Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Jeannine on May 24, 2007, 08:51:24
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I realise this is a difficult question but I think it is worth an ask.
Some of us have been general gardeners for many years, others have greenfingers and can grow anything when others struggle.
Some of us are are better at one veggie than another.
Some of us muddle through while others follow an established pattern.
Some of have no favourites while some have studied/researched a particular type of veggie,in much the same way rose growers have.
I am interested in knowing who has made a particular veggie a passion and do you feel confident that what they have learned is good enough to pass on to others.
I have a very big collection of tomatoes and know a great deal about varieties ,historys etc, however I do not feel I am an expert on growing them.
The same would be true of beans,
I would say the same about sweetcorn and , but am confident giving advice too.
When it comes to my squash however etc, I have studied these extensively for decades, have grown and kept records of more that 400 varieties, and I do feel very confident in giving help to newbies re types, yeild, planting, soil, spacing, taste, keeping qualities etc. While it may seem immodest I feel more than qualified to say this.
I am very interested to find who else on the site has made a a veggie a particuler passion.
Come on folks I have stuck my neck out, I know the British are not big on blowing their own trumpets but I think this is a very useful question,
Could I add, the people out there who are currently studying a particular veggie with passion to post too.
You don't need to consider yourself an expert,just be passionate.
XX Jeannine
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The only thing I feel confident about is ... not giving advice ... :)
Every year, I seem to have differing successes, so feel I don't have green fingers, it is nature's providence which gives me crops. I enjoy it though, and this is a great place to pick up ideas and alternative views ...
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As there is generally no right ** or wrong way of doing most things gardening, (despite what all the books say) the only advice anyone can give is relative to their own experiences. You can try to follow all the advice you get from whatever source, but at the end of the day...
** the RIGHT way for you IS the way that works for you, and if it works for you, it may do so for others, so I would feel comfortable passing that information on.
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I try to read a lot about all types of veggies that I grow and I'm trying now to write down in a book all the relevant tit bits that might be useful in an ordered way, as I find I forget them or get in a muddle about what advice goes with what veg.
And I've started a diary of when I should be doing things.
So quite often when I have posted my tips I tend to say, well I think this is right.........just in case someone comes back telling me I'm talking a load of rot.
Not that I really think anyone would do that on this site but there is always the first time!!!
But I do feel like you all know alot more than I do and I very much enjoy reading everyones comments.
Dizzy
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Advice on experience is not always valid. I may fall foul there.
Sweetcorn, for instance. What we grew with huge success 40 years ago does not read across to today. Every year, new varieties are the best & few of us have the time or spark to do controlled trials. And since every year & every plot of ground (some have shade & others don't & some you feed & some you don't) are different.
Mostly, though, procedures live on?
But it's fun, isn't it!
PS Before offering any help, DO READ what the last person said - maybe they offered just that. Or, at least, give them credit for it??
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this is where this forum works you see, because everyone offers advice from their own experience, which, as Tim says doe'snt always work for everyone - however as there are so many people here giving slightly differnt takes, you can build up a "best fit" or consensus solution to help take the risk out.
Everyone is an expert once they have sucessfully grown and harvested a crop, because they have achieved the ultimate aim of what they were trying to do. Any experience can then be shared and added to the ever increasing pool of information.
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However much you know, and however much experience you have, there's always someone who knows more. And what works for one person, or even one year, doesn't mean that's the "best" way. That's one of the joys of this forum: we're all trying to learn, and we all continue to make the most awful mistakes. But there's always someone to suggest a different way.
I thought I knew a reasonable bit about growing tomatoes until - on an earlier thread - I found out I was the merest amateur! I've always been able to produce broad beans earlier than my neighbouring plot-holders, until a newcomer last year - who had never grown a single vegetable in her life! - manged to be eating hers at least 3 weeks before mine!
But, as Tim says, it is fun!
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I could not call my self an expert in anything! my motto is to 'know a little about a lot' and I find this helps me and also allows me to chip in my tuppence ha'porth when required.
