what do you grow veg or flower

[rary]

i was at a meeting the other night, when the question was asked what do you grow and why. Some people grow veg. for no other reason than, they like to, some because they have to, cant afford to buy them, some to feed the family with clean veg. Others grow flowers because, veg. are cheap, and flower are expensive, some tried growing veg. but got poor results, snails etc. some thought it took too long to get results, and again, for no other reason than they like to.
So what do you grow, and why?

[Aberdeenplotter]

I grow veg because you can't eat flowers(well most of them ).

[veggiechicken]

Good question, rary!
I grow a bit of both - but mostly fruit.
To me, fruit is the best to grow as its expensive to buy, is usually perennial so when you've bought the plants you have them for keeps, they're low maintenance and fruit trees give a garden structure.
After fruit, I'd grow tomatoes, courgettes and salad leaves because they're expensive to buy and taste better picked fresh.
Root veg is cheap to buy so not so important to me.
Must have flowers in the garden - not to pick, but for the bees and butterflies. Scented flowers get bonus points. There won't be so many begonias next year though

[Bren In Pots]

I grow fruit and veg with flowers growing in between both. Seem to work out OK for me

[hamamelis]

Vegetables, fruit and flowers, in that order.

I probably do enjoy the fruit most, but I definitely grow more veg, because I eat more veg, and I can keep harvesting at least some vegetables all year round, whereas fruit all comes at once, in early/mid summer.

I try and grow things I can't easily buy, as well as the more traditional stuff. If I grow normal onions, and they're worse than the same ones in the supermarket, it can feel like a waste of time, but when it's something you'd need to go to a snooty specialist shop to buy, I feel like I'm somehow saving more, even when I wouldn't actually *buy* it.

I grow flowers for the insects and for cutting, as well as some to nibble on and a few just because they make the place look nice.

Really though, my plot is largely somewhere nice to be, and something to play with, the fact that it feeds me too is just a lovely bonus.

[Penellype]

Mostly veg, but as much fruit as I have room for and some flowers as well.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Suppose I am lucky SWMBO likes to grow flowers but she also likes the veg and fruit I grow so her flower planting in the back are all pollinator friendly.

I like to grow veg because ..............I do and that's reason enough, all the other benefits are a bonus.

[Small pumpkin]

I grow veg because I like growing it, also the quality and choice is cr@p and prices are ridiculous up here!
I grow fruit because they were already here when we moved in and lady likes them so I can't rip them out ( to replace with raised beds )
I grow a few flowers because...... Well I say grow. I sow seeds, later plant out the plugs. Then it's up to them .

So in answer to your question rary......... I grow veg because I enjoy it

[cheops]

I grow both. I grow mainly the vegetables and fruit I like. I don't grow fruit and vegetables to save money. Probably I don't save money anyway. I grow fruit and veg because I know it is fresh - sometimes minutes fresh. And I know no chemicals were sprayed all over them. Plums I grow are wonderful to eat fresh from the tree and eaten or stewed or frozen straight away. You just can't buy that freshness and talking of plums you just can't buy plums that are ripe and juicy. When I bring in some spring onions they are two foot high with pointed green ends. In supermarkets they are so old they have been shortened to about 10inches as the ends are cut off as they have become withered and brown.
I grow flowers for the pleasure I get doing so. The pleasure of growing something beautiful and the pleasure of seeing all kinds of butterflies, insects and bees dancing amongst them. We as a species take so very very much from nature - I am so happy to give a little back.

[Chippy Minton]

I grow things from seeds, because that's what I really enjoy. I find it endlessly fascinating that such a small thing eventually produces something or eat or otherwise appreciate. For me it's mostly veg but it's the growing that's important.

[Cadalot]

I grow mainly vegetables and as many as I can from seed because I love the wonder of it all. Like others it's the freshness and oddness of the plants I like, they don't look cloned and taste bland, plus they are not pumped full of chemicals. I like to grow enough beetroot to pickle for