Growing your own veg

[No Worries]

So who's growing their own and how are you going about it?

I grew a few no-dig carrots this time with a companion of weeds for diversity! Turned out ok. Nothing to match @martians spuds!

Has anybody tried growing them using the polyculture method?

 

[SoilMan]

Yeah, This year was the first purely as something to do, had a small patch in the garden. However huge hedge (which my landlord wont let me cut down lower) really restricted sunlight which has had a big affect on growth. However it has now become a bit of an obsession.

Recently taken over an allotment which was (and still is) in very poor shape.

I like to think i am open minded and willing try anything, therefore am always experimenting. I like to use the garden veg patch and the allotment as a place to experiment with the biological products i supply (to give physical proof they work) and try other things.

I have had varying rates of success but am generally pleased, especailly since I have replaced sitting on my arse playing computer games (a common problem with my generation) in my spare time to being outside and doing something productive.

Have got some pics somewhere if they are of interest to anyone?

 

[Chasingmytail]

Had great results with last years spuds but the sheep got to the rest plus the horrendous weeds! Follow No dig with Charles Dowding. Poly tunnel up plan to grow all yr round lettuce this year. Did also plant berry bushes so she reap some rewards this year. Read up on Martin Crawfields Edible Forest lots of great stuff in there.

 

[shakerator]

Busmans holiday !

 

[No Worries]

Yeah, This year was the first purely as something to do, had a small patch in the garden. However huge hedge (which my landlord wont let me cut down lower) really restricted sunlight which has had a big affect on growth. However it has now become a bit of an obsession.

Recently taken over an allotment which was (and still is) in very poor shape.

I like to think i am open minded and willing try anything, therefore am always experimenting. I like to use the garden veg patch and the allotment as a place to experiment with the biological products i supply (to give physical proof they work) and try other things.

I have had varying rates of success but am generally pleased, especailly since I have replaced sitting on my arse playing computer games (a common problem with my generation) in my spare time to being outside and doing something productive.

Have got some pics somewhere if they are of interest to anyone?

Yes some pics would be good.

I will start with some of my no dig carrots!

 

[SoilMan]

carrots look good.

Here are the pics from the garden veg patch, my apologies they are actually pretty naff! Thought more had been taken than that.

one is an oil radish 'cover crop' after new potatoes.

other 2 are beetroot with vetch companion crop which is now an over winter cover crop.

Grew a lot of sweetcorn, courgettes (these are dead easy to grow and you get sick of courgettes after a while), carrots, tomatoes leeks. Grew a few mint plants purely to make mint tea from, actually quite nice. couldnt grow much more due to size of garden and lack of sunlight.

Have been pleasantly surprised how much better things taste from the garden.

 

[SoilMan]

The allotment as I recieved it!

2 years been left standing. Last tenant i assume grew fridges, chicken wire, other various scrap, naff home made chicken huts and leeks!

 

[RTK Farmer]

Tied no-till potatoes last year as well as my only regular veg effort, tomatoes. Flavour of both better than anything from the shops. Huge worms now working on my leaf mulch ready for something to go in this year.

 

[RTK Farmer]

Whoops screwed up posting those pics!

 

[Tim W]

I have about 1/4 acre in veg altogether ---got a cultivator last year which makes all the difference. takes about 1/2 day to sort in the spring and 10 mins every morning keeping on top of the weeds etc Not run out of spuds/onions/leeks/root veg yet

 

[Lincs Lass]

Used to grow as much as I could but now with lack of time and a garden that grows more nettles than anything else Ive given up ,only me that really enjoys fresh veg,,couple of dirt cheap farm shops on the door step that sell it cheaper than you can grow it .
would love a garden that would grow some good veg but mine is overloaded with nitrogen from years of chickens running free range

 

[multi power]

slugs are my problem in the garden

 

[Lincs Lass]

slugs are my problem in the garden

Chimney soot ,,that steadies them and its not poiseness to anything else ,,slugs get gummed up with it ,cant breath ,bye bye slimy critter
My dad had a ditch running through his graden and slugs came of the banks wholesale so he spread the soot on the bank top ,no more nibbled veg

 

[Woolgatherer]

I grow a lot of fruit and veg. I've also got hens, after the veg is all out of the garden for the winter , I let the hens into it. They eat all the remaining scraps of veg, any weeds that dare to grow and they also eat any beasties including slugs and slug eggs. Last year when it was so damp all summer and everyone complained about all the slugs, I had hardly any!

 

[martian]

I tried a no-dig garden by dumping a trailer load of brown dustbin 'compost' on the lawn and planting straight into it. Wasn't a huge success with the Martianess and, as I never got round to putting a fence around it, the rabbits had everything apart from the spuds (which I dug in in an old fashioned way). This winter we've built a fence on a rough area (with approval from OH this time) and I've stuck some chickens in to clear the ground ready for new season planting.

The compost mulch idea works well to suppress weeds, but Charles Dowding recommends laying a layer of cardboard on the ground before plastering the compost on top. This stops most weeds pushing through. I thought lawn grasses wouldn't be much of a problem with six inches of inert mulch suffocating them, so didn't bother with the cardboard. A surprising amount of weeds made it through. Bindweed particularly, thank God for roundup...

Five years after this experiment started, the industrial compost has now disappeared and the lawn soil is black as your hat and the weeds are shoulder height. It's earmarked for a return to being a lawn apparently. It's going to take a bit of mowing next year

 

[Dan Powell]

My no dig garden hasn't worked very well as I'm too lazy to weed it when I'm busy farming and once the perennial weeds establish it's tricky to kill them without chemicals.

Slugs and snails are much worse too and my very respectable leek crop got ravaged by allium leaf miner which presumably overwintered in last year's late harvested ones...

Much to learn...I'm going to dig it over this year which is a shame as the structure is fantastic... but it would be nice to actually yield some food.

 

[SilliamWhale]

My no dig garden hasn't worked very well as I'm too lazy to weed it when I'm busy farming and once the perennial weeds establish it's tricky to kill them without chemicals.

Slugs and snails are much worse too and my very respectable leek crop got ravaged by allium leaf miner which presumably overwintered in last year's late harvested ones...

Much to learn...I'm going to dig it over this year which is a shame as the structure is fantastic... but it would be nice to actually yield some food.

Why not get some black plastic on it now and maybe in two months could be cleaner?

 

[Dan Powell]

Why not get some black plastic on it now and maybe in two months could be cleaner?

Would it sort bindweed though? Might need 12 months...

Perhaps cardboard is the answer and just pop holes in it where I want to plant.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Would it sort bindweed though? Might need 12 months...

Perhaps cardboard is the answer and just pop holes in it where I want to plant.

And drop a bit of poo in each hole for fertility!

 

[parker]

my no dig garden last summer applying compost and compost teas everything yielded really well this year, this is after 4 years of no dig and compost