If I were to plump for anything I would say Chrysanthemum & Dahlias but even here (as my results in shows tell) I am not expert but fairly knowledgable.
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I was trying to think about what ia actually know about gardening.
I can remember that when i started
GRASS Was green stuff that grew in the front garden
WEED Was what i was told to get out of the grass
POT Was what i transfered seedling into
SNORT Was the sound a pig made
COKE Was what i drank to refresh my thirst while gardening
HASH Was Corned Beef with garden potato,s
CRACK Was what i got for eating all the pea pods
Gosh how times have changed.
Davy
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expert on nowt, just an enthusiastic amateur..if anyone asks, I'll give my experience of it..after that, try anything once and, if it works, it's ok, if not, try something different, that's the joy of growing things, for me ;D
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I agree with what quizzical1 and others have said - sharing experiences is all I'd be confident enough to do. I think though that if I was going to choose one particular veg to specialise in - it'd be squash like Jeannine or maybe beans as they're so variable and collectable as well. Specialising in say... turnips might be a bit limiting unless you're Baldrick .....lol
(I really wish I'd read Tims p.s....about reading what other people have put before posting recently - I was mortified to have virtually written word for word what other people had written on one thread - apologies to all - I'll be reading what other people have put first from now on !)
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I think gardening IS an experience, no matter how long we have been doing it there is always some thing more to be learned
This a brilliant site for passing ones alternative methods to less knowledgeable gardeners after all we all had to start some where. I new nothing about gardening when i started i even asked my mentor why do we grow all this veg in neat rows, the plants don,t know they are neat and tidy, "just easier for hoeing David, thats all." Thick or what.
Gardening would be ideal if we all lived next to the person with the same interest in our particular choice of veg. Take Tee Gee he loves his Crysanths and Dahlias four gardens away from me is Paul harmer National Sprays Champion who works with John Peace, the National Chrysanth Champion Best in Show, next door Geof Craggs, Harrogate Show 2nd place. Today i was sitting having a coffee with an ex word record holder for leeks.
Its strange that we all have our own ineterests in different veg yet there is never anyone with an allotment near you that shares your intrest with whom you can swap ideas.
I try to set myself a target each year, this year it is long carrots and parsnips, and hopefully up at the top end of the bench with a pair of Leeks ( i should be so lucky )
Now to the question of wheather i feel confident enough to pass on my experiance to others, only on what i know about tried and tested methods,
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I am happy to give what little knowledge I have about most things but am not an `expert`.
I am however passionate about tomatoes-my campaign to get people to stop growing MM and try something tasty instead is not all tounge in cheek.
I think most of us should feel confident that we have helped contribute to a site many of us trust and find a good a place to visit
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At the moment, not a lot. I have greenish fingers for flowers and stuff, but Mother Nature seems to control my veg crop results. I enjoy sharing experiences and I think that's what a lot of gardening is about. We all have different soil, weather, turn of season and so we have to adapt any advice to suit us.
I just love gassing on A4A. 8)
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my campaign to get people to stop growing MM and try something tasty instead is not all tounge in cheek.
Ok I've sat at thought about this before asking, but cannot find anything that fits MM. So PLEASE somebody put me out of my misery and ignorance :(
Lauren
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I believe that they are refering to "MONEY MAKER" Tomatos.
I know that this particular variety is alleged to be a bit bland, tastewise, but I personally think that many of the so called "giant" tomatos are even more bland.
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OHHHHHHHHHH Thanks Quizz... ;D. I feel silly asking but I wouldn't have been able to sleep for not knowing ;)
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Mea culpa-sorry. MM does indeed refer to Moneymaker. I am not saying that other varieties including some large ones are wonderful but there are so many varieties that are just as easy to grow that taste better
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I am happy giving advice on what has worked for me. Though I also try new ideas & varieties on part of my crop that members have posted on here. You can never know everything.
