Inspiring new GYO gardeners - Your ideas !!

[alex-adam]

Now, here's a challenge !!

What would you experienced GYO folk recommend as a 'starter' of suitable seeds, and /or plants etc., for beginners who have a tiny plot, say 10ft x 10ft (3m x 3m) and space for about two or three medium (12") pots or a grow-bag.

Assume that the beginner has, or could borrow some tools to prepare the plot.

Budget at about £20.

No prizes I'm afraid, but your ideas may well get some new gardeners bitten by the GYO bug.

a-a

[zazen999]

Well Adam. I divvy up all my spare 'bought' seeds at the end of each year and sell them on [to buy the next season's seeds] and in there, are usually 40 packets of reduced numbers; for example, 50 onion seeds, 50 carrot seeds, 5 types of tomatoes with about 6 seeds of each, 3 types of chilli, 2 types of pepper, 30 swedes, 30 cabbages etc etc - so you get an decent amount of varieties for a good price. I sell them on ebay so keep your eyes peeled! There are usually a large range of varieties as I do buy lots an lots of different varieties and never use the whole packet. I'll be starting the next sales batching in the coming weeks.

[SarrissUK]

Whilst I've not followed this advice myself (since properly returning to veg growing earlier this year), I'd recommend growing stuff that's either expensive in the shops or difficult to get hold of full stop. This might mean that your £20 won't last so long in terms of the seeds you buy, but would 'pay' better dividends in terms of what you get out of the plot. For example, I will grow jerusalem artichokes next year - never seen them in the super market.
I'm a big fan of garlic, so lots of that will go in the ground in September. Beans are cheap to do and the taste is just amazing compared to what you buy fresh or frozen and a little money goes a long way for those seeds.
If you want lots of peas, buy a pack of dried peas and plant'em - they're great. I've done them in the back garden for a few years now, both for pea shoots and full on plants.
I heard somewhere that a bag of butter beans works just as well the very same way.
Strawberries, raspberries.. any soft fruits are amazing and dirt cheap to buy a little raspberry root stock that will keep you happy for years.
Also remember to do swapsies with allotment friends - the more established ones tend to be soo happy to shower you with their leftovers. In fact, half of my beds have been filled by 'leftovers' this year. Very gratifying indeed

[Potstubsdustbins]

My first thought would be for them to grow something they are going to be successful with so they can enjoy the fruits of their labour and hopefully get hooked.

So scrap the grow bag and use pots much easier to water properly. Seeds, pick and come again lettuce, raddish, salad onions, small trays of curly cress and a couple of bush tomatoes. All in containers of some sort.

In the ground 6 runners beans, main crop spuds, and maybe some calabrese.

Colin

[taff]

and don't forget the sales of seeds at wilkinsons, garden centers etc around this time of year, some bargains to be had. And check out the seed swap thread when it gets going, you can furnish yourself with some for the price of an s.a.e a lot of the time.
this time of year your options are a bit limited to chard, pak choi, leafy veg although you might get away some spring greens/cabbage, look for plug plants in garden centers, they may have some left on sale.

[VirginVegGrower]

Radish and salad crops. Some onion sets and garlic. Broad beans for autumn sowing in the Wilkos sale although garden centres are now 50% off on some seeds. Easy crops as stressed above - nothing too tricky. As you want success to lead on.

[HeyWayne]

Just grow stuff you enjoy eating to start with - that way you'll realise the taste advantages, and be encouraged to try new stuff. As you begin to understand what grows well for you you can start to widen the net.