Help re growing herbs/veggies, low space

[Does the Cooking]

Hi folks. I have neither experience or knowledge of growing anything - except old! I have a small yard and would like to grow herbs for cooking. eg basil, thyme etc. I would also like to growing spuds. beans etc I have bought pots of herbs from Tescos but would llike to grow my own

Is there a book I can read on all this. What advice would members give me re seeds and equipment etc? Thanks to all those who are able to help

[andrewo]

Growing in containers

We will need to know what direction your yard faces e.g. South, North etc. Regarding how to grow, you can make a few window boxes out of pallets or reclaimed wood (look at building them two foot long and about eight-ten inches across but you can do any size as long as you can support them). You can attach them to the wall with brackets or screws (brackets are better) remember to drill in some drainage holes.

You can also use hanging baskets but they don't retain water as well. I suggest that you collect any kind of cans (you can even grow thyme in a baked bean tin, just drill in drainage holes) and use string or wire to hang them. Any container will do.

Regarding potting mix, I use a mixture of compost, john innes and grit. You can start of herbs in a propagator indoors or go to the garden centre and purchase small herb pots (mine does them for 75p a pot).

Herbs fall into two parts, perennial and annual, I tend to stagger my perennial and put the annuals in between. Rosemary, thyme, fennel, oregano etc are perennial but all of them (bar Rosmary) need pruning back in Spring. You can also plant herbs with lavender, excellent in pots.

Let us know the size of your garden, you could (see GYO March), plant up an asparagus bed against your wall in a raised bed.

Andrewo

[nick the grief]

Hi DTC,

A couple of years ago I gave my next door neighbour some spare bedding that was destined for the compost bin and I came home one night to find loads of herb seeds (in packet) through the door, apparaenty they were giving them away with shredded wheat. so if you want some Chives & Basil (i think) send me a private message with your address and you can have some to start the collection off.

Andrews right about the hanging baskets but as a lot of herbs come from the med, this isn't so much of a problem. Different sorts of Thymes look nice in an old sink or you could make a "herb table" like Geoff Hamilton did in his Cottage garden series - functional & looks good.

I've grown Basil in a hanging basket with Tagetes & a Garden Pearl tomato before now, work well and by chance theres a free packet of Garden pearlwith this months GYO - Winner

The posibilliteis are endless and iff you want a nice green area in your garden plant some ming .. Only joking, If you do want mint, plant it in something else first (old bucket would be good) otherwise you'll have the damn stuff everywhere.

ntg

[sewer rat]

Patio Gardening

Hi DTC and welcome to the 'vine
You can grow a lot of veg in containers - you specifically mention potatoes and beans - if you have a look further down the veggin'out section and maybe the new shoots section too, you'll see a couple of threads that deal with growing spuds in buckets and barrels - I'm gonna try this myself this year too. I grew both runner and french beans last year in half whisky barrels, growing them up a bamboo cane tepee, which was successful, so you see, you can grow most things on pots or containers. Have a browse through the various threads - use the search tool and type in "containers", "pots", "bags" , "buckets" or "barrels". There is also a thread somewhere about what soil / compost mixes various grapes use in their containers.
Don't be afraid to come back with more questions - good luck
Rat

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Does The Cooking! Welcome to the forum. I grow my vegetables on an allotment but there are plenty of people on this forum who grow their vegetables in their gardens so I know they will be able to help you. Potatoes are easy to grow in bags or dustbins and there is a thread in Allotment Advice on this subject. Runner beans or Climbing French Beans should grow great in a pot. Just make a wig wam out of some cane sticks and stick it in the pot for the beans to grow up. Blueberries grow well in pots and strawberries can be grown in hanging baskets as well as tomatoes. You could put a grow bag on the ground and grow courgettes in it. This first year either buy seeds or go to the garden centres in April and you will be able to buy individual vegetable plants. You can also grow carrots and parsnips in buckets. I shall find the name of a good book for back yard container growing and let you know the title.

[Lesley Jay]

Okay I'm back with a couple of books. Urban Eden is £8.57 and Kitchen Harvest is £7.25. The last one is about growing in containers. They are both at www.amazon.co.uk Take a look they seem perfect for you.