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Computers! ::) :'( :-\
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Interesting post Jeannine,
After nearly 30 yrs. allotment holding, I have to admit that the last 5 years have produced changes. I cannot comment on climate change but things have - changed!
For myself, I am experiencing deseases which have not been experienced before.
I have tried for all these years to buy veg. seeds for Flavour - not Yield, as a dear man Bill Sowerbutts once produced a list.
I'll keep trying.
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I know a small amount about chillies, I am growing more varieties this year.
This is my first year of having an allotment, so I am trying lots of new stuff that
I didn't have space for this year. I only have a front garden which I am not really
supposed to grow veg in (according to my deeds). Am I going to get arrested if I do?::)
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I'm fairly confident about grapes, but mostly on the basis that I've read lots of books about it. My actual gardening experience and the value of the advice I can offer based on that is usually limited to my disasters and what might have caused them.
That said, ask me a direct question and I'll give you a direct answer..... usually based on what my teachers told me to do when I asked them something they didn't know the answer to...... look it up in the library, Project!
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Oh the headlines. Man convicted of growing illegal plants in front garden,oh the scandal, I wouldn't risk it, you may have it on your record for life!!!
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jeannine i have noticed you are the only one to admit to knowing a lot about 1 kind of veg. i have racked my brain cell to keep you company but must admit the more i learn about growing the more i realize i need to learn
marg :D
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Marg I wondered who would notice that eventually, it was one of the points about the question actully.
I have no problem stating what I know, I rarely claim I know a lot about something, but if I do , I am confident about it.
I was asking because I find it odd that people are happy to say what they don't know and sincerely wondered why.
Is it big headedness on my part, I think not, is is because I am more Canadian than English, possibly. Time and time again in all aspects of my life I meet folks who have no problem saying they are useless at something but have a big problem saying they are good at something. Why is that?
None of us would go to a surgeon who would not say he felt confident,or a teacher etc, so why is it we have such a problem with it.Is it beacuse he is a professional, and if so what makes him that, a diploma or many years of study in his field. I think the study part is much more inportant than the diploma.
I stuck my neck a long way on this one because there is tons of stuff I don't know about my squash, but the question was, what would you feel confident on advising someone about.
I have found this very interesting.
XX Jeannine
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Washable nappies and child rearing ;D
Not much to do with this place really tho, am a firm novice, only experienced in slinging salad leaves into the ground and eating them a few weeks later ;D
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jeannine, it's because, if we say we're experts on certain plants, we're tempting fate and....our crop of that particular plant will fail !!! ;D ;D
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The more you know, the more you know you don't know!
Anyone who thinks they know it all does not get involved with A4A as they would have nothing to learn.
If you have an allotment and produce a wide variety of vegetables, then you are an expert as less than one in a hundred can claim that!
I claim to have 50 years exerience as a Jack of all trades in the garden and this year have 43 vegetables and 14 fruits and have never been an expert in any of them.
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage
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I don't feel confident (or qualified) enough to give advice on ANYTHING to do with gardening!
I'd rather gather experience and knowledge through reading forums and making my own mistakes/successes.
I could confidently give advice about other issues though :)
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i guess it is a British condition to not claim to be an expert as that would make them big-headed or arrogant, therefore inviting their own come-uppance as we do take pleasure in proving those types wrong ;D
It is interesting to note that when a doctor becomes an expert in his field he moves from being a "Dr" to "Mr" as a consultant. Dont know if this is quiet understatement made official or if this is one example of a genaral British trait but it is interesting.
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I always thought he moved to being a Mr if he was a surgeon
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You are right Jeannine, if a Dr is called Mr he is a surgeon. They don't have to do this, but they generally choose to do so.
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Well when I wield the knife(pruning) it`s certainly a case of Dr then as it`s not an area of expertise :-[. And the only graft I know about is that involved in digging out bindweed
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there you are then, i am not an expert at medical terminology!! :-X;D ;D