How does anyone plan what to grow?

[A Life Less Simple]

OK, first off Hello everyone as this is my first post (I was going to post an intro on the introductions forum, but I can't find it. Oh, well, it may well be me being very dim.)

I thought I would ask this as it's something I'm in the middle of doing right now, how do people decide what it is they are going to grow? I'm going vegging as I'm trying to be as self-seffcient as possible so I'm growing veg that I eat often. But what do others do?

[smallblueplanet]

Hi ALLS, personally I grow what I like to eat, but well I guess there are other reasons....certainly growing things is fun, but can also be a real challenge.

[momol]

Welcome to the vine A life Less Simple.

I grow vegetables we love eating plus they are the type which we can't get easily in the Netherlands.
I tried to have all year round crop and they are divided into: spring/autumn, summer and winter crop.
You can post your intro in general chit chat

[JennieAtkinson]

Hello and welcome A life less simple. We don't have an introductions board as yet - something we may need to do soon with so many new members joining us.

It makes sense to grow what you like to eat, but also fun to try a couple of things you've never eaten before, or those that you can't get locally. As long as you just try a couple of new things a year, if they don't do well you haven't lost anything.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[bobleponge]

In our house only the boss eats sprouts, so we grow hardly any. Its only her that eats beetrot too, so hardly any of those are grown either.
For almost all other veg's we grow loads because we all eat them. We are still experimenting on amounts to grow to keep us in veg all year round, not overly successfully as yet it must be said.
If you dont like something, dont grow it!!

[veg4681]

I think you first start off thinking about what vegetables you really like eating. No point growing any vegetables you don't like eating. Then consider the cost of buying and growing vs the variety and homegrown quality vegetable you want.

I choose not to grow carrots and peas because they're so dirt cheap to buy and I'm content with shop bought quality. Potatoes I have decided to grow because although they're cheap to buy, you can grow more interesting varieties that you don't always get the chance to buy plus they say the homegrown ones taste better - they better be or I'm dropping the potatoes!

I think eventually you will come to your own conclusion that you won't bother with certain vegetables due to the hassle, the time they take to grow/harvest, the space they take up on the bed yet they may be more expensive to grow than buy and shop bought are just as good if not even tastier and better quality...that's when I know that vegetable's days are numbered, I mean what's the point. However different people have different approach to the GYO and may not always be as ruthless as I am but that's their perogative.

in summary my priority on choice are vegetables that i love eating most but is expensive to buy and is relatively easy to grow.

[momol]

To add to all post, try to be selective or you will end up in hunting and collecting seeds which you may not want .

[smallblueplanet]

To add to all post, try to be selective or you will end up in hunting and collecting seeds which you may not want .

Lol! that should be 'which you may not need'!

[momol]

Lol! that should be 'which you may not need'!

What we need is minimum actually but what we want is just hard to count.

[Waffler]

I grow veg because it's fun! Mostly I grow veg that I like, but I have been known to grow a couple of other varieties, simply because it's a variation and I know I've grown it myself.
There's a lot to be said for knowing what went on your food whilst it was growing, and the feeling you get when you harvest your crops. In a good year (so not last year!) it means I can often preserve fruit and veg to use through the year, thus cutting down the amount I have to buy through the bad guys: the supermarket, who like to excessively package their products. In that way I'm maybe doing something for the environment. LInked to that is the fact that if I didn't grow stuff, what would I do with all the compost I make through not binning certain food/cardboard items.

You can't beat the freshness from your own fruit and veg, which ultimatly probably means they have more nutrients. Some veg that I can take or leave from the supermarket taste so much better when super fresh.
There is also an argument for saving money, though I'm never quite sure how much money I save! The idea is that you grow the items that are perhaps more expensive to buy in the shops, e.g. asparagus. You certainly can't factor in the time spent in cultivating your crops though!

