't make the mistake that many of us make,even when we're experienced growers, i.e. sowing things far too early so that all the seeds and seedlings are killed by cold nights and frosts.

[Mike Vogel]

WorkWonder, welcome to the forum. I would agree with what Alan and Primrose have said, but one thing you might try is a late-cropping carrot like Autumn King. or what about radishes and lettuces? It's not too late to make a final sowing of summer lettuces and their roots don't grow very deep.

As well as compost you might like to try leafmould. This will make the soli more suitable for next year's carrots. But I would definitely sow a crop of green manure like Phacelia tanacetifolia now and winter tares in the autumn. These will give bulk to the soil and the tares will fix nitrogen.

Best of luck
mike

[Tigger]

It's not too late to buy in some other crops either, such as cabbages, broccoli, cauliflowers, or sow late spinach, beet, chard, start off onions or garlic during the autumn.

[WorkWonder]

Thanks for the replies guys, it's very much appreciated. I think I'll spend this time getting it ready for next year.

Mike Vogel said "As well as compost you might like to try leafmould. This will make the soil more suitable for next year's carrots. But I would definitely sow a crop of green manure like Phacelia tanacetifolia now and winter tares in the autumn. These will give bulk to the soil and the tares will fix nitrogen." Can anyone shed any light on what that means and how I go about achieving it? It seems too good advice to neglect.

[alan refail]

Have a look at this for a start.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/t ... ure1.shtml

[WorkWonder]

Thanks again Alan. I never knew clover was so helpful; oh well you live and learn. I will try this and see how it goes and hopefully more people can give me more helpful tips

[John]

Hello WW
Its probably worth trying to find out a bit about the site where your workplace is. Some 'works' are built on land that has had a previous industrial use and there is a slight chance that it might not be suitable for food growing because of contamination.
Hopefully all will be be well. The ultimate low maintenance vegetable I suppose has to be rhubarb. Forced rhubarb is a great treat in early spring. Even this responds well to a lot of TLC.

John