Complete Beginner

[markrobert30]

Hi All

I've thought of doing it for a while and now I've plucked up the courage to do it but where would be a good place to start. Would growing indoors be good to get my feet wet or just start outdoors my garden is a decent size so growing wouldn't be an issue anyone give a newbie some advice.

I'd really appreciate the help

Thanks

Mark

[Scarlet]

My advice is choose something that you really like to eat.
What growing space have you got available? What kind of veg were you considering?
Chillies can be grown indoors. Toms can be started of indoors and moved to pots outside in a sunny spot.
Lettuces give a good return and are fairy quick to harvest.
Maybe start with some perennial herbs. Rosemary, sage, thyme, mint in pots?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Welcome to the Vine, Mark.

If I were you, I'd first of all make a list of what you like to eat.

Personally, I think that growing outdoors in the ground is easier than in pots or indoors because mother nature tends to take care of most stuff and as long as you protect your crop from pests, you can't go far wrong. Indoors and/or in pots is more of a faff, I reckon.

Having said that, if you are itching to get something going, you could get yourself a windowsill shaped trough and some pea seeds. Fill the trough with multi purpose compost (MPC - bags of it on sale in the garden centres (GC), and bodge the peas in about 2" deep, 2" apart. Within a couple of weeks they will have sprouted, and a couple of weeks more when they are about 6" tall you can snip them off and eat them in salads.

Oh - and can you pop your approx location in your profile - it'll help when we are giving advice.

[markrobert30]

Thanks Scarlet for replying

I have a big back garden not sure of the size off the top of my head gets good sun which is a bonus.
I like most veg to be honest was just looking to find ones that are easy to start with until I get a real feel for growing.
My wife would love me to grow Blueberries and Strawberries she loves them i did think of chillies and growing herbs suppose its a case of what you can seed in January time really is it.

[cariann88]

Hello and welcome to the vine

[markrobert30]

Hi Hazel

Sorry will update my location but for now its Scotland Aberdeen

If I start to plant in January what do you think I should start with.

[Scarlet]

I forgot my manners welcome to the vine!,

If you've got gardening growing space. Fruit bushes that wiil produce every year is a good start. Blueberries need acidic soil. So probably best to grow these in a tub.you can buy ericaceous compost at the GC
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-y...it/blueberries
Rhubarb is a pretty troublesome plant and if you like it is a handy plant for the garden.
Black. Red or white currants produce well too. These will all give you fruit for many years.

I love growing chillies, so one or two on a windowsill is a great start. Cayennes produce really well and you can dry or freeze your surplus.

Tomatoes I couldn't be without. If you have a sunny wall you can expect a good harvest throughout late summer if grown in the garden.

Herbs would also be a must. You can start by buying in some perennials rosemary, mint in a pot, thyme etc and then also trying your hand at some annuals by seed. Large flat leaf parsley and chive or garlic chives are easy to start. I wouldn't be without them.

[Scarlet]

January ry is very early to start sowing seeds. Chillies will be the first seed to sow for me. I won't get them out of the packet until mid/end February. Tomatoes during March.

[Hazel at the Hill]

You'll not get much going in January, but you can do the pea shoots as I suggested anytime in a trough on the windowsill.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that you can do 'micro salads' in the same way with a packet of mixed salad leaves - again, use a long trough that will fit on a windowsill and fill with MPC. Sprinkle some seed on top lightly then give it a THIN covering with a little more MPC. The seeds will sprout in a week or so and give you usable baby leaves for salads in a month or 6wks.

[Scarlet]

Have a look at this seed planner. It will give you an idea on seed sowing times. Remember it's much cooler up north so you may be wiser to not sow too soon.
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/stati...seed-guide.jpg

[Kristen]

Would growing indoors be good to get my feet wet or just start outdoors my garden is a decent size so growing wouldn't be an issue anyone give a newbie some advice.

Here are my thoughts:

Skip indoors. You won't grow enough to make a difference, and if you have no knowledge then you may get the watering wrong (if you are good with houseplants then I'll let you have a go!)

Reason: My #1 aim for newbies is that they succeed. Someone giving up in Year One because of crop failures is a huge loss ...

Plants grown outside may be eaten by animals / bugs / disease, but apart from periods of drought they will at least do something, all by themselves. Chances are very good that you will have sufficient success that you pat yourself on the back at the end of the year

I have a big back garden not sure of the size off the top of my head gets good sun which is a bonus.