[bobleponge]

Waffler I have had this argument with myself many times (these long winter nights in the desert tend to drag a touch) and I have come to the conclusion that in fact it does save money.
When you consider a packet of onion seeds (for example) costs me less than a euro and I can get pretty much a years worth from that, it just has to be cost effective.
I grow a lot of fruit and veg and manage to drag out most of the year being reasonably self sufficient, thus trips to shops (fuel, wear and tear on car) are seriously reduced, coupled with that, there is the benefit to the environment by not driving, packaging saved etc as you said.
The time issue isnt a factor ever (for me anyway) as its something I love to do, and without doubt, the majority of stuff tastes better. I'm lucky that I have the space to be able to grow a years worth of onions, but a decent lottie will give the same space I imagine.

[Cutecumber]

I don't grow on a scale that is in any way economical, but I know that I can grow good quality chemical-free produce and there are further bonuses.

Some vegetables taste considerably better freshly picked - take peas and sweetcorn, for example. Chemical changes happen as soon as they are picked making it essential to consume them asap.

I can grow vegetables to a size which is appropriate for me - small cabbages and cauliflowers are particularly handy and much less expensive than their "exclusive" shop-bought counterparts. We are not, as a rule, wasteful, but sometimes I jsut can't face leftover cabbage in the morning.

Four is that the challenge and compulsion to grow pushes me to try things that I otherwise would not have eaten - and that can only be a good thing. Until I grew them, I had rarely, if ever, had fresh beetroot, kale, fresh broad beans, purple sprouting broccoli...

[TonyF]

I think that like Bobleponge, I'm very fortunate in that I have both the garden space and the time to indulge my gardening obsession. And, I'm also fortunate in having chums who are (a) equally obsessed with it and/or (b) want me to help them with their gardens/potagers.

Do I plan what I'm planting? I most certainly do, at all the places I garden. Here I do because I have to, though I have a huge garden and an increasing number of raised beds, to me, planning is part of the fun of growing veggies and I live in a place where the gardening magazines specialise in GYO/self-sufficiency/bio and organic growing are regarded as being normal, it just happens and magazines are very often specialising in potagers. That gives a good starting point for an annual plan.

The potager we're building at the chateau is different because the owner is only there for 5/6 months of the year. But we're going to be growing what he particularly wants - after all it's his garden and his greenhouses that we use to raise the veggies, including all the exotics and the flowers. That HAS to be planned because of the scale of what we're doing. But it's more like a market garden because we've enough room and seeds/potting compost/time to grow veggies for 5 families and the owner. That takes huge amounts of planning time tho, because of the sheer scale of it all.

And it's all organic, all three gardens that I work in, because we have the resources locally to ensure it remains like that.

Yesterday I was in the greenhouse and planted up 36 packets of seeds of various types. Last week I started a similar amount, as I said, almost industrial proportions and the only way I can keep track of it all is with a computer spread sheet.

But it's all planned, the various beds are planned, the way I'm going to grow things has to be carefully planned, what grows on the ground, what up arches, permanent beds and the like, all of which has to be taken into consideration.

To me planning is everything. Do I have packets of seeds that I buy on spec? Of course I do and I also have plants that 'I'll have to find a home for', that's all part of being a GYO gardener.

And that's without the discussion on taste, air miles etc etc. Nothing better than a bowl of sun-warmed raspberries in the late summer, fresh cucumbers straight off the vine or a melon for brekkie - and no matter where you are, bottom line, YOU/I/WE grew this food we're eating and that makes it better, because it just does.

[Flummery]

I grow what I love to eat, things I can't buy (unusual varieties I particilarly favour, or stuff like kohl rabi and mooli that never show up in the local shops) and for flavour and lack of chemicals. Planning, yes, I do plan what I grow but the plans change year to year as I try something new and fall in love with it, or try something that I don't feel justifies the space. Only you can plan your own veg production really.

[muckdiva]

What we need is minimum actually but what we want is just hard to count.

Momol, SBP, we are kindred spirits...hehehe. But it's such fun.
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