PowerSwitch

I've been trying to get an allotment but the nearby organic allotments were all taken. Last weekend though our block of flats had a massive clear up of the communal gardens and people heard I was looking for an allotment so they said I could have the vegetable patch (and I was going to ask for it but they beat me to it!). Okay it is not big but I am really looking forward to growing my own food. A lot of my worry is a the feeling of helplessness and having no control over the future, but I think if I know I can grow my own food then that will be a start to making me feel better about the future.

Only downside is that everything I have ever grown has lived a very short life!

PowerSwitchJames wrote:
Only downside is that everything I have ever grown has lived a very short life!

So long as that ?short life? is long enough to get you to harvest time its ok

There are lots of easy things. A number of weeds are edible (nice, even). You can always try the downsizer forums for advice,


Peter.

I've had most success with potatoes, rocket and coriander in my veg patch, though the carrots are beginning to sprout... Tomatoes have done well too, but they are in pots, and you have to plant them earlier.

You can certainly get potato varieties to plant over the summer and harvest in autumn, and a lot of herbs will grow all year I think.

It's been a steep learning curve for us trying growing stuff at home. Some things haven't grown much at all, partly due to us planting them at the wrong time, or have been eaten by slugs. Other plants have almost done too well, growing so fast that we've not had time to tend to them and they've grown too tall and fallen over!

mikepepler wrote:Tomatoes have done well too, but they are in pots, and you have to plant them earlier.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. It's quite normal not to plant tomatoes out until the beginning of June (danger of late frosts, as we had this year). I planted ours out roundabout then, they've settled in and are beginning to grow (no doubt the sun and heat have helped). I can't see any reason why you shouldn't plant them out now and get a good crop. Obviously it depends upon the summer. 2003, with all its heat, we had loads; last year, which was rather dismal, we got very little.


Peter.

Jerusalem artichokes are pretty robust (if you can stand them and their effects) - keep coming back year after year, etc.

Why not try some of the Future foods like Yacon, Oca, etc. which will come back year after year, can be stored as tubers, sun-dried for crisp sweetness, etc. Or just sweet potatoes - again, you will not have to buy any further seeds or tubers, just re-plant a % of this years crop. All have great storage properties.

Companion planting can be very useful to get the most out of your space. I could go on and on - you will love it! I'm sure you won't look back once you start!

http://www.futurefoods.com/
http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/altroots.php

Blue Peter wrote:

mikepepler wrote:Tomatoes have done well too, but they are in pots, and you have to plant them earlier.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. It's quite normal not to plant tomatoes out until the beginning of June (danger of late frosts, as we had this year). I planted ours out roundabout then, they've settled in and are beginning to grow (no doubt the sun and heat have helped). I can't see any reason why you shouldn't plant them out now and get a good crop. Obviously it depends upon the summer. 2003, with all its heat, we had loads; last year, which was rather dismal, we got very little.


Peter.

Sorry, I didn't mean plant them out earlier - I meant sow them earlier. Like you, I only put them outside a few weeks ago - prior to that they were in mini-greenhouses. I sowed them back in March some time.

mikepepler wrote: Sorry, I didn't mean plant them out earlier - I meant sow them earlier. Like you, I only put them outside a few weeks ago - prior to that they were in mini-greenhouses. I sowed them back in March some time.

I'm certainly no expert, but I wouldn't have thought that you wanted to sow them much earlier, unless you've got good facilities for looking after them. If you can't plant them out before June, then you don't need to get them going early, really. I'm not sure that they do much until the high temperatures and light levels of summer get to them, so that there won't be much advantage in them having started earlier,


Peter.

Damn you, I'm still on the lookout for ones closer to me.

I've found a free allotment about 4 miles away, but there's no running water there so I would have to scoop from the river

There's just about time to squeeze a few leeks in. I had to buy some yesterday 'cos mine grown from seed were eaten! I paid ?8 for 200.

Cut the roots to about a inch long put put them in a hole created by a dibber - about 4-5 inches deep - and then simply give them a good water to wash a bit of soil over the roots.

Blue Peter wrote: I'm certainly no expert, but I wouldn't have thought that you wanted to sow them much earlier, unless you've got good facilities for looking after them. If you can't plant them out before June, then you don't need to get them going early, really. I'm not sure that they do much until the high temperatures and light levels of summer get to them, so that there won't be much advantage in them having started earlier,


Peter.

I'm no expert either - this is all new experience for me. I did have a place to look after them - they went into "temporary" greenhouses we have - they are basically a set of metal+plastic shelves, with a think clear ploythene covering. About ?30, and it made the tomatoes grow like mad, and kept them out of the frosts!