Several weeks ago there was a thread running about growing your own veggies and quite a few seemed to be doing it , so how is it going and have you learned anything ?

I have learned not to bother with potatoes as you can't grow some things with them , plus they take up lots of room and are quite cheap to buy . Eventhough the kids love digging them up and eating them !  OK , so maybe next year i'll do them in big pots instead !

Everything seems to be growing so slowly and will probably be ready when we are away !
I need to look at doing some early and late veg so it is not all ready at the same time .
The peas don't make it to the pan as the kids keep picking them and eating them out of  the pods !
So next year instead of a whole bed of potatoes and carrots i am going to plan it better and do all my cucumbers , peas, peppers and  tomatoes in there instead .
My strawberries have got a couple of fruits growing but are throwing off lots of runners which i am potting up but , should i cut off these runners as soon as they start to grow so that the plant concentrates on producing fruit instead ?

I always grow my own potatoes, even when I don't plant them ok, I didn't harvest last years crop properly due to a bad back and they have come again this year ;-) I love the taste of freshly dug up tatties.

My strawberries are giving me a good crop this year, though the slugs are enjoying them more than me, I think. The dogs get the half eaten ones :-) You should only let each plant grow 2 runners for a good crop of strawberries. All others should be cut off. At least that is what I was told by my mother. I would say it's too late for this year, but worth knowing for the future.

My onions are doing well, as are the carrots, but the brassicas have all had to be replanted :-( Don't know what happened but I only got 2 plants out of the first sowing, and 1 of those has disappeared. I'm just about to harvest my first lettuce of the year. They seemed to stop growing for a while but started again this week. I didn't get round to planting peas, but as the farmer has a field nearby I'll wait until he has harvested them and clean the ground for him ;-)

i always plant runner beans in our orchard and have never had any problem but this year the rabbits have decided to eat them. must have only half the amount left that i planted. i love rabbits but not when they eat my runners, i look forward to them every year.

oh thanks for your tips on strawberries! This is my first time growing my own and they are doing well but have lots of runners! Has anyone grown beetroot? I throw away the details when i bought them, the stems and leaves are growing so well, but i am not sure when to harvest them? :)

My spuds will soon be ready. I planted 2nd earlies and lates in heavy black binliners.

I've got plenty of broadbeans and salad stuff. The leeks, carrots, onions and caulis are doing brilliantly.  The broccoli's ok, it's just started to sprout but the caterpillars have enjoyed them already!

We have plenty of spuds coming up as long as OH works out how to dig them up without stabbing each and every one of them with the fork. Shallots look good, tomatoes and chillies well on their way. Carrots taking their time. Plenty of mixed salad leaves, watercress and rocket. This is the first year we have ever tried 'the good life' so we are really pleased with the results. The only failure so far has been the garlic, don't know where we went wrong with that.

Garlic is generally best when it's planted in October and overwintered, rather than planted in the spring.

Am eating my own lettuce, toms, pots, spring onions, raddish, spinach, beetroot, carrots, peppers,  yellow raspberry, black and white currants, rhubbarb and strawberries. 

I grow on the square foot method so 1 plot gives me a decent amount of variety too as long as I plant friends close to each other, only disaster or no show is my celariac, even parsnips are showing their faces, peas and beans are flowering but I was late setting those fingers crossed.

*Want to go to Schip's house for dinner!!*

What are White Currants like Schip?

Vile along with the yellow raspberries lol.  Like all currants better left a few days before eating other wise they are bitter.  Had gooseberries and cherries off friends today too love this home grown food putting the final touches to chicken shed and run, egg swapped for their food or bedding amongst friends.

HG my Beetroot's are doing very well this year and we have yellow ones as well :-D

Everything I have grown this year is doing so well we have an abundance of everything and have even manged a good first crop of carrots and peas which we have never been able to do very well with !

We have a cage full of raspberries and blackcurrant's which we will start to pick at the weekend ! The Broad beans wil also be ready then hopefully !

We have had a bumper crop of turnips and the beans ( about five diff varieties ) are coming on very well. !

In fact there is nothing that we have failed with this year I put it down to the weather as we have had lots of rain but such a lot of good weathe as well. I have even had my first crops of outdoor cucumbers.

We have more cucumbers than we know what to do with!

We have had no success at all with cucumbers. Doing really well with pots, peas, courgettes, red onions, spring onions, lettuce, toms, cabbage, cauli, and strawberries. So cant really complain it is also our first year. We have three hens as well. How funny are they? Follow you around the garden and wait every morning by the gate for Marmite on toast, in return they each give us a fresh egg everyday. We have not bought eggs from the store since February.

I have more little gems than i know what to do with!

My first time growing more than toms and strawberries. I am not into pesticides and cant afford organic produce so i thought id grow my own. We have peas, tatties, parsely, mint, chillis and peppers. Carrots, few other herbs and chives. I think next time i wont plant as many seeds, my rabbit is very happy because all our surplus to requirement goes to him. Were thinking about grapes as a climber. We could also supply the local market with rhubarb. Im very happy with it and there were some articles in the mail a while back about what to plant together and what keeps the beasties away so we have nettle too. I would love my own land to grow more and have chickens and other livestock but ill have to save up alot. Autarky is the way to go.

Louise

What are yellow raspberries?  I'm growing some Autumn rapsberry variety this year for the first time.

Toms aren't ready yet as I planted them late, but the plants are looking good.

We've had spinach, raddishes, strawberries, cauliflower (by the bucket load, let's see how many weeks I can serve up Cauliflower cheese ;-)), courgettes are now ready & our peas are fantastic (although I choked on one whilst picking :-O) can't believe how much nicer just picked peas are (believe the hype :-D)  Also got some cabbages nearly ready, runner beans, potatoes (although they look dubious) sweet corn on its way, parsnips, leeks, pumpkins, butternut squash.

This year is our first year of a veg plot in this house so it's incredibly experimental, so far I'm delighted with the results.  Ask me again in two or three months!

Forgot the chilli & peppar plants :-P