Thursday 3 September 2009
calling all gardeners..............and I know there are loads of you out there. My herbs are pretty well established and I've got a tiny piece of garden devoted to wild life. Now is the time to think about GROWING FOOD. Remember my garden is small, I'm thinking of starting with some berries, raspberries grow well here and I love the preserves and jam, maybe some potatoes or root veg in some sort of potato barrel.............what about growing food indoors?? when replying please remember the SCOTTISH CLIMATE, also remember I can't do heavy digging any more. I used to have a mini orchard with lots of fruit but I don't have the space for that now .....so what do I plant and when??
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ok...............off to work will check in later...........have a great day every one.
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ReplyDeletewish I could helo but I am not the least green fingered !
morning Jan..............I'm just off to work, catch up later, not seen you about for a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteWell we ventured into growing our own food this year as you know.
Successes: Tomatoes, courgettes (also marrows, pumpkin, and cucumbers), runner beans, purple carrots (which seem to be naturally resistant to carrot fly), and the thornless blackberry
Disasters: Any of the brassicas - cauliflower, purple sprouting, cabbage. We had a plague of Cabbage White butterflies and they have just destroyed my entire crop. Unless you are prepared to spray with chemicals - steer clear. Garlic. Lettuce (we simply couldn't eat them all and the bolted through lack of water), potatoes (planted the wrong variety).
Now is the time to plant leeks (think of all those lovely potato and leeks soups!), onions, and other other winter veggies.
I really recommend you invest in a small greenhouse. We bought a little plastic one (cost around £15) and it was brilliant for propagation!
Nessie x
I am looking forward to your progress,Loretta! I grew some lettuce, but, sadly, our loooooong dry spell curtailed that crop, & I've lately been too busy to do any more than mow the lawn....
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend a regional book or 2 about establishing a potager in & around existing flower beds,
but I haven't found a good one yet, lol!
i'll be back when i finish waking up. ; D
ReplyDeleteMy sister has planted tomatoes and hot peppers in all sorts of containers, including cardboard boxes that she got from her workplace. Last night I made gravy, and homemade bread and we had tomatoes, an old favourite of ours. There's nothing like home grown food.
ReplyDeletei'll come back on this
ReplyDeleteCourgettes (I think we call them squash) are great and you can get northern varieties. You would plant them in the spring.
ReplyDeleteHere in the US there used to be an outfit called Pinetree Seeds that specialized in seeds that grow well in northern climes. You have the advantage of longer days, but the disadvantage of cooler days. My English friend Jo grows runner beans and she is almost as far north as you are.
ReplyDeletei think you might need to do some research about sinking the potted plants into the ground, OR maybe providing above ground pots a bit of insulation. i honestly don't know anything about gardening in your part of the world. are there any local garden clubs or websites that you might be able to join? wondering if there might be a south facing part of your home that could do double duty as a conservatory.......or you could possibly create an outdoor microclimate? good luck!
ReplyDeleteI suggest using the berries in landscape as it saves garden space, either way need protection from wild ones and birds..
ReplyDeleteIndoor gardening is easier to control climate but you need to provide grow lights and usually a cover to maintain moisture.
There are many types of small indoor greenhouse types as well as small outdoor ones, but heating and cooling are a concern when outdoors. I'm in a varying climate from 90 to below freezing with seasons so am working my way through a regular seasons gardening and the indoor gardening first, then will try a outdoor green house which is more complicated.
I don't know if they would send you a catalog or cound send you seeds, but they are in Maine, which is cold and northern.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.johnnyseeds.com/
I would have to know more about your growing conditions before I could recommend anything, but my first thought would be tomatoes. Im sure they will grow about anywhere. My garden wouldn't feel complete without them.
ReplyDeleteIn the winter I've grown potatoes, scallions, garlic chives and regular chives in buckets of not very good dirt with minimal sunlight. So I bet those will grow anywhere.
ReplyDeleteHi Nessie ad thanks, I understand about the brassics, I tried to grow them before when I had the big garden and it was a disaster, the only real success I had back then was my fruit and that was good, raspberries, strawberries, currents and an old apple tree, plus more rhubarb than we could ever eat.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be different though cos I have a small garden and I can't do the digging I did back then. I was thinking of potato barrels and wondered if i could use them for other root veg.
How do you plant your leeks?? can I use some sort of raised container ??
are you meaning wild berries?? I have just missed all the rowan berries and I remember beiing told they are too bitter to eat but good for wine. I think all the wild brambles (blackberries) should have fruit, they are good for jellies and jams
ReplyDeletein the TN house we had greenhouses on the property and a LOT of things growing in buckets year round. ( berries were on the fence line though, as well as growing wild on the property. the tomatoes, herbs , onions, carrots, lettuce we grew in there were amazing...ESPECIALLY in winter when all the garbage was in the stores and had NO flavor. a green house made of plastic panels, glass ones or anything really that would keep out the cold, some sort of heat (we made mini smudge pots of bbq briquetes in metal UNpainted cans, w small holes punched near the bottom perimeter for air circulation to keep the heat going) and AIR circulation for the winter time ( a floor fan worked well at either end of the green house , pointing UP so the warm air would evenly move around the entire structure). when i moved to AL, i just brought my herbs and a few of the tomatoes and put them in the basement w a grow light during the day hours. it was plenty warm for them and there was no danger of them freezing there. they did fine thru the entire winter. now of course they are grown in the yard and front porch (herbs) and not in winter here. i just dont have the TIME then to tend to them properly.
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