Gardening Success.

[change for the best]

:D This year I decided to try my hand at growing some veggies - in a garden with wall to wall concrete slabs. Grow bags a plenty were dragged through the house and I made numerous visits to the garden center choosing my plants.

Little CFTB joined in by choosing the strawberrys and various other veggies.

So I planted Strawberries, Courgette, Squash, Aubergine, Tomatoes, Potatos, Gooseberries and Blackcurrants.

Just yesterday I cut the first courgette :D

Mrs CFTB said I looked so proud she didn't know whether to cook it or frame it :blush:

[StoneHenge]

That's brilliant!

I can't grow anything that doesn't look after itself pretty much, although I did manage to keep a few tomato plants alive last year!

Well done you - so did you cook it, or frame it?

[mazza]

:lol: That's excellent, well done you!!

I know how you feel, I am very nervously tending to two tomato plants that I was entrusted with earlier this year....I have NEVER grown a thing (apart from a daffodil and some nasturtiums when I was in infant school :blush: ) so I am very very anxious now. I have just transferred them into a grow bag, the stress is just too much for me! :o

It's worse than expecting a baby!!!! :o

[change for the best]

Thanks guys .... I planted most things in grow bags under a plastic 'greenhouse' type thingy. My garden is south facing so maybe that helps with the growth.

My tomato plants are about 8ft tall and groaning with fruit. This is the first time I've grown anything and I reckon next year will see a greenhouse at the bottom of the garden.

Oh, and by the way, I think there'll be another courgette ready tonight so we'll be having them for dinner.

[phantos02]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(change for the best @ 5th June 2006 - 12:25 PM) 169891</div>
My tomato plants are about 8ft tall and groaning with fruit. [/b]



:bigeyes: Blimmin heck CFTB!!! My biggest are about a foot tall and don't seem to be anywhere near flowering. Also my courgette plants deserately need repotting into something bigger (no courgettes yet) but I can't plant them outside for reasons I won't go into now. I was thinking of using my spare recycling box, and filling that with compost as it's quite big, then leaving them in the greenhouse.



Enjoy the fruits of your labour :D

[Beth]

sounds great CFTB :D

dont forget to pinch the stems out of your toms, the shoots that come out of two right angle shoots, it will bear better fruit then ;) as otherwise all the goodness goes into the leaves

my toms are only a few inches tall :( to make it worse, the tom plants I took to work are doing very well! :lol: that will teach me for being nice! :lol:

[sp54]

:bigeyes: Crikey!!!! Our toms are very slow this year. Also trying cucumber, courgettes, peppers. aubergines .........

our biggest success every year is our potatoes :thumbs: Trouble is we have a drought order down south so think we have our own potato famine going on right now :cry: Recommend trying them though - there is nothing like putting a pan of water on to boil and then going into the garden to dig up the spuds :thumbs: :thumbs:

[sp54]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mumski @ 19th June 2006 - 9:18 PM) 172973</div>
If only I had the room.......... :D
[/b]


Will send you some potatoes, mumski ;) :thumbs:

[sp54]

:D :thumbs:

You'll have to peel them yourself though, hun :unsure: :lol: :P

[marieuk]

Wow you lot growing ur own veggies sounds great :D, its something i have never thought of although when we get new house it has a lovely big garden so i think i may try it next year.

Any tips on what to try, (something easy) veggies for beginners :D

SP54 (QUOTE)Recommend trying them though - there is nothing like putting a pan of water on to boil and then going into the garden to dig up the spuds", This sounds amazing :thumbs:

Beth whats all this about pinching the stems on toms :bigeyes: :bigeyes:


Love Muk xxxx

[marieuk]

@ B "I wonder if I'll be able to grow bananas?" :D :hihi: :D


Love Muk xxxx

[sp54]

Do you know, mrsp has always hated gardening, but he takes a huge pride in his spuds :unsure: :rolleyes:


In the summer, we put water on to boil, then actually have to go into the garden together to dig up the spuds - as we get such a thrill from it :rolleyes: :blush: - Give them a clean and pop them into the boiling water and voila - you don't get fresher than that :D :thumbs: . We actually like to dig them up together, we are like kids in a sweet shop :D :blush:

Think we might need to get out more :unsure: :lol: ................

