Anything that won't be plundered by slugs, greenfly, blackfly, birds, squirrels, rabbits etc, etc, way before it's ready to eat by humans, is a pleasure to grow. Half of my gardening life seems to be pest control.
Chilis, tomatoes and cucumber. I grew cucumber Crystal Lemon for the first time last year and had a lot of fruits, so I'm growing it again this year. Costoluto tomatoes were good too, less seeds more flesh. No one else got a look in on these, they were that good.
Artjak, don't forget you can grow tomatoes in hanging baskets too. I have been doing this for 5-6 years now and get a really good crop.
GW magazine, March, have worked out how much you save by growing veg and they recommend the harder to buy ones or ones that are expensive. The only thing is they just give the price of the packet of seeds. What about the price of compost, fertiliser, slug prevention, fleece etc?
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I have a raised bed and last year stuffed it full of broccoli (grown from seed). It worked a treat and I was eating the spears all through late summer. Also, the leaves, which are massive, are delicious used the way you would use cabbage, spinach etc. Deffo doing them again this year.
I believe you shouldn't plant them in the same space year on year though I've no choice as I don't have any other room for them. Will give them another go and think of something else to do next year.
madoldbat, (love the name) could you divide your growing area in half, and alternate the halves so at least the ground has a break from growing the same thing. In the other half you could grow a non-brassica leafy veg like spinach beet or chard. The chard will last for months; am still harvesting mine from last year.
Oooh good idea Artjak - will probably give the soil a rest from brocolli next year and will certainly think about dividing the plot in two and rotate the crops. I like the sound of chard - or anything with a large yield. There is little point in using such a small space for something that takes a while to grow then gets dug up once. I want stuff that comes back and back over time to maximise the space. Thanks for your response!
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Anything that won't be plundered by slugs, greenfly, blackfly, birds, squirrels, rabbits etc, etc, way before it's ready to eat by humans, is a pleasure to grow. Half of my gardening life seems to be pest control.
Chilis, tomatoes and cucumber. I grew cucumber Crystal Lemon for the first time last year and had a lot of fruits, so I'm growing it again this year. Costoluto tomatoes were good too, less seeds more flesh. No one else got a look in on these, they were that good.
Artjak, don't forget you can grow tomatoes in hanging baskets too. I have been doing this for 5-6 years now and get a really good crop.
GW magazine, March, have worked out how much you save by growing veg and they recommend the harder to buy ones or ones that are expensive. The only thing is they just give the price of the packet of seeds. What about the price of compost, fertiliser, slug prevention, fleece etc?
I have a raised bed and last year stuffed it full of broccoli (grown from seed). It worked a treat and I was eating the spears all through late summer. Also, the leaves, which are massive, are delicious used the way you would use cabbage, spinach etc. Deffo doing them again this year.
I believe you shouldn't plant them in the same space year on year though I've no choice as I don't have any other room for them. Will give them another go and think of something else to do next year.
Any suggestions would be welcome
madoldbat, (love the name
) could you divide your growing area in half, and alternate the halves so at least the ground has a break from growing the same thing. In the other half you could grow a non-brassica leafy veg like spinach beet or chard. The chard will last for months; am still harvesting mine from last year.
Oooh good idea Artjak - will probably give the soil a rest from brocolli next year and will certainly think about dividing the plot in two and rotate the crops. I like the sound of chard - or anything with a large yield. There is little point in using such a small space for something that takes a while to grow then gets dug up once. I want stuff that comes back and back over time to maximise the space. Thanks for your response!
The advantage to the non-brassicas is that the dreaded cabbage white is not interested.