My Edible Garden

It’s been a while I know but I’ve been busy with my gardening! I’m still growing everything out of pots, wooden troughs (made by my Dad!) and hanging baskets. This year it’s been much easier with the heated propogator that I bought back in January, and also being able to keep the plants in the conservatory, which is just like a massive greenhouse!

So what’s on the go this year?

Potatoes

This year I decided I wanted to do potatoes again. It’s not easy when you don’t have much space but I got a couple of potato sacks and my Dad built me a couple of deep wooden troughs to use. So I’ve got 4 first earlies and 4 second earlies on the go, and I’ve got my main crop (King Edwards) sitting in an egg tray waiting to go in next month.

I planted the potatoes out at the beginning of March and they’re growing well, despite the cold weather we’ve had.

Pak Choi

I sowed some Pak Choi seeds out in one of the troughs next to a couple of potato plants around mid March. Despite not thinking to cover them over to protect from the cold weather, they’ve all germinated well. I now keep a piece of clear plastic board over the top of them just to create a mini greenhouse under it to help them along.

Pak choi can be picked as leaves and eaten in salad or you can let them grow and they’re like a chinese cabbage, great stirfried.

Carrots

I love raw carrot but I’ve never tried growing it. We got a baby carrot variety, designed for growing in pots. I’ve sowed a few rows of carrot seeds in the other trough, again next to a couple of the potato plants. These took longer to show the initial seedling however the main work is going on underneath the surface.

If you want to grow carrots you need to sow them where they’re going to grow as they’re obviously a root vegetable and will set the root in before you even possibly see the seed leaves.

Again, I didn’t think to cover them over for a few weeks but once I’d put the clear plastic board over them they seemed a bit happier. I’m not sure if some of the little seed leaves have been eaten by slugs however, as some have disappeared, hopefully they’ve not damaged the growing vegetable underneath.

Leeks

We got a baby leek variety (but can also be left to mature to a bigger size), and I’ve had some seeds on the go since January. I’m not sure if they’ve hit a wall in growth as they don’t seem to be doing much now! So I’m going to try another batch now that the weather is warmer and the light better, and hopefully get these going.

Red Onions

David loves onion, particular red onions for sandwiches, so I’ve got red onions growing all around the garden. They’re so easy to grow, just push them into the ground with the tip showing. I’ve put some in a plastic trough, which are growing very well (probably because they’re in pure compost), and I’ve also put some in a tiny patch of ground in the back garden, and then a few are dotted in between the flowers in the front garden!

Red Spring Onions

These we saw at a garden centre, pre-grown, with a long tray of them for just 99p. I’ve never seen red spring onions so figured it was worth a go just to see what they tasted like. I’ve split most of these up into their single plants now, there’s loads of them!

Cherry Tomatoes

Last year my Dad gave me a cherry tomato plant in a large pot. It didn’t suffer with blight (I’m not saying they won’t, but this one didn’t!), and it happily grew outside of a greenhouse. So this year I decided to do a couple and have them in hanging baskets instead. I’ve had these plants growing in the propogator and then in the conservatory since January, and now they’re in their hanging baskets outside.

Green Bell Pepper

We picked a few of these plants up very cheaply so I gave a couple away and kept a couple. I’ve put them both into large pots and am going to keep them in the greenhouse, or may even move them into the conservatory, depending on how well they do outside. I’ve never had much luck with bell peppers but I’d love to crack them as we go through about 3-5 a week!

Cucumber

I’ve never grown cucumbers before (well I may have when I was a kid but I’m sure my Dad will have helped me out there!). We picked up a cucumber plant for 99p and I’ve got that in a decent sized pot in the greenhouse for now. Cucumbers are ideal if they’re trained to grow up a net or frame so that the fruit grows off the ground, to avoid bugs.

Pea Shoots

David loves pea shoots as I do I. They’re great for going in sandwiches or having with salad, however they’re also very expensive to buy. We watched a programme on TV where this woman grew her own pea shoots a bit like growing cress but on a larger scale. She just had a small plastic trough/tub, filled with compost and a box of cheapy dried peas from the supermarket (the type you put into soups). She just put a good handful or two of these peas over the top of the compost and pushed them under the surface.

The pea shoots then grew to about half a foot (15 cm) high and then get cut off. Such a cheap and easy way to grow a fab salad leaf. So I’m giving this a go too!

Chilli Peppers

Every year I’ve tried different chilli peppers and this year we have two types. A hot carribbean blend and scotch bonnet chillis. These are all being kept in the conservatory as the hotter the environment, the hotter the chillis

Green/dwarf beans

I’ve had a few of these plants the last two summers, but they were pre-grown by my Dad and given to me, so this year I bought my own seeds to start them from scratch. We’ve got a couple of large plants at the moment and more seeds on the go. I’ve got them in a small wooden trough. They’re so easy to grow and the great thing with beans (plus other veg) is that you can blanche and freeze them for use later in the year.

Courgette

A couple of years ago we grew courgettes and found them to be one of the easiest things ever to grow. We go through a lot of courgettes so I decided that we’d get a couple of plants again this year. So simple to grow and all you need is a small growbag to put them in. As you pick the courgettes, more appear!

Garlic

Our garlic is still growing well. I’m hoping the really cold winter will have helped it as the colder the winter, the stronger the garlic. This will be ready around late June / early July.

Lettuce

Another easy salad item to grow. There is nothing like picking, washing and eating fresh lettuce. We’ve got a few different varieties in a seed tray at the moment. I got some new lettuce seeds of a frilly green lettuce, plus I’ve also put in rocket, mixed spicy leaves and a lettuce mix, all of which are older seeds so may or may not grow!

Easy to grow, but you need to keep a continuous supply of seeds on the go (a new crop every 1-2 weeks), and then you can enjoy them for as long as they’ll keep growing.

Radish

Something for David as I don’t eat it. Very easy to grow but you need to sow them where you’re going to keep them, so a decent pot and compost in it and away you go

Strawberries

As usual, we’ve got our strawberry plants. A few of the plants died off in the winter with the cold weather but we’ve still got a few going so we’ll hopefully get a small crop off them. Of course come the strawberry season and you can pick them up so cheaply off the markets or even find a ‘pick your own’ field. Personally I think strawberries are the best fruit you can get

Gooseberries

Our gooseberry bush is still going strong. It’s still in its large pot where it’s been for over two years now. Last year it had a semi good crop of gooseberries but the squirrels got them before we did! So this year I’ll be keeping an eye on it and possibly covering it with the strawberry netting once the fruit start to appear.

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So, as you can see, we’ve got a fair bit on the go and besides a few onions in the ground, everything else is in pots of some sort. I’ll get some photos up soon and try and keep this a bit more updated with the progress of it all