Beechgrove is a BBC Scotland programme, but it's often repeated on BBC2, sometimes on Fridays just before Gardeners World, and often very early on a Sunday morning.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I'm trying to remember if I've ever used fertilizer on vegetables, or given much thought to differing vegetable nutrient needs...
Nope, nothing occurring...
Essentially, my suggestion would be to relax and enjoy. There are so many factors at play in how vegetables grow...
...a couple of exceptions are now coming to mind: I tend to put manure in before (or as) I plant potatoes, runner beans and squash plants.
Everything else, including, for example, rocket, lettuce, leaf beet, broad beans, peas, leeks, chick peas, broccoli, carrots and others, gets a fairly random mix of soil, homemade compost, well rotted manure, spent potting compost, leafmould, with a layer of wood/leaf chipping/shredding as mulch on the top.
Still no fertilizer...
...and things generally do well or badly or variably...
I grow veg in a 4 crop rotation and manure the bed that the potatoes are going to go into. The following year I grow beans in that bed, as they also like a bit of richness. Next year it's brassicas in the hope they gain some benefit from the beans nitrogen fixing the year before. Then root vegetables and yes, I grow carrots and parsnips together usually. Then manure that bed over winter and plant potatoes the next spring.
There are no rights and wrongs, you need to try stuff and see what works and what you actually like to eat. My garden has acidic soil and heavy clay so what works for me may not work for you if you have sandy soil or lime. Similarly, my garden is quite cold and windy with high rainfall. It all changes what to plant and when to plant it. Take the instructions on seed packets with a large pinch of salt - if something doesn't work, do something different, even if it's not in the 'the book'. As you've already discovered, usual advice doesn't always apply
PS Beechgrove is great - worth looking it up on the iPlayer when you're starting out. As above, what works in Scotland may not be quite the same if you live on the Isle of Wight, but they explain what they're doing which makes it much easier to interpret for your own situation
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I'm trying to remember if I've ever used fertilizer on vegetables, or given much thought to differing vegetable nutrient needs...
Nope, nothing occurring...
Essentially, my suggestion would be to relax and enjoy. There are so many factors at play in how vegetables grow...
...a couple of exceptions are now coming to mind: I tend to put manure in before (or as) I plant potatoes, runner beans and squash plants.
Everything else, including, for example, rocket, lettuce, leaf beet, broad beans, peas, leeks, chick peas, broccoli, carrots and others, gets a fairly random mix of soil, homemade compost, well rotted manure, spent potting compost, leafmould, with a layer of wood/leaf chipping/shredding as mulch on the top.
Still no fertilizer...
...and things generally do well or badly or variably...
...and that's ok with me
So there's another perspective for you...
Happy gardening, Stephen
Bless you, very wise words! I think it's because I've never grown veg before and I'm 'all or nothing' with everything, so fairly obsessed right now is an understatement! I'm still completely ignorant though! So researching fertilisers and nutrient needs and I must admit the more I look into it the more it stresses me out!! I should certainly just relax and let nature teach me instead perhaps! 😁 (But that just annoys me when things fail, it's like my babies being attacked by pests! I take it all far too seriously clearly! 😂🤦♀️ Thanks for your wise words! 🙂
I grow veg in a 4 crop rotation and manure the bed that the potatoes are going to go into. The following year I grow beans in that bed, as they also like a bit of richness. Next year it's brassicas in the hope they gain some benefit from the beans nitrogen fixing the year before. Then root vegetables and yes, I grow carrots and parsnips together usually. Then manure that bed over winter and plant potatoes the next spring.
