VEG GARDEN HELPFUL HINTS – PLEASE ADD YOURS

[Bobbee]

:wave:

Hi everyone,

Just wondered if a thread like this would fly. :shrug:

Newbie gardeners can get some good ideas maybe and even experienced gardeners can learn something new or have their memory jogged with something they knew but haven’t thought about lately. :tup:

* If you plant ‘red’ lettuce, eg red mignonette, red cos, purple tipped oak leaf etc, in the same place for three years in a row then you will never have to plant any of that kind of lettuce again. :clap:

You should of course let at least one go to seed each year to achieve that result. :blink:

Ok. I’ve started. Let’s see if you find the thread a good idea or not. 😛

Bobbs :hug: :hug: :hug:

[Judi B]

I discovered that if you want Chinese Artichokes Stachys affinis to stay in the one area plant them in a pot…. makes for easier harvesting too, I just dug about a dozen plants out of the lawned area.

[lilacbutterfly]

:wave: Bobbs,

:wave: JudiB

If you buy one manky little half dead heirloom cherry tomato on the clearance table at Bunnings , 3 years later tomato plants pop up everywhere. :clap:

[bushy]

Easiest and fastest way to grow sweet potatoes, tomatoes and basil is from fresh growth cuttings

[porgey]

Nature knows your patch better than you. Sounds funny but if you encourage self sown F&V to grow where they pop up they always seem to grow, yield and taste better than the ones meticulously groomed for your chosen spot. Tomatoes are a classic example but of course the whole plant kingdom has being doing it for millions of years before humans tried to manipulate the caper.

This summer I am setting up mini compost heaps in the centre of each of my ten beds to do a number of things including trying to enlist “Volunteer Veggies” for the next year. By purposely incorporating “chosen” veggies in particular mini heaps I hope to have there offspring magically spring to life next spring when the compost is raked out. The other advantages of this is any unused plant matter from each bed can simply be placed in the middle to compost, the worms come and go as they please in the bed, and there is no carrying around heavy buckets of waste/compost to & from a distant heap.

[selinaneil]

My tip (being a newbie veggie gardener) would be don’t sow more than you can eat!.

I have grown everything from seed and have ended up with much more than I bargained for.

I didn’t think they would all take, but they have! I now have the dilemma to freeze the veg I can or give that I can’t freeze to friends and family.

Many friends have suggested I get a stall for the day at a local growers market and sell them on. It sounds a good idea but in practice, buying more pots, potting mix etc may not be worth the effort.

Anyway, I am more than happy with our produce and would highly recommend growing your own to others.

[mudhen]

My tip is to grow what you actually like to eat! It’s great fun to go thru the seed catalogues and see all the wonderful, exotic things on offer, but if you don’t actually like to eat what you grow, it becomes a bit frustrating and puts you off. Besides which the stuff you don’t like usually grows fantastically and produces amazing amounts! Do try new things, but do them a couple at a time and in small amounts. Or visit a farmers market and try new fruit and veg before having a go at growing it yourself.

[veggie boy]

A similar comment to mudhen:

Don’t waste all your garden space with things you are not going to eat or that produce very little. This year I pulled out my asparagus crop which was producing very little, but taking up about ten square metres in one of the best parts of my plot. In their place I plonked in around 60 potato plants which if all goes well will give me an abundance of staple food.

Also give up on things that simply don’t work in your location. For example if you have fruit fly really badly like I do, why bother planting any tomatoes other than cherries only to have them all eaten by fruit flies every year.

[Bron]

Mine is similar to Porgey’s.

Even if you suck at seeds (and I do), allowing your compost to grow by digging the scraps straight into the garden, the plants will come up and grow beautifully.

[Vanessa Collier]

Here are my tips:

If you’re starting a new garden from scratch, always start the compost heap first while you’re planning because you’ll never have enough.

Like a lot of people have said – grow what you like. I started off by looking in the fridge and making a list of the things I eat regularly and then trying to grow them. Trying new things you don’t normally eat at a market is also a great idea.

Join a gardening group/use this site to your advantage. It can really help to see what others in your area are doing and share your excitement. It keeps you motivated and you can learn a lot about gardening. It also gives you somewhere to trade your excess if you’ve planted too much of one thing.

Happy gardening! :cheer:

[Pixieb]

Grow heaps and heaps of everything!!! What you don’t use or give to friends will go back to the compost heap or to the chooks. It is never a waste and should not be thought of as such. Within reason, you need to think about how much water you have available and if you are paying for it or not.

[BlueWren]

2 litre milk containers make good protection for newly planted seedlings.Cut off the bottom and then the top just below where it begins to narrow to the neck.Oblong cylinder can be popped over seedling and pushed a bit into the soil while the seedling gets settled, for maybe a couple of weeks.Cut out the neck and handle and the top of the milk container can be used to protect smaller seedlings.

Can also grow on seedlings in the cylinders packed into styro foam boxes , twelve to a box.For planting, dig hole, pop in whole container with seedling and lift off the cylinder nearly all the way.

These tips are from Linda Woodrow’s “Home Permaculture Garden”.Work well.

[rivergirl]

A few months ago I sprinkled some carrot seed on top of the soil. Watered well. Topped with newspaper (about 3 sheets thickness). Watered again. Then I put some offcuts of wire sheeting on top to hold down the newspaper. I then watered as needed to keep the newspaper damp. I took the wire and newspaper off when the seeds had germinated and had grown to about 1/2 to 1 cm. Very successful. Carrot tops are now about 15cms high. I will thin out when carrots are big enough to eat.

[kerrieb]

Chickens will destroy months of growth in no time if they get in.

Seed raising mix doesn’t have any fertilizer in it you will need to fertilize them when the seeds come up or they won’t do well.

[busylizzie]

kerrieb post=322555 wrote:

Seed raising mix doesn’t have any fertilizer in it you will need to fertilize them when the seeds come up or they won’t do well.

Or just add some blood and bone to the seed raising mix before planting the seeds.

[Author]

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