love to shop voucher

[charmaine]

hi all my work gave me a £10 love to shop voucher for xmas and i know i can spend in many places including home base ,wilkinson and focus my question is what do i get as im new to growing fruit and veg i dont want to waste it on somthing useless lol any suggestions would be appreciated

[enrich100]

first of think about what fruit and veg you really like, no point growing veg if your not going to eat much of it, I think carrots lettuce and beetroot and dwarf beans are good for anyone starting but no point growing beetroot if you don't like them, if you buy from wilkinsons you can buy their buget range so you can get several packets for £1, don't try to buy all the seeds in one go, before you know it you will have 20 packets of seeds

if you let us know if your growing in beds containers or pots we will give you more advice on what to get

[organic]

Buying a few seeds would be a good move... but if you're getting seeds really cheaply, maybe a good book to get you started would be a good idea.

All the books I've got are geared towards growing organically on an allotment or smallholding (I wish I had a smallholding!) so maybe not the best if you're going to be growing in a few pots on the patio.

The one I do have that's good for even a very small space is "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I think it's a fantasticly simple system and if you've got the space for a 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m) bit of soil you could use this system and probably grow more in that space than with other methods. Again though, that's less useful if you're growing things in containers... though it's possible that some of the ideas in the book might cross over to containers.

As Enrich says, a bit of info on where you'll be growing things would get some much better and more specific advice.

Are you growing things in the ground or in pots and grow-bags?
Is the area you're growing in the sun for most of the day or just part of it?

[charmaine]

thanx for the advice i already had a few seeds and plug plants i do have a book alan titchmarsh kitchen garedn my o/h got me for xmas i was thinking of some tools and bits or a gh ect

[enrich100]

thanx for the advice i already had a few seeds and plug plants i do have a book alan titchmarsh kitchen garedn my o/h got me for xmas i was thinking of some tools and bits or a gh ect

b&Q were selling a heated propagator for a tenner which may be worth the investment you can put it towards a small plastic greenhouse if you want but I never got one to last more than a few months, If your going for budget range buy a cold frame instead the chances are it will last longer

tool wise it up to you get what you need, just becareful of the very cheap tools as they can be a false economy

[Crosby]

If you go to Homebase today or tomorrow they are running a 15% off promotion to you would get a bit more for your money

[geoff]

Well yes, you could get seeds, but how about getting something a bit more permanent? Something you've always intended buying, but have always thought not yet, not just yet. Like a gardening knife, a new hand trowel, a sieve/riddle or a pair of secateurs

[organic]

There are more garden specific knives - but I absolutely LOVE my Svörd Peasant - they come in wooden and plastic handles (I've got the wooden one) and have a good quality carbon steel blade that comes right from the maker with a stupidly sharp edge which means no need to waste a load of elbow grease to make it usable.

Svord Carbon Steel Knives. The Hand Made Carbon Steel Knife

No connection other than being an extremely satisfied customer. I got mine as part of a group buy on another forum but I think he ships them to the UK if you ask nicely.

Worth every penny in my book.

Of course... he probably wouldn't take the voucher... unless somewhere that does take it (amazon maybe?) sells them for him. I dunno - it's a bit of a long shot.

[charmaine]

thank you every body for your replies i will go to home base and take a look tomorrow and see if somthing catches my eye. all your advice is much appreciated thanx again