That sounds very promising. Back garden means you can nip out there when you have time and weather is suitable. With an allotment, for example, you have the extra task of getting there. Also, you will be able to pick your veg absolutely fresh - straight from plot-to-pot - which will maximise flavour, and again I am hoping that will make you feel good about the effort you will have put in to growing them

I like most veg to be honest was just looking to find ones that are easy to start with until I get a real feel for growing.

Based on my Rule Number One of Year One success being very important I suggest:

Grow only what you like to eat - failure in a crop that you don't even like is doubly depressing.

Grow what is expensive in the shops - things that are time consuming to pick, such as Runner Beans.

Ditto don't grow things that are dirt cheap in the shops - Main crop potatoes and carrots. New Potatoes, on the other hand, are expensive in the shops and have superior flavour if picked and cooked immediately.

Grow for flavour. Some things taste better if picked and cooked immediately. New Potatoes for example, but also Sweet corn. If you grow from seed you have a huge choice of variety, over the years you can decided which ones you like (that's personal preference, but also the soil and your husbandry will influence the flavour). Try a few different varieties, each year, and have a taste test to see which ones you prefer. Keep notes! Date Sown / Planted and the First/last harvest date (will help you with planning next year) and how many you grew. Plus notes for "Loved/Hated" and "Grow More/Less next year"

Grow things with decent yield. I don't think this is terribly important, but when you start out and only have a small part of your plot under cultivation it does help if you get enough produce for a meal for the family rather than just a handful! You need to be sure you have enough plants. Courgettes produce a huge yield during a season, but they normally only have one fruit that is ready at any one time, so one plant, on its own, is not enough for a meal.

That said I would give more weighting to plants that have a short season from sow-to-harvest and don't take up too much room. For example: Brussels Sprouts need a lot of room per plant, and you sow them in March and don't get a harvest until Winter. Lettuces grow quickly and you get several in a short row.

My wife would love me to grow Blueberries

You will need an acid soil for them - if you / your neighbours have Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias growing in your gardens then you are OK on that one, otherwise you'll have to grow them in containers - make sure you only plant them using Ericaceous compost. Personally I think they don't yield very much, so might be better left until you have got more worthy plants growing & earning their keep.

Strawberries

They should be fine. I suggest planting them "through" some Mypex (its a woven plastic membrane which will let rain water through, but keep light out). It will stop weeds growing through your crop. Make sure you plant enough of each variety for a meal. You could buy a minimum of 6 plants, and then in the first year take some "runners" off each plant to get more for next year. Consider buying more than one variety - e.g. Early, Mid and Late - to extend the season. Only buy varieties that you know you like ... if you don't know then maybe buy one-of-each of several varieties and see which ones you like the flavour of in year one and keep the Runners from those for next year.

i did think of chillies

Need a greenhouse. Windowsill would do though.

what you can seed in January time really is it.

Don't be in a rush. Seed will germinate if you put it in a pot somewhere warm ... but in order to grow it needs light, otherwise it will grow tall and spindly and weak (so called "leggy"), and in January sunlight is weak and useless, and not all that frequent either!. Light on a windowsill is even weaker than outside or in a greenhouse.

if you are concerned about not being able to make an early start, with seed, then consider buying Plug plants from the garden centre LATER!! Garden centre will start selling them far too soon, so don't be tempted too early. A plug plant in the garden centre will be 6 to 8 weeks old, so basically that will be the same as if you had sowed some seed a couple of months earlier - you'll have none of the hassle, and won't need greenhouse / heat / extra light. Main downside is that they are more expensive, and only a few varieties are offered. Its also handy if you do grow a crop from seed but it fails for some reason - there is, then, still time to buy plug plants and not lose growing time.

[markrobert30]

Thanks for the warm welcome folks much appreciated

I will wet my feet at some basic stuff just now till its the right time to plant outdoors its really cold up in Aberdeen at the moment.

I'll get some pea shoots and herbs going to see how I go.

Thanks again.

[markrobert30]

WOW thanks Kristen for the detailed reply.

The help you guys have given me so far will help me make the right decisions.

Is it expensive to buy the pots etc needed for outside growing?

[Bigmallly]

Hello Mark & welcome to the Jungle. I'm not going to add to the already great advice that has been given only to say, if you want to get in your good ladies good books, now is the time to sow Sweet Peas.

[spamvindaloo]

Is it expensive to buy the pots etc needed for outside growing?

If you have a Morrisons nearby, they sell the black buckets that their flowers are delivered in, usually 8 for £1 but if they've got plenty they sometimes add a few more in, I think I once got 20 buckets instead of 8. Drill some holes in the bottom and you've got plant pots.