Do i care too much? :s

[George.m]

OK, my first post here i'll keep it short (kinda)

i'm 21 and live with my parents, last year they gave me the small garden we have since they werent bothered about it, i just grew runner beans, few outdoor bush tomatoes and a few other little things

this year however i decided to do more, i found a second hand greenhouse etc.
and generally its going quite well

HOWEVER, 2 bags of garlic i had got rust, my parsnips have small light spots on there young leaves (canker?) and my beetroot are being attacked by leaf miner, AND ITS ONLY MAY!!

the crappy weather probably isnt helping, i'll try and stick some pictures up to show the tiny space i'm working with, but my question is this...

Do i care too much about pests and disease?, i really hope i get a couple good parsnips


these pictures are from second week of this month i think, everything grown from seed (remember when it was sunny :/)

[Raybon]

You can never care too much.......

[veggiechicken]

Hello George and welcome to the Grapevine. From what I can see your garden looks really good - especially the tomatoes. They're much bigger than mine
Pests come along to every garden - never mind how well you care for it. Sometimes you just have to accept that not everything will be perfect.

[Shadylane]

I dunno about caring too much, but I think you're worrying too much. We've all been there though, assuming the worst when the pests attack. As the years go by you'll realise that you can't avoid the odd invasion and that it often isn't as catastrophic as you originally think. Some stuff will do better than others, some will succumb and some will recover. Sometimes you just have to shrug and hope for the best

ETA

*canker won't show itself until the roots are formed, it looks like orange patches on the roots and you basically just cut it off - get it every year to some degree.

*leaf miner? Not a big deal, get it on various things.

*rust - again not necessarily devastating to your crop - get it every year, still get a good crop. Your plants look fine. Have a cuppa and relax

[Ananke]

I used to worry/care a wee bit too much but not so much now. Every year there will usually always be some things that don't do so well and some things that do really well and all the rest inbetween. Just go with it and enjoy

I love what you have done with your garden and as much I love having an allotment I'd love to just step out the door to pick stuff for dinner.

[George.m]

thanks

Thanks for your replies guys, i am pleased with the tomatoes so far, considering they spent a few months on my bedroom windowsil, i'm astonished they didnt get leggy...

just a shame i dont like tomatoes that much
oh well, someone will eat them

[Nannysally99]

Thanks for your replies guys, i am pleased with the tomatoes so far, considering they spent a few months on my bedroom windowsil, i'm astonished they didnt get leggy...

just a shame i dont like tomatoes that much
oh well, someone will eat them

Same as you George, I don't like tomatoes that much (hubby eats them like fruit), but I've got 17 rudely healthy looking tomato plants in buckets on my patio. I am so proud of them lol, I can remember them all being on windowsills.

[Bal]

Hi George welcome to the forum. Lovely garden

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks for your replies guys, i am pleased with the tomatoes so far, considering they spent a few months on my bedroom windowsil, i'm astonished they didnt get leggy...

just a shame i dont like tomatoes that much
oh well, someone will eat them

Hello and welcome to the vine George I think your veg is doing fine and if you're not too keen on toms how about turning them into chutney.

[noviceveggrower]

Hi there. Your garden looks great. Toms are doing way better than mine. I'm just going to put them bigger pots today.
Don't get down about the bugs etc everyone gets them. My parsnips haven't even bothered to sprout and my peas and beans are a total disaster but like you say its still May and there is still plenty of time to sow and grow.
Anyway welcome and well done for a cracking start to your garden

[WPG]

Hi George - your garden plot looks great. Looks like you've got a good variety of things in quite a small space. I'd love a greenhouse, but just don't have the space for one at home and my allotment's too exposed - are you growing anything in it as well as tomatoes? (I'm the same as you and Nannysally ...grow tons of tomatoes and don't even like them! But they're quite a satisfying thing to grow and give to others).

Like Ananke says, every year there'll be some things which do well, and some things which don't. I guess the unpredictability is part of the fun of gardening, every season there'll be some good surprises along with some head scratching. My 'disaster crop' last year was carrots...I'd like to say that I've risen to the carrot challenge and grown perfect ones this year, but in truth I decided they're not worth the bother!

Anyway, welcome to the forum, and good luck with your veg

[lottie dolly]

Hello George,welcome to the forum,nice to see some younger people gardening,you doing fine,well done,toms are looking well good,one thing you will get on here is,good friendly advice,plus lots of ideas for small spaces,have you seen the peeps growing in containers ext,you will also start to relax a bit more about the bugs as time passes.

[mothhawk]

Hi George, and welcome to the grapevine. It's all looking good in your patch. As others have said, we all have triumphs and disasters, and a lot of what we grow has been governed by trial and error. You soon learn what will grow well for you, and what won't without a lot of cosseting, time, patience, and many failures.

For instance I can't grow carrots on my heavy clay, yet parsnips seem to love it.There are plenty of folk on the vine who will help you identify which are serious pests/diseases (eg slugs!) and which are a passing nuisance, like greenfly and can be lived with.

A garden is a place to relax, not stress out, and while we all want perfection, I think it's fair to say that many of us don't attain it!

[Knight of Albion]

A very warm welcome to the forum, dear George.

Your garden looks good to me, George. You've done a top job there. And you're only a young fellow too... Good on you.

You do sound a bit stressed! Remember, gardening should be fun! An escape from the stresses and strains of daily life. With 'free' fruit and veg thrown in!

You need to take a pragmatic stance. Unless you want to go thermo-nuclear with pesticides and the like, you will have some spots and blemishes on your plants and some wonky bits, and you'll lose a few plants and seedlings to local wildlife, but that's Nature! Enough will get through and you'll end up with good, healthy, nutritious, (hopefully) organic produce that tastes way better than anything you can buy in the shops and that you can take pride in having grown.

[george356]

Welcome to the 'vine George, from another George.

One bit of advice I was given was to sit in the garden on a sunny summer day and watch what the sun did. That way you will be able to see which areas get full sun and which remain in shade. That will help you decide what to plant where.

Also remember you are growing to eat, not to win prizes, although it is satisfying to have it look as good as it tastes.