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BBC News - 29/05/10



Vegetables have become more popular than flowers in British gardens, according to figures of seed sales.

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Yes but apparently less so in Scotland Wales and NI. Come on Orraloon, JohnB and Snow, pull yers fingers out !!

RenewableCandy wrote:Yes but apparently less so in Scotland Wales and NI. Come on Orraloon, JohnB and Snow, pull yers fingers out !!

Apart from some sunflower seeds I was given the other day, I've got nothing but veg seeds. It doesn't mean they'll all get sown though .

You can eat sunflower seeds tho.... so I would say they count in with the veg.

One of my neighbours has turned over his front garden to veg. It seems to be going really well, and is a good advert for veg growing to all passers by.

My front garden is east facing, but have the best soil! It gets sun on a good day, but I'll only start growing there when everywhere else is full!

We have a North-facing front but that means that the little wall between it and the road is effectively a sun-trap. Bearing this small advantage in mind I have decorated our front garden (a space about 5 by 10m, about 1/3 of it gravel for parking) with...
2 plum trees
2 apple trees
4 berry bushes
a Rosemary
a Hazel
an Elderberry bush
2 brambles that just turned up
a few spuds (ditto)
lemonbalm
mint
ps broccolli (now finished)
broad beans (just planted out)
alpine strawbs
chives
sorrel
garlic
perpetual spinach (just planted the seeds)
foxgloves (for the faint-hearted)
some little purple pansies that just turned up

It looks slightly anarchic but not too displeasing. I notice another new fruit tree has just appeared in a garden a few doors down: that's in addition to the guys who've got this smashing herb-garden (also to the North) in front of their house. It's catching on...

...Tomatoes

My wife's a beginner but now has ~60 tomato plants in the greenhouse, in pots, in hanging baskets we're overrun not to mention all the other produce - wild flowers for the bees too.

Happy days, but the watering takes for ever

Dave.

Hehehe nice one. Tomatoes fend off sunburn (amazing but true, though you have to eat rather a lot or concentrate them up, like in puree). You can save the seeds by drying them out on a paper towel.

Some Basil I planted in March, and had written off to the point of wanting to plant something else there instead (but been too lazy to get round to it), has just come up. Today. Aren't plants weird?

If you do get sunburnt, cut a tomato in half and rub it on the burn for instant relief.

Currently I don't have a garden , so I am unable to grow either vegetables or flowers!
Do you have any suggestions for food that can be grown indoors!?
Where I used to live my garden had become overrun with strawberry plants
they were a favourite of mine... I don't suppose they can be grown inside?

Welcome Littlegreenmouse.

The easiest things to grow are herbs and tomatoes. You need a bit of space for the latter and both require sunny window ledges or similar. Some herbs can be grown year round but most during summer.

Also, you can sprout lots of different things with the minimal of equipment.

It sounds like you need an allotment!

Welcome to the forum Littlegreenmouse.

Littlegreenmouse wrote:Currently I don't have a garden , so I am unable to grow either vegetables or flowers!
Do you have any suggestions for food that can be grown indoors!?
Where I used to live my garden had become overrun with strawberry plants
they were a favourite of mine... I don't suppose they can be grown inside?

Have a look here - http://www.verticalveg.org.uk/ - and try a Google search for vertical garden or indoor garden.

If you have room for a windowbox then Basil and Rosemary will give you the most delicious smells through the Summer. A cherry tomato plant will also grow in a box, and Basil and Tomatoes are a match made in heaven.

Thankyou I think an allotment will be something I'll have to look into.

foodimista wrote: Have a look here - http://www.verticalveg.org.uk/ - and try a Google search for vertical garden or indoor garden.

I was very impressed with this! I'm not sure I'm resourceful enough to reproduce something like that - although it's always something to work towards.
I do have a very small patio that I could start to attempt this with, but barely any sunshine reaches it. I will have to see if there are any species that can grow well in damp and shady conditions.

I guess for now I can start with the tomato plants and basil.

Sorrel will grow well in the shade, and makes a damn fine soup (with spuds and an onion).