Gorwing your own

[northernladyuk]

The old man grows spuds, but it makes for an unattractive garden, so I mix up his area with foxgloves, rhododendron, lily-of-the-valley, hydrangea, poet's narcissus and larkspur.

[WTFH]

4 apple trees, 3 pear trees, 1 plum tree, 3 grape vines, garlic, celery, carrots, parsnips, fennel, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, french beans, broad beans, sugar snaps, radish, onions, courgettes, cucumbers, aubergines, broccoli, red currants, black currants, spinach, rosemary, thyme, mint, chives, sage, bay, artemesia, nasturtium, basil, parsley, coriander, lemons, limes,
...I'm sure I'm missing out something.

Oh, and 5 chickens.

[SueEllen]

Goodness me.

A remarkable number of those plants are poisonous, as are the spud "tomatoes" that you get once the spuds have flowered.

Should "we" be careful?

It took you an hour to notice!

I refused to fall for NLyUK bait...

[Halo Jones]

I am just not cut out for grow your own, I have tried – but I even managed to kill the mint!

So the garden got dug out, replaced with 150mm hardcore sub base, 50mm blinding, geo-grid, 200mm of lean mix & paved.

Much lower maintenance & BGG can get out & about in the area now – he has considered the idea of getting veg trugs that he can access from a wheel chair, but I will not be involved.

[northernladyuk]

It took you an hour to notice!

I refused to fall for NLyUK bait...

I am hurt.

[pjclarke]

Strawberries -just weed and replace the stock every 3-4 years, cheap and delicious. Did potatoes once, but they are so cheap to buy, Asparagus if you're patient, onion and leek. Wouldn't be without fresh herbs. Tomatoes and chillies in greenhouse. But now moving to a retirement flat with no garden.

You're going to lose money, once you factor in your time, and crops lost to mice, slugs, snails, birds and squirrels, compared to buying at your local produce market, but there is joy in eating something you've produced yourself, freshly-picked, no food miles ... my argument is that I enjoy growing and gardening anyway so there is no marginal cost in growing Veg.

[SueEllen]

Strawberries -just weed and replace the stock every 3-4 years, cheap and delicious. Did potatoes once, but they are so cheap to buy, Asparagus if you're patient, onion and leek. Wouldn't be without fresh herbs. Tomatoes and chillies in greenhouse. But now moving to a retirement flat with no garden.

You're going to lose money, once you factor in your time, and crops lost to mice, slugs, snails, birds and squirrels, compared to buying at your local produce market, but there is joy in eating something you've produced yourself, freshly-picked, no food miles ... my argument is that I enjoy growing and gardening anyway so there is no marginal cost in growing Veg.

You don't lose money if you grow herbs especially if you choose the right ones e.g. perennial ones rather than annual.

Rosemary and thyme grow like weeds if you put them in the right spot.

Mint can be a bloody weed if you don't keep it in a pot.

Lavender is a hassle as you have to chop the flowers of every year.

Then there are edible flowers...

[The_Equalizer]

I'd have a dabble every year. As pointed out, you may as well grow things that are a bit more expensive or taste better from your garden. I normally have success with peas, french and green beans. Space is a bit limited so these are normally grown in raised beds. The kids seem to enjoy it and so long as you can take the failures - there always seems to be a certain level - then it's good fun.

Oh and I've got a nice chilli plant in doors randomly grown from seeds of one I used in cooking. It's done okay for itself despite minimal looking after and has a certain asthenic quality with its red and green fruit.

[SueEllen]

You missed the "wild" reference, that damn things take over the entire garden if you don't kill enough of them.

I think they'll get the agent orange treatment when it warms up a bit.

I think you should put mint in the ground without planting it in a pot first.

[WTFH]

I had to clear a 6 foot by 10 foot patch of mint.

It was not fun.

The strawberries are somewhat easier but still a bit of a pain.

For the strawberries, what's your drainage like? Aerating the lawn can help, or you can spray them with vinegar.

If you want to be a bit more drastic, get a petrol scarifier, that will get rid of most things from the lawn, then aerate, then put down a weed control fertiliser, then re-seed the bare patches.