Topic: End of season tips from Newbies

[cocopops]

It has been an unusal year with the the rain, etc.  I read this forum for a year before I was lucky enough to start planting.  I have ended up with a sumwhat limit crop, without the advice it would have been zero. 

It would be interesting to see what the other new veg/growers have learnt this year, and can pass on.  I understand, and now apreciate, year two is better, but the the amount of interest in "growing-your-own" now getting bigger, I thought it would be a good idea to share our thoughts and tips to the 'first timer'. 

I will make my list and try to make it simpler and post it later.

Dandylion (contacting Dan to become Coco-pops, so I do not have the same name as a very good A4A good member).

[newbies]

My tip is to grow more than you think, the slugs had a feast this year on my plot, and especially liked the beetroot and spuds.  Well, just about everything really.  I'm definitely considering nematodes next year, pricey or not.

My other thing that I've learnt this year, is that it really does reap rewards to stagger sowing, I loved my peas, but they all came at once.  Peas with everything for a couple of weeks. ;D

[SnooziSuzi]

I learned to leave my carrots alone otherwise the fly would get them, and I also learned not to plant as many french beans - we've been eating them for about 2 months now and there's no sign of them dying back!!

[kitten]

We've learned that a couple of hours every weekend really isn't enough time to do everything on a brand new plot  ::) and always plant more than you think you'll need (except for courgettes  ;) ) as it's easier to store/share extras than end up with less than you wanted after all the hard work.

Looking forward to year 2, if we enjoy it as much next year as we have done this we'll be very lucky indeed  ;D

[RobC]

Tip 1. Don't just stick with the old favourites - try something new every year.  I've learnt far more by having a go myself than from reading books and watching TV programmes.  I'm relatively new to growing veggies, and grew potatoes for the fisrt time this year (my wife's idea).  Great crop, including a 625g (1lb 6oz in old money) potato this weekend!

Tip 2. Grow things that harvest at different times of the year.

Tip 3. Grow things that are easy maintenance.  I have a full time job and a young family (some of my annuals are older than my son), so I concentrate on easy maintenace crops.  Out go tomatoes, in come potatotes, runners, rhubarb, raspberries etc

[petengade]

I read somebody saying brussel sprouts do not grow tight sprouts on loose ground so I made holes in seven year old undug ground with a iron bar and planted baby brussel plants, they are looking good and tight, the ones planted on dug ground look open but will be ok for spring greens.

Do not plant runner beans close to a hedge as the snails will eat them, have put pellets down but the little devils stay at the top of the sticks and come down for meals.

Still looking for a way to stop the five neighbours cats using the freshly dug ground as a toilet, was thinking of catching then and taking them for a nice ride to the countryside.  ;D

[coznbob]

 
- If all the other plot holders runner bean canes face in the same direction, do not think to be different and put them facing the other, esp. if you live near the sea.

- Do not net the strawberries with a 'that will do for now' frame of mind, you probably won't have time to rectify it and then will wonder why you aren't getting many strawberries.

- Yes, it does matter that you haven't pinched out most of the tomato shoots.. unless you want triffids.

- Do not sow most of a packet of one variety of tomato, most of them will germinate and you will run out of windowsills.

- Badgers are not noble beasts, they are thieving barstewards esp if you have broad beans and 3 surviving sweetcorn plants  (still haven't tasted fresh sweetcorn).

  Other than that, ENJOY IT!!!!

[cocopops]

Some brilliant tips so far that I can relate to  :(

Having thought of 'my mistakes' this year, they include:

1   If your soil looks great in the winter, it may set like concrete where the sun does come out ;).  Humus / compost is a must.  No seeds could break through my crust.

2   Don't just hope that because the packet say's that you can plant directly that you will not have to spend hours deciding what is a seedling from a weed!  Wherever possible grow in  trays, seed beds; and then have a cold-frame.

3   Learn about pollination, I did not know that some of my plants needed it, and I need to learn how to do it.

4   Do not be afraid of thinning out, it may seem brutal, but there is no way 50 cabbage plants can mature on a 5m run.

5  Personal to me - do not have two gorgeous puppies, with a taste for sweetcorn and digging, at the same time you are on your trial year.

I am sure that there is loads of other tips that 'us new ones' have been through this year.  The fact that we are still here, looking for the way to get it right stands testament to the quality of this site.

[croft8872]

really enjoyed first year been offered atrailer full of manure as a friend in work has horses

[SueSteve]

1) Will a small plot, we though we should plant things quiet closely to fit it all in, we had previously grown square foot, so thought we could get away with it. Turns out that it would have been better to leave enough space between the rows to fit a hoe, as an allotment is bigger and more labour intensive that a small sq.ft bed!

2) New potatoes can be harvested before blight hits!

3) You will always get blight, it's just a case of when!

4) Gardeners string stretches, so not good to make a frame out of it for the peas to climb up!

5) Although the allotment regs said we should only use the alotment to grow veg, the ones with the best flowers won the best allotment awards!

6) Seeds collected from shop bought winter squash grew well but did not produce any fruit!

7) Throwing all the stones on the path seemed like a good idea at the time, but when the weeds grew the stones made it difficult to cut them back or hoe them. We have now removed all the stones and hoe the paths! (the thin paths between beds)

[Barnowl]

Have a pot between each bed to throw the stones into.

