New to gardening let alone growing veg!

[plotman]

Hi Angela and welcome to the vine!

Your list looks sanely short compared to the rest of us - it's an excellent idea to try a modest range of veg to begin with! TBH I haven't seen runner bean or pea plants offered for sale - peas in particular don't like being transplanted, so are usually grown from seed in situ (although a lot of people have had success grow them in lengths of guttering - just search the forums for more info). Runner beans are easy and fast-growing, so I would recommend going ahead with seeds on those too. Tomatoes can be a bit trickier as they need warmth and light or they will turn out leggy, but why not try seed first anyway - you can always buy a couple of plants from the garden centre if they fail.

East-facing is not a good situation for any tender veg, as it means they get the heat of the sun first thing in the morning when they are still cold from the night before, so you are likely to get splitting of fruits, etc. Toms definitely in the south-facing bed, ditto runners as they are also frost-tender; you might get away with root veg, onions, etc in the east-facing bed as they are protected by the soil. On the tom front, outdoor varieties are obviously the way to go - I find that "Gardener's Delight" does well outside in a sheltered spot (in southern England, at least), and I'm also trying "Tamina" and "Black Russian" this year for the first time.

I always grow peas in pots and transplant out when approx 3 inches high. Stops the mice eating the pea seeds and also allows for good uniform rows. Crop has always proved extremely fruitful.

[plotman]

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Angela and I live in Kent. After spending many years living at the seaside, I moved house last June and for the first time in many, many years I actually have some outside space. My first job last year was sorting out my front garden which I have finally finished, and for the first time I grew my own perennials from seed and cuttings and am now waiting eagerly for those to mature. I must admit I felt a huge sense of achievement doing some of it from scratch, though I have to admit there was also quite a bit bought from the local nursery!

Now I want to focus on the back garden, but that’s not quite so simple as the whole of the back garden is paved and is very small. I also have a large silver birch which means that only certain parts of the patio get light consistently. I really want to grow vegetables so my first step has been the purchase of 4 raised beds (Garland mini beds 1m x 0.5m – they don’t need to be huge as there is only me), which were delivered yesterday. I am pleased with my purchase, they come with a frame so canes can be attached and liners so they can be used on the patio. 2 will be going on a part of the patio that is south facing and 2 east facing.

I would appreciate some advice on my initial thoughts as to what to grow. I would like to grow runner beans, peas, tomatoes and possibly radishes and spring onions together in one of the beds. I think for my first time I may buy the peas and beans as plans, but I want to have a go at growing tomatoes from seed as I would like to reproduce those days from my childhood when my dad grew Tigerella tomatoes which I loved. Am I trying too much for my first time or should I just try a couple of things this year? As 2 will be south facing and 2 east facing what would do best where? I really do have minimal knowledge, and although my father had an allotment he is in his mid 80’s and struggles to remember!

I am so looking forward to starting, and reading the posts on here is fascinating and I am finding what an extremely helpful bunch you are.

Thanks for any advice

Angela

Hi, You sound very together with yr plans and probably need very little guidance. I wish you all the very best and the best advice i can give is; As gardening varies somuch up and down the country, and gardeners agree on very little ) The best method is the one you discover for yourself. Dont get bogged down with whats right and wrong. Experiment, have fun and persevere. You will discover whats right for yr soil, climate and position.

[wozzawozacat]

Hi Angela

Just wanted to wish you good luck with your plans.

Cathy

[Beanie]

Hi, You sound very together with yr plans and probably need very little guidance. I wish you all the very best and the best advice i can give is; As gardening varies somuch up and down the country, and gardeners agree on very little ) The best method is the one you discover for yourself. Dont get bogged down with whats right and wrong. Experiment, have fun and persevere. You will discover whats right for yr soil, climate and position.

Oh how I agree with all the above! Don't worry too much about anything. Plants tend to grow no matter what we do to them.


Something you might like to try: there's a Dwarf runner bean called 'Hestia' which is recommended for containers, as it doesn't grow as tall as the others. There's also a pea called 'Half Pint', again recommended for containers as it's barely over a foot tall. Both available on the Thompson & Morgan website, & probably lots of other places too. I have to say, I've never grown either, but they might be worth checking out!