There are no rights and wrongs, you need to try stuff and see what works and what you actually like to eat. My garden has acidic soil and heavy clay so what works for me may not work for you if you have sandy soil or lime. Similarly, my garden is quite cold and windy with high rainfall. It all changes what to plant and when to plant it. Take the instructions on seed packets with a large pinch of salt - if something doesn't work, do something different, even if it's not in the 'the book'. As you've already discovered, usual advice doesn't always apply
PS Beechgrove is great - worth looking it up on the iPlayer when you're starting out. As above, what works in Scotland may not be quite the same if you live on the Isle of Wight, but they explain what they're doing which makes it much easier to interpret for your own situation
Brilliant! I look forward to one day having a routine like you and the knowledge of what to rotate. That's true, I do already ignore seed packets and just sow whatever and see if they survive. Also seed packets never tell you to stratify or soak anything, thank god for the Internet. (Although everything online contradicts itself too!) 🤦♀️ I guess learning from experience is best in a way. I'm the North east of England and also have heavy clay acidic soil, with heavy rainfall and wind and a major lack of sun, especially this summer (boo!) Fab I'll look up beechgrove, I'm sure our weather conditions arnt too dissimilar!
Randomly one thing that refuses to germinate for me and god knows why is chives! So annoying, I've tried several times this year! It really does my head in when I can't work out why! 😁 Thanks for your reply 🙂
No doubt, Zara.model, as you'll have guessed, there's a wealth of information/guidance out there but, if it's any help, I tend to get reasonable results with chicken manure pellets and granulated lime - pellets as a general nutrient and lime for any alkaline crops that aren't doing well. Good luck.
I just add compost or manure to my clay soil and before planting I throw some organic vegetable garden fertiliser on it or blood, fish and bone. Everything gets roughly the same treatment and it seems to do OK. What makes the most difference is the weather. The tomatoes and courgettes like it hot but the lettuces and brassicas don't but I can't help that. If it's dry then water it. Some years some things do better than others. That's life. Just enjoy what you get.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Buy a pot of chives at the supermarket. Plant it in the garden somewhere sunny, not too wet or too dry.
Doesn't have to be the veg garden, the flowers are pretty and near the kitchen is useful.
It will die back a bit over winter, but by next spring the clump should
be big enough to split and you can start picking a little now and again. Continue to split established clumps until you have enough to pick generously
Buy a pot of chives at the supermarket. Plant it in the garden somewhere sunny, not too wet or too dry.
Doesn't have to be the veg garden, the flowers are pretty and near the kitchen is useful.
It will die back a bit over winter, but by next spring the clump should
be big enough to split and you can start picking a little now and again. Continue to split established clumps until you have enough to pick generously
Well that's a very good idea! I never thought of that! I think it's because I bought the seeds, 2 lots and failed with both and it's frustrating when you don't know why! But buying a pot sounds a much simpler idea. Thank you 🙂
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There are no rights and wrongs, you need to try stuff and see what works and what you actually like to eat. My garden has acidic soil and heavy clay so what works for me may not work for you if you have sandy soil or lime. Similarly, my garden is quite cold and windy with high rainfall. It all changes what to plant and when to plant it. Take the instructions on seed packets with a large pinch of salt - if something doesn't work, do something different, even if it's not in the 'the book'. As you've already discovered, usual advice doesn't always apply
PS Beechgrove is great - worth looking it up on the iPlayer when you're starting out. As above, what works in Scotland may not be quite the same if you live on the Isle of Wight, but they explain what they're doing which makes it much easier to interpret for your own situation
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I think it's because I've never grown veg before and I'm 'all or nothing' with everything, so fairly obsessed right now is an understatement! I'm still completely ignorant though! So researching fertilisers and nutrient needs and I must admit the more I look into it the more it stresses me out!! I should certainly just relax and let nature teach me instead perhaps! 😁 (But that just annoys me when things fail, it's like my babies being attacked by pests! I take it all far too seriously clearly! 😂🤦♀️ Thanks for your wise words! 🙂
Fab I'll look up beechgrove, I'm sure our weather conditions arnt too dissimilar!
Randomly one thing that refuses to germinate for me and god knows why is chives! So annoying, I've tried several times this year! It really does my head in when I can't work out why! 😁
Thanks for your reply 🙂