Where to begin with an edible garden?

Hi Everyone,

I confess straight off that I'm new to gardening. I've enjoyed gardens for many years but never got round to getting my fingers dirty. Until now!

I've got a little boy and want him to enjoy home grown fruit/veg so I'd like to start with some basic food plants - but which ones are an easy way in to this?

My garden is sheltered from the wind, but doesn't have the greatest sunlight.

I also don't have the thickest soil so maybe will need pots/grow bags to start off with.

I live in the East Midlands, UK.

So, what edible plants would you recommend I start with?

Many thanks,
Luido

 

Hi Luido and welcome to GC!

If you are looking for things specifically for your son, try things like little chardonnay carrots, radish, baby lettuce leaves, a cherry tomatoe, and most definitely mangetout! I always had these for the little ones when they were little, and to this day, they will eat their vege - and enjoy just eating off of the plant. Very little of the above ever makes it inside the house, as the kids will eat it outside. Strawberries and blueberries as well!

Other things that take a bit more room - corn on the cob, cucumbers, courgette, and if you have the room - a giant pumpkin! Sunflowers are always great too to get the interest in growing things himself - and then he can feed them to the birds

You'll be doing your son a huge favour by introducing him to homegrown vege - good luck!

 

Runner beans

 

i would ask what his favourite veggies are?

corn on the cob is a wonderful exciting plant - so tall and so pretty! i find potatoes are brilliant to dig up - scrabbling in the earth to get at the crop is great for little ones - also they can cope with shade

loopy

 

I wrote this for the local paper recently ......
As promised here are four fail-safe crops, all fairly trouble free, productive and easy to store. I know I said five crops last month, but I want to cover salad leaves in more detail in March.


Firstly the humble spud. Potatoes are split into three categories, 1st earlies, 2nd earlies and mains. It's self explanatory really, 1st earlies are new potatoes and ready first, main crops come later and are larger. I'm going to suggest you forget about the main crops, they take up lots of space, are more susceptible to problems and are 'cheap as chips' to buy. Spuds are planted around the end of March, traditionally on Good Friday. Six weeks prior to planting you can 'chit' your spuds, place them in a cool, light spot, allowing short knobbly shoots to form. In theory, the potato will establish faster, with a heavier crop. Egg boxes are ideal containers, a shed or garage window ledge the ideal location, I'll talk about planting next month but for now you can be digging over the bed and adding lots of organic matter, compost, manure or mushroom compost.


Next the underrated Broad Bean. I start them off in 3 inch pots of good quality compost, they can go straight outside or in a cold greenhouse. Ensure the soil is moist, check for signs of germination and I'll tell you what's next in March. Broad Beans are the easiest of all the legumes, I think the tastiest too, and just like Rhubarb they freeze brilliantly.


I'm lumping Rhubarb and Blackcurrants together, mainly because at this stage you need to do the same thing with both. First pick a variety, Timperly Early and The Champagne series are good Rhubarb varieties, while Ben Connan and Ben Lomond are good Blackcurrant's. Both will be in the ground for a while, so prepare well. Dig a big hole, add plenty of organic matter, a handful of feed and water regularly for the first year. Both grow well in a big pot, at least 2 feet across.


In March I'll talk about what to do next with these crops as well as covering salad leaves.

 

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the thought you have put into your answers to my terribly naive question.

Loop Lou - We are really lucky in that he eats mostly everything we out in front of him. He particularly likes potato, green beans, brocolli, carrots and berries.

Oh, I'm spoilt for choice now. If you had to go for just 3 crops to start - what would you choose?

 

Blueberries then - they grow well in pots and if you get them planted soon, they'll probably fruit this summer (always very rewarding).

 

Cherry toms would be OK in bags or pots particularly if grown against a south facing wall. When our kids were young they used to scoff them like sweets.
Cucumbers have already been mentioned, but I'd suggest that if growing outdoors you go for a 'ridge' type, they trail along the ground and are a bit hardier and smaller than greenhouse cucs. Ours kids used to pick them and just gnaw away once we'd rubbed off the spikey pimples.
Silverskin onions (the pickling size onions) are easy to grow and fairly sweet.
Climbing beans (I'd go for French rather than Runner, but that's just personal taste) in a big container have the advantage that you can grow a low-growing crop beneath them.

Got to agree with Sussexgardener's suggestion regarding Blueberries, they crop longer than most soft fruit, are easily grown in containers, taste lovely and are very rich in vitamins etc.

Great idea to get your son interested in real veg.It's well worthwhile. Best of luck to you!

 

my three would be broad beans - they are tough plants and are so lovely and velvety inside the pods

potatoes - easy to grow and brilliant to lift and sweetcorn - great tall plant which benefits from being planted quite close together, they need to be in a block and i plant mine in groups of five - set out like a dice number five.

but then again...... a nice tomato or berry would be a treat

its difficult

loopy

 

Hi Pepper,

Thanks for the link - I'll check it out. I really need to pull my finger out and get planting!

Luido

 

Luido,

I'm a real garden duffer but have grown spuds in stand up grow bags for the last few years with great success. I use the bags as my soil is awful and being lazy it's also easier (I think) when it comes to earthing up etc, I just top up the bags with compost! I water them regularly and feed and haven't gone wrong yet (maybe just luck) but I'd definately recommend as they always taste lovely and are pretty straightforward for beginners like me.

There's a company called Dobies in Devon that do a starter set with grow bags and seed potatoes for about 14 pounds or so. I'm sure you'll find a similar thing elsewhere but have a look and you'll get the gist.

Good luck with it all!

Jim