Topic: Am I being too ambitious?

[emma h]

Ok, I have shortlisted about 300 different seed packets  :o , I'm guessing this is a bit ambitious for my first year  :) :) and i don't really need 15 varieties of tomato...  so any recommendations for the number of different things I should get?  We have a big plot, 6 children and will give anything a go ;D ;D

Emma

[Derekthefox]

I worked initially on a maximum of three different varieties of any crop, chosen to emphasise different characteristics, eg early, main and late crops. This gave me as much as I could cope with. The first year is amazing in what is learned.

Good luck.

[terrace max]

Get all 300 ! Why not? Aim high.  :)

(6 kids! Does it get easier after 3?)

[Svea]

of course it does, no 4 upwards are very nice (i should know ;))

i agree with derek tho - try different time varieties. also, for things like tomatos (which doesnt really go for early-mid-late, do they?) i would chose different things like different colurs, and toms that are for salad, or bottling, etc

your first year will overwhelm you if you try to do EVERYTHING at once :)

i am starting the second growing season soon, and it's amazing how much i learnt about gardening and plants etc this year.
the seeds i have chosen for this season are more specific to what i think i will like tastewise, and/or colour for fun.

it's more important maybe to get one of every vegetable so you can try them all and see what grows and what you like to eat.

[Mrs Ava]

YAY!!  ;D  Be ambitious!!  I am, and sometimes it works, and you end up with mountains of stuff, and sometimes it doesn't and you learn by your mistakes....the only thing I would say, how many acres are you growing on to use 300 packets of seeds???  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[supersprout]

Agree, you only need grow one of each plant to have loads of fun (though you might have to plant three seeds to get one plant tee hee). Some of my happiest learning experiences were finding myself with some interesting seedlings ready to plant out, and seeing what I could dig up/interplant to make room for them! Biting off a lot is only a problem if you aren't enjoying it. And you sound as if you are. Have fun!  ;D

[John_H]

Get what you like to eat, rather than what you feel you ought to grow!

[mat]

I also have a new allotment (last Oct) and I have just looked at Excel and find I will order/have ordered (from a variety of seed catalogues) nearly 150 varieties for my full size lottie...  this includes about 28 varieties of seed potato I hope to get at the potato day...  I am single, but will be aiming on giving some to family and friends (who have already put in their "orders" - I have told them to wait and see how I get on!)  I think Mum will be proud of me if I succeed as she remembers her fathers lottie.

Am I being ambitious? Probably, but I wish to find out which varieties I prefer, and use the Allotment as a bit of fun/trial... and to save me buying chemical tasteless shop veg.  I was so limited with what I could grow in my (fairly small) garden, due to shrubs, etc (mainly rasps, blackcurrants, blueberries, beans, toms and courgettes) I am going to go "mad/wild" this year on the lottie ::)

I have everything organised on a spreadsheet, I entered the space each variety requires and an estimated yield it produces, I now enter the "estimated yield" I require (lbs or plants) and with formulas and pivot tables it even tells me what bed length for each variety I require and the total bed length I require for each "family" (4'width beds)...  easy way of ensuring equal space for each rotation.  Colleagues laughed when they heard what spreadsheet I created, but I don't care  ::)   If anyne fancies trialling this spreasheet themselves, let me know.

So I say, if you can afford all the packs (bearing in mind what food bills you will (hopefully) be saving) an have the space and will eat it all, then go for it  ;D and hope you are lucky with germination, pests and diseases...

The Vegetable handbook by D G Hessayon gives seed life, so although I am buying 8 varieties of tomatos, the seed should be viable for 3 years (depending on storage conditions)...  obvously some seed has to be bought fresh each year.

mat

[John_H]

I'm full of admiration for anyone who can produe that much quantity and variety. My main seed order was for about 20 packets this year and I only intend planting half the seeds from some of those (even less with the sprouts where I just want to end up with four plants of one variety and four plants of another).

Everyones needs are different, but when I started off I made the mistake of growing far too much of some things, and the knock on effect was that sometimes it made allotment visits feel more like tending a rather large farm field. That year I grew some things until I was sick of the sight of them and as a result I also ended up with the biggest compost heap on the site. It was all good exercise, but  looking back I wish I had planted less of some things because 50% of my work that first year went into making compost  ;)

[mat]

28 varieties of spud for just you - you must like spuds  ;D 

You can buy hundred of packets of seeds but I don't think you'' get round to sowing them all but they'll save in a box in the fridge for yonks  :)

I do like potatoes, but I aim to get just 3-9 seed pots/variety - most between 3 and 6, and depending upon results, some will be going to my parents and sisters.  I'll have to see how I get on  :-\;
I used to work on a lge PYO farm many years back, so I know what it is like to be faced with a 20 acre field to be hoed or mange tout to be picked on bulk for a famous very exclusive restaurant; such bad memory that I will NOT be growing mange tout!!! :'(

[glow777]

We started off by growing all the things we would normally eat, hopefully in the second year well start getting the quantities right! Too many beetroot not enough broccoli, mountains of swedes and parsnips not many sprouts etc.

Unfortunately you start to swap things with other people and you find about the delights of strange veg or veg you didn't think you liked (this is due to everything tasting better) for me this was fennel, red cabbage and butternut squash.

Variety definitely is the spice of life

[grawrc]

I don't think it matters too much what you do or plant. Try things out and find things out. Last year I just went to our local garden centre and fairly randomly selected things to plant. This year I'm looking at flavour, disease resistance, resistance to bolting etc etc and buying from a variety of sources - most of them online.

First choose things you know you will eat then have fun selecting things you want to taste? :) This year I'm planting Kohl Rabi because it looks so weird and Potimarron (pumpkin) because it makes the most incredible soup. Roseval potatoes for their pretty name, shape and colour and Rose de Berne tomatoes because of their colour. 8)

[glow777]

This year I'm planting Kohl Rabi because it looks so weird

I fancy a few of these just because of its looks but what do you do with it and what does it taste like?

[Svea]

it's a member of the 'kraut' family - tastes a bit like cabbage. you can peel the bulbs and cut into chunks to nibble on like you would on a carrot, or grate into salads, or cut into chunks and stir-fry, or cut ito chunks and boil for 10 to 15 mins for a side veg dish for your sunday lunch. with the last two methods, you can also add the leaves shredded if they are good - hmmmmmmmm!
they also mash well if you fancy a 'more than one root' mash, if you see what i mean. i find you dont even need many potatos then, 1/3 pots to 2/3 kohlrabi produce a lovely potato mash :)

[mat]

1/3 pots to 2/3 kohlrabi produce a lovely potato mash :)

Oh No  ::) I had discounted these, but you make them sound lovely, that I may need to try some...

mat

[grawrc]

Kohl rabi is like Svea said: taste somewhere between turnip and cabbage. You eat the swollen stem rather than the root or leaves. I chop it into cubes, sweat it in a bit of butter and when soft add egg beaten up with cream and pepper.

[MutantHobbit]

I feel better now! ;D  I was being ribbed about having over planning to grow 50 different vegetable variaties on two plots, but 300!  Go for it!  It's better to try and make loads of mistakes as you learn more that way than if you get it right through beginner's luck.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. ;D 

I'm thinking of putting my carefully worked out plan of my allotment up on site for peer review to see what everyone thinks along with my plant list.  That way if I've made a potentially catastrophic  mistake, it'll be pointed out to me! :)

[grawrc]

Good plan !! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D