When you have enough, build a patio ;D

[Stevens706]

This is my second year and my tip is not to rush, take time to prepare the soil before planting. I am now in the process of moving my strawberry bed, digging up the old one as it is completely overrun by couch grass as last year I just quickly dug it over to get the plants in.

[newbies]

Another tip, Listen to your neighbours.  I don't expecially like mine, he's quite bossy.  He told me to dig a bed in my greenhouse instead of using pots, so, of course, I ignored him. 
What do I want to do next year?  Did a bed in my greenhouse! :-[

[davholla]

If you plant seeds or bulbs - label where you planted them.

[LucyJ]

I learnt,

you can grow potatoes in pots and they taste great and even more exciting they are purple, now just have to find the bit of paper that tells me which varity it was!

Also slugs don't like garlic and planting garlic round cut and come again lettuce helps ward them off, though not compleatly.

thank you for all the great advice, tough i don't feel confident to move out of my garden to an allotment yet am looking forward to learning how to grow new things and eventually get an allotment in a few years.

Lucy

[electric landlady]

Next year I shall:

not panic at how quickly weeds grow, compared to actual crops.
not try and dig/weed the entire plot in 1 day
not worry if things haven't germinated within a week of sowing
plant more sweetcorn, peas and carrots
be better at removing stones from the soil
build a proper compost bin
get a freezer so I don't throw so much away
hope for some sun in June/July

[wildthing]

I'm a relative newbie to gardening. My husband was a professional gardener and didn't trust me not to pull up something important. I used to have a small corner of his greenhouse for flower seeds for the planters and hanging baskets. Since his death 21 months ago, I have had to do the lot, and it isn't simple. Despite some 40+ years of him digging in manure, straw, spent compost, etc. the soil still goes from swamp to brick from day to day.
I bought a polytunnel, for tomatoes, peppers etc. leaving the greenhouse for seed propogation. Whether it is a shed, polytunnel or greenhouse, always go for bigger than you think you will need. You will probably need double the space you first thought of.
Last year I had all the polytunnel things in pots. Big mistake. This year I put in a raised bed and had much better results. The pots took up a lot of room. I also can try for a few winter carrots, oriental veg, and possibly other salad stuff when the toms, peppers and cukes are finished.
I put in two raised beds in the garden because I am not strong enough to break up the "brick".  Then I had to empty them and nail weedmat to the bottom of the frame. Even though I weeded before putting the raised beds down, grass found no problem in fighting it's way out through a foot of nice loose earth. Weedmat is a wonderful invention.
Do try new varieties of old favourites, and new vegetables. I had 6 varieties of "new to me" tomatoes this year. We only actually liked 2 of them, so next year I'll try something different.
I tried celeriac for the first time. Why did I never try it before? Next year I want 1 more raised veg bed.
Try anything once. Amongst experiments this year I grew seed harvested from "golden berries" and Kiwis that I bought from the supermarket. Too late for this year, but if none survive the winter, I will try again earlier next year. I never expected  95% germination, so I have 2 small thickets of the plants.
The downside is, I never have time to grow the exotics that I really like. My orchids, palms, bananas etc.  have sat by the polytunnel all summer totally neglected. Luckily the slugs don't like them.

[miniroots]

But how do the brussel sprouts know that they are in loose soil??
I think I also started them too early, so will start a month later next year.

And will use nematodes.

And will possibly have helpers this year?? So I won't be 5'0" digging a plot on my own!

And I'll build a shed - especially if I have helpers.
And get access to more manure.

[The Amateurs]

The advice here is great and definetly got some new things to consider for next year. What we've learnt this year includes:

1) A shed is a must - althought not storing junk in it is still a skill we have to master.

2) If at all possible a couple of hours hoeing every couple of days will help keep the weeds down

3) Always plant plenty assuming 10% of crops won't produce / will be eaten.

We're hoping to get a proper greenhouse this year too, as next doors cat has taken a liking to our plastic frames in the back garden.

Cheers

[Raisedbed]

I have learnt to accept that what nature takes away it also gives.  So not so good a year for the butternut squashes, chilies, peppers, melons, aubergines (only now are they catching up) but brilliant for beans, carrots, rhubarb, cabbages and fruits.

Get on top of red spider mite in the greenhouse before it completely wipes out your crop.   I cannot believe how such a microscopic insect can devastate bushy healthy crops.  Lost a few french beans plants despite damping down.  Caused more damage than green or white fly.

Marigolds planted in with the tomatoes do keep the white fly away.

Buy more bags of potting compost than you think you need. 

Coffee grounds against slugs do help but organic slug pellets work better.  Bands of copper tape around containers are a waste of time.

Wait until later in the season and buy your seeds half price at Thompson and Morgan.

Grow Mokum carrots again.   Jeannine recommended them and they are lovely and crisp.

Don't grow too much Swiss Chard and eat them whilst young and tender and not when they are huge leafed monsters like mine.

Buy more flower buckets from Morrisons (99p for 8) instead of paying inflated prices at the garden centres.

Don't leave seaweed powder sitting on the top of the soil.  It forms a crust and then goes mouldy. 

Get the biggest compost container you can afford/fit in your space.  You'll need it.