[sp54]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mumski @ 19th June 2006 - 9:31 PM) 172987</div>
One potato, two potato, three potato four........... :hihi: :hihi:
[/b]

:lol: :hihi: five potato, six potato, seven potato more :lol: :thumbs:

Which one of us is showing their age here :lol: :unsure: :P ;)

[phantos02]

My cucumber plant has some teeny tiny cucumbers on it, about an inch long. They don't seem to have got any bigger in the last few days though, even though I have kept watering little and often.
My tomato plants still haven't flowered but my courgette plants are about to flower and so is my tiny chili plant.

It's very exciting!!! :)

[coppernob]

You lot have shamed me into trying my hand at growing my own veggies :blush: I'm no good with plants,Ive killed everyone I've ever had, apart from hydrangas!! My youngest CN is tomato, cucumber and carrott mad, I read this thread and came over all excited thinking this would be a great project for me and little CN to do together!! Is it too late this year to plant anything veggie wise?

[coppernob]

Thanx, Mumski, I wish I lived nearer, we could have our own "Good Neighbours Town"!! I think I'll investigate at our local farm shop, they will probably have seeds and know whats in season. CN

[sp54]

Cn, try looking in your local large garden centre. If they are still selling veggie plants then you should be ok. I guess it might depend where you live perhaps :unsure: In the south we can probably get away with planting them out a bit later - not sure though.

Tomatoes are dead easy as are potatoes. This year we are also growing lots of new stuff and have some tiny cucmbers and courgettes. :thumbs:

Sweetcorn is quite easy too but prone to earwigs :bigeyes:

Carrots are a good one to start with for kids :thumbs:

Have fun - it's great

[sp54]

For the first year our potato crop was disappointing :( but we have a hosepipe ban here and rain - until recently - has been non existent.

Aubergines are fab - first time we have done them

Tomatoes picked up well :)

We have teeny weeny sprouts too :D

Leeks and onions doing well also :thumbs:

[leggylass]

Hello everyone :)
Hello mumski, I agree we've had a fair bit of rain in the last few weeks round here, filled my waterbutt to the top!
Good year for runner beans :D my lads really proud of growning them and has been saving seed!
potatoes..spinach..and NETTLES!! Oh and my apples are lovely!! Apart from the waspy ones :(
Artichokes next year..to block out NFH in an edible way!!
Anyone else like nettle soup or am I just strange!!??!
Leggy :)

[phantos02]

Mumski your sunflowers are huge!!! I am going to try them next year.



I have only had a handful of tomatoes which is a bit disappointing - I let the plants grow too tall I think so they have put all their energy into that instead of fruit. Will try harder next year.



Have had more cucumbers than we can eat from just two plants. Also have now got a handfull of sweet peppers (they are not very juicy though - the flesh is very thin compared to supermarket bought ones), and loads of chilis some of which are turning red now.



Also I have managed to retain some carrots on the patch that our tree men felled a tree on and walked all over. Somehow I have managed to get loads of carrot seedlings in the patch of grass I am trying to grow. I reckon some joker has mixed carrot seed in with my grass seed. :unsure:

[Eeyore]

My roses are really poor this year :( they were doing fabulously then all the rain in August knocked petals off instantly and there are very few buds on, looking around others seem to be the same, such a shame

And my surfinias are just about finished, have 3 baskets finished and another on it's way, so sad, I love hanging baskets, I like to see them flower and flower, it's awful when they die off :rolleyes:

[leggylass]

Hitchhiker, Ill post it in the spring, this time of year the nettles have a laxative effect, which I found out the hard way! In spring they're full of iron and have the opposite effect! And I wouldn't want anyone on the run because of me!
Eeyore, pity about your roses, mine got blackspot and all the leaves fell off :(
Leggy x

[Eeyore]

I spray my roses from the minute they start shooting, but particularly when it rains, blackspot is formed when the leaves get wet and stay damp underneath, it is treatable with a good rose spray (I pay about £3.99 for a spray) :)

[Toots]

I grow tomatoes... and my mum has a big pear tree which gives us lots of nice pears each year! :)