Growing stuff.

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Sounds all good. Make sure you put in a load of French marigolds alongside the tomatoes, peppers, chillis and courgettes. The marigolds will kill off nematodes that would attack them. Plus you can use the flowers to make wine. Also, if you plant any kind of bean, put the courgettes nearby. They'll benefit from the nitrogen that gets fixed by the beans.



I'm heading over to my allotment today, to finish getting the ground ready and to get my beetroot, parsnips and spinach in. I've also got courgettes, potimarron squash, broad beans, French & African marigolds, potatoes, nasturtiums and loads of herbs.

Marigolds and Nasturtiums are brilliant for confusing the scents so the carrot and onion flies cant find the veg plus Naturtium flowers make a colourful and peppery addition to a salad, i love them

Nasturtium leaves are also edible. They have a similar taste to the flowers, although more peppery. I'll have loads of herb salads this year, since I've also got dill, fennel basil, coriander and parsley in (plus thyme, sage, oregano and marjoram).

Fennel is one of my all-time favourite herbs. It has such a delicious flavour! I really need to increase the amount I grow, because whenever I'm up there I just munch on it while I work, and none of it survives long enough for me to cook with it :lol:

 

[Megaross]

I have a courtyard which is surrounded on all sides so gets no light and is full of my housemates kayaks and bikes
Going one poultry chilli plant in the windowsill.

Moving soon though, hopefully to somewhere with a garden, I can get my grow on.
If I started growing tomatoes I'd be in the money, I'm tomato addicted, eat loads of them throughout the day, kilos a week.

you could grow a couple of dwarf tomato plants on your windowsill along with the chilli. We did some a few years ago and got a good crop of cherry toms from them. Dwarf ones are also good to do in hanging baskets if you have a sunny bit of wall..

I have debated it but I don't really like cherry toms to be honest, much prefer the beefier varieties because it's what my grandad used to grow in his greenhouse, and I hear they need a lot of sun.

Walls get absolutely no sun at all down at ground level, it's a desolate courtyard unfortunately, all relative though, I'll be moving towns in about a month then looking for my own place. Had my name on the list for an allotment for donkeys years, hopefully it'll come in one day :lol:

 

[fbsf]

Whohoo! Just managed to get myself an allotment plot. Get in! :party:

Now to start weeding and seeding. Sprouts and Spuds for crimbo I reckon...

 

[Titus A Duxass]

Whohoo! Just managed to get myself an allotment plot. Get in! :party:

Now to start weeding and seeding. Sprouts and Spuds for crimbo I reckon...

Congrats.
My wife started out on an allotment.
Get yourself a good book like John Harrison's The Essential Allotment, then you'll even more ideas.

 

[Eli_D]

Growing veggies has become as much of a passion for me as brewing beer.
http://www.elidonald.co.uk/blog

 

[narmour]

Whohoo! Just managed to get myself an allotment plot. Get in! :party:

Now to start weeding and seeding. Sprouts and Spuds for crimbo I reckon...

Spuds should be in the ground already, you run the risk of getting hit by blight the later you plant them. I had a whole plot worth of marble sized spuds last year and I planted them in April!! I wouldn't bother planting sprouts from seed, although if you pick up a few young plants from a garden centre you might stand a chance. From seed, they should be planted in modules no later than March for a decent December crop.

 

[fbsf]

Yeah, had a look and sprouts are too late. I've got some sweetcorn, runner beans and mange tout already growing, so they'll go in, but I've missed the boat on quite a lot this year unfortunately.