Biting off more than I could possibly chew

Hi All,

Having decided thanks to some encouraging words from some of the guys and gals here to go for it on the veggie front, I have now completed my collection of seed packets.

Thanks to some free seed trials I am now looking at around 100 beetroot seeds ( those are definitely going in the seed parcel-don`t even eat them)

but alongside those these are the varieties I have chosen. I know there are some experts on here so fire away if I have made a mistake or you know some stuff I need to look out for


sweet pepper F1 Gypsy
Broccoli calabrese autumn spear
Turnip Golden Ball
Cucumber burpless
prima top
celery loretta
giant red
onion white lisbon
north holland bloodred redmate
tomatoes gardeners delight
tumbling tom
swiss chard bright lights
spinach perpetual
parsnip white gem
sweetcorn sundance
squash F1 cobnut
courgette floridor F1
pea -snap type Jessy
desiree potatoes


Tempting to think I might have overdone it-but I am a vegetarian-as is my daughter, and not one of those that eats fake meat. I have a veg patch that is approx 2mx2m, and will be using plenty of pots aswell as trying a bit of mixed planting a la Geoff Hamilton so some will be around the garden too.

I fully intend to be organic, so no slug pellets or pesticides-apart from of course the use of fairy liquid in a sprayer. There`s a stables ( actually loads of them) near me so plenty of muck is available to me.

I will either be a very happy bunny next ( sorry) THIS year or a very hungry one.

Fingers tightly crossed.

 

You've got a nice selection Claire, sow the peas successively in small drills so you get them thought the summer rather than as a glut obviously the same with the salad crops.

As john suggests, id grow the sweetcorn separately as a block, start them off in 3" pots then transplant once they've got to 4-5".

 

As the guys have said sweet corn is best planted in a block to get the very best out of them and with your tiny veg plot you will not be able to do that.

If in your 'normal' garden you have a nice sized space there is no reason why you can't grow a nice block of them in your flower borders I was thinking of doing that last year as one of our gardens is a jungle theme and sweetcorn looks kind of bamboo-ish or at least it does to me!:wink: Hel.xxx.

 

I`ll find room for the sweetcorn then in the borders, I do have big borders-how many should I put together and what do you reckon in the success rate-how many should seeds do I bank on losing in order to maintain a good crop?

add-working on the principle of the smallest viable crop.

 

Good luck with all of that lollipop, you've already had good advice so I can only add that if you do have a slug problem there is a control available, http://www.theonlinegardener.com/product.asp?prod=1007834. Wilco did stock it last year and it's approved for organic growers and is helpful for protecting young small plants.

 

Hi Lollipop

It's an interesting idea to put sweet corn plants in a border and I reckon you'd need to group at least four together in a block for good pollination. They like feeding because they've got to make a big plant in a relatively short growing season so they'd probably not want to be in competition with any big hardy perennials that you might already have in your borders.

Is Sundance an F1 hybrid sweetcorn? If it is, you won't have many failures, particularly if you start them off in pots, peat pots or something similar.

P.S. Don't forget they need plenty of sunshine too.

 

It is Flinty, I can give them some competition free space by using planters grouped together on the part of the driveway which is at the front of the house which is a suntrap, plenty of pollination opportunity there and sun. I would have to water them myself, and probably more often because of the temperatures that are reached there.

 

Lillipop,
looks to me like you will have great fun with your veg plot and should have many yummy dinners out of it too.

 

"I have a veg patch that is approx 2mx2m"

Blimey, it will be tight then ...

Personally I would only grow these in a greenhouse. Outdoors they are in the ground a long time for a short harvest period (IMHO):

tomatoes
sweet pepper
Cucumber

I'd then look at the cropping time and space requirements for the rest, and I'd also be a bit concerned about crop rotation in a small area - you won't have much, if any, chance to not reuse the same soil year after year for the same crop

The Spuds will need a long season, and a fair bit of space for you to have much of a crop, but they have a high yield.

The "faster" crops would be Spring onions, Turnips,

The Calabrese is medium length crop (12 weeks) but pretty high yielding - if you can keep the Cabage Whites off them!

The Celery is too long a season, and too small a yield, for a small plot IMHO - but if you really love celery then that makes it a different story! Parsnips also have a long season, and Onions.

Squash, and to a lesser extent Courgettes, needs lots of space. Maybe plant on a corner and let them sprawl over the path?

Sweetcorn needs a good Summer, so will give variable results depending on the weather, and would be low on my list for a small garden for that reason. You can plant them further apart, and grow a catch-crop of lettuce etc. in between. But you need about 18" between the plants, and I reckon you need more than 4 in a block - I always think that the "corner plants" don't produce as well as the ones in the middle - they are wind pollinated, so the ones on the outside have less of a chance.

But Good Luck, and I hope it goes well.

 

Thanks again Guys, Where possible I will using pots and growbags for the stuff. Whilst I don`t intend to make any failures I am bound to but hope to learn from them.

I know, of course, I can always ask for help.

 

"I know, of course, I can always ask for help"

I thought you just did? You mean you are planning to ask for help AGAIN? !!

 

I think it`s a given Kristen-sorry.

 

I'd better pack my spade and come and give you a hand then!

 

Anytime you like Kristen, I can always find room for a little one.