1st timer!

[ronniethescot]

Hi I plan to grow some veg this year, I have no green house, potting shed, or polly tunnel, just an old fashioned bit of garden 4ftx30ft, its in a sunny position, I'm planning/thinking about some potatoes,tomatoes,french/dwarf beans, butternet squash, herbs, open to ideas, Any help or advice would be great, what should i be doing at this time of year, I have grown tomatoes and herbs in the past in tubs

Thanks in advance

Ronnie

[pigletwillie]

Hi Ronnie,

well the world is your oyster my friend.

Tatties can go in when the weather improves a bit, you can sow tomatoes on a warm windowsill if required as well as cucumbers, courgettes and peppers.

Pick what things you like and perhaps are expensive to buy, things such as salad stuff (the choice of lettuce is bewildering), scallions, onions or shallots, carrots, peas and beans. Some plants are tender (toms and the like) but most other stuff will be ok if sown or planted when the spring weather finally arrives, especially if given a little protection from cloches or fleece. Beans are best sown in situ in May as they are tender. Butternut squash require a long season to ripen and on a previous thread people recommended Butternut sprinter as the best variety to grow, these again can be sown in pots on a windowsill in April, to plant out in late may.

Other folks will no doubt add to my humble opinions and give you further options and ideas.

[jane E]

Beans are a wonderful crop to grow as a beginner because they take so little room and are usually prolific. Blue Lake is a good french climbing bean. It needs support - a wigwam or a double row of bean sticks. What about runner beans? All the best.

[ronniethescot]

Thanks for the replys, couple more questions

will peppers grow in england? (I live in Surrey)
how much benefit would a small polly tunnel make?
should i try and grow from seed or buy small plants from a garden centre?
Is there any thing that i should be thinking of planting outside now? or should i be planting seeds in trays on the windowsill?
Should i plant the new tatties in dreels?

thanks in advance

Ronnie

[Lyn]

The advantage of growing from seed rather than buying in plants is that you have a much wider choice of which varieties to grow. I have found that sowing virtually everything (apart from some of the root vegetables) into modules and then transplating young plants after hardening off works best for me because slugs tend to decimate whatever I sow directly into the ground.
Lyn

[vivie veg]

Hi Ronnie,

If you hurry you might be able to get a plastic greenhouse from Aldi for £30. These are 4x6 feet and you can do an awful lot with them. BUT the cover will not last long.

In the first year I grew tomatoes in pots (grew from seeds on the windowsill and threw most for the seedling on the compost heap...you can only get about 10 plants into a 4x6 greenhouse and that is crowding them a bit!

Last year I used it mostly for bringing on a variety of seedlings, having started them on the windowsill and propogator, then into modules and into the grenhouse for a few weeks before hardening off and something else takes it's place.

This year I started Lettuce, early cabbage and onions off in late January in the house, but as soon as they germinated they went into the greenhouse. Has the weather been a bit kinder then these would have been outside now, but have also sown leeks, broadbeans and peas in modules, these are also sitting in a plastic greenhouse awaiting warmer weather!

I am just putting up a bigger polytunnel (plastic is not on yet!) but will put one of the 4x6 greenhouses inside so that I can heat the 4x6 to bring on those tender plants like Tomatoes and cucumbers...however to start with you would be better off buying them in May when the weather is better.

My tip for onions is to grow from onion sets, but plant these quite close and pull 'spring onions' after 4 weeks, until you have thinned the onions to about 6 inches apart. If you keep some of your onion sets back until July (keep them cold, dry and dark) you could plant them and get spring onions in the autumn and through the winter.

[Tigger]

There might also be some cheap plastic greenhouses left at Lidl. If not, most of the DIY places and the general Garden Centres have them this year at a fair price (although not as cheap as our Continental friends Aldi and Lidl).

As for seeds or plants. I suggest you buy a few tomato plugs - they work out at about 30p each - plus some cucumber plants and a few peppers. They're easy to grow on and you'll be amazed by the difference in flavour to the things you buy in the supermarket. They'll also give you great returns on your investment. if you're smitten - you can grow them from seed next year.

For a first attempt I'd plant peas, runner or French beans, broad beans, courgettes, lettuce, beetroot, spinach or chard, carrots and kohl rabi from seed as they'll all give a good return and are easy to grow outside. You can either start them off in modules (beetroot, spinach) or in lengths of guttering (peas, French beans) or just wait a little longer and sow directly outside.

Then get one of the good basic books - and plan your autumn and winter sowings/plantings and next year's bounty.