I've also grown carrot varieties 'Parmex' (small & round) & Chantenay (normal carrot-shaped but short & very intense flavour) in big troughs on my patio - they wouldn't have won any prizes at the local show but they kept my family of four going for quite a while!

Try your toms in the pots you've been given - I've grown mine in the same size pots & they've done OK - & save the space in your raised beds for other goodies.

And good luck, and have fun!

[GrubbyGirl]

Thank you everyone for your advice and most of all the encouragement. Not being one for letting the grass grow under my feet I popped down to the local nursery to see what seeds he had in. It's a small independent nursery and they are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Isn't it amazing how when they treat you like a valued customer, you actually end up by becoming one? Anyway, I digress. I bought 3 packets of seeds. The first was a runner bean called "white lady". It has white rather than red flowers which he said are less attractive to birds - and I have a lot of them! It did say that on the pack as well, but I was impressed he knew!! The next was a sugar snap pea called "ann" and lastly was a spring onion the likes I have never seen before called "deep purple" which he said he had treid for the first time last year and he liked them.

So, now I have another question. Whilst it says the beans can be sown indoors from April, the peas say sow outdoors any time from now but it also warns that birds may eat the new shoots. Would it not be better to start off indoors untill they are a size less attarctive to the birds? If that's a possibility when do you suggest starting?

Cheers

Angela

[Creemteez]

I started my peas off on the 14th Feb in loo roll middles on a window sill. They are now three inches high and the roots are appearing out of the bottom of the rolls. If you've got em loo roll middles are great for starting peas as you just plant the whole thing.
Get cracking , girl, the time is now!

[Eco-Chic]

Creemteez,

Will you be trimming off the roots or potting them on?

[bramble]

Hi Grubby girl and welcome. I start my peas off indoors every year and then plkant out when they are a couple of inches high.
Loo rolls are being suggested because the peas have a deep root system.
If you don't have any just plant in modules and dont leave them in too long so they don't become pot bound.
Go for it and enjoy every minute. You will learn by your own mistakes.
The very best way to learn is by being a "hands on" gardener.

[Eyren]

I use the popular "guttering" method. I bought* a 2m length of guttering from the local builder's merchant and cut it into approx 30cm sections - two fit neatly side-by-side in a standard seed tray. Pop them in the tray, fill to the top with compost and sow your seeds, then when they have come up, you can dig a shallow trench and slide the whole thing into the soil without disturbing the roots.

* Obviously if you have more time/patience and less cash, you can get hold of old guttering for free. The modern flat-bottomed guttering is best, though, as it doesn't tip like the curved sort - and buying the guttering and a few seed trays is still a heck of a lot cheaper than the frankly ripoff price of the ready-made versions.

[taff]

For the first 3 years i grew veg I grew normal sized runner beans in pots in compost with a bit of manure, put in three bamboo canes and tied them together and had 3 plants growing in them against a south facing wall. The pots were about a 2 ft wide and a foot and a half deep, but had no problems with the beans at all.
The peas went into the same size pot, about 6 plants I think, but I planted them at the wrong time of year, so they didn't do so well, but I know better now...maybe...

Can you get hold of something to use as a water butt? If you get hold of some tubing, you can make a seep tube, basically a hose with holes in it, so you can water your beds without too much trouble and lugging cans around. Stick the ater butt on something higher than the beds with a tap, open the tap when they need watering. Might be a bit much though unless you like fiddling around with things to see how they work. Or put an empty small pot/plastic bottle next to the plants in the beds level with the ground and water into them so the plant gets the water direct.

[chicken slave]

I tried a watering experiment last year.
I had a length of old hose and put more holes in it (a nail and hammer worked well). I put it in the bed before the compost and left one end poking out, I pushed a small funnel in it and sured it up with a few stones. I watered and fed into the funnel and the plants grew really well with a fantastic crop.

[Creemteez]

Creemteez,

Will you be trimming off the roots or potting them on?

I'm going to put them in un-trimmed. As I understand it, peas don't like their roots disturbed at at all so trimming them would be counter productive. I've got a bed warming up under a cloch and they'll go in there in about a week or so. Not sure, however, as to whether to pinch em out a la sweet peas. Any advice anyone?