[andrewo]

Figs and Toms

Grow well in pots against a south wall, you will get a good crop from the tomatoes and figs once established in their pots (they like their roots constrained) will produce well.

I have grown my potatoes in bins for years and they have done well, I grow my french beans, sweet peas, nasturtiums and sunflowers in large pots all together up canes. I even have a hop in barrel this year!

Short rooting carrots do really well in window boxes. Rosemary does well in a large well draining tub (always remember to keep this against a warm wall in winter (I put mine by the back door). Parsley, coriander, dill can be grown from seed every year and in situ.

If you have any cracked paving in your yard, you can put thyme in between the flags, they are hardy and the smell given off when you stand on them is amazing - and the varieties, broad leave, orange, pink etc.

Andrewo

[Does the Cooking]

Thanks for the replies folks. The kindness of strangers is a wonderful thing.
Your comments have raised more questions. Do I need netting etc to protect tomatoes, strawberries?

I mentioned potatos because I saw a reference to it once. But will try. I am particulary interested in cooking and want herbs/spices chilles etc for that reason. But, I think I may have also caught the bug cos want to raise from seed.

My yard is about 9 foot from kitchen to wall and breadth of house is maybe 18-24 feet. Normal sites houes. Has long passage which gets limited sun from April onwards and a fair amount in the summer. It faces the estuary of the Mersey and I can see Wales in the distance - so I think its facing east. Front of house gets no sun at all in winter -starting to get it now in early morning does this make sense?

My experiences of gardening stem from Australia where previous owner had planted basil, thyme, parsley. Lucky me also had a lemon tree and lime tree. I did nothing and had lots of herbs etc. Next door neighbout grew lemon grass etc. I've grown to miss them all and resnethavingto pay inflated prices at Sainsbury's etc or pay £4 train fare to go to city centre. So you all know where I am coming from.

God alone knows why I have come back to miserable unsunny UK! But at least I know the names of some of the plants and wildlife.

Thanks again folks.

[andrewo]

Growing

You will need to grow chillies on a windowsill or undercover, they may do nothing outside but that is all. Tomatoes will do well outside and if they are green at the end just put them in a dark drawer and they will ripen, strawberries do well in bins. The only reason I use nets in my garden is to keep the cats off but you may not have that problem.

Suggest if the yard is flagged, you lift some and plant perennial herbs in them and do everything else in pots. Just keep them well watered at first.

Andrewo

[Lesley Jay]

The birds pinch the strawberries and red currants on our allotments so I would cover the strawberries up.

[nick the grief]

DTC,

You could try one (or better still two) of the mini greenhouses for your toms & chillies. Chillies like it baking hot I've found.

You'll end up with an allotment like the rest of us ... just you wait

[Jaxom]

Pallets are very useful sources of wood to make raised beds.The best part of them is that they are picked up for free. Keep an eye on skips and houses that are having building work carried out on them as people throw them away. The pallets tend to be made from planks 4 foot long. These would make a wonderful raised bed that you could use with the square foot Gardening method.
You would have sixteen squares each one foot x one foot. In one square you can grow 16 carrots or 16 spring onions or four large lettuce. There is so much you can grow in a bed 4 foot by four foot.
The book on Square foot Gardening shows you how to grow beans, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, onions, herbs, peppers, summer squash, winter squash, beetroots, spinach, chard, cut and come again leaves. The list just goes on and on. If you use this method it is productive as it uses catch crops and space sharing.
Jax

[andrewo]

Lettuce and bulb fennel

Pallet wood is great for raised beds and easy to use, just remember to use screws and not nails as the pressure of the soil will push the nails out eventualy. Also to keep the wood going, preserve it and then line the inside of the wood with black plastic (this works in two ways, it protects the wood but it also insulates the bed and warms it up quickly). I'd then dump a whole lot of manure in the bottom and cover in compost to have a few hot beds in the first season).

Lettuce and bulb fennel is good, most spray or mixed lettuce can have the leaves cut off and they come back again (you can do this roughly four times before it starts to get bitter - I mix up my own batch now of my favourite leaves and toss in mizuna and spinach). Bulb fennel can be cut back to an inch and it will then give you baby bulb fennel, so you get two crops.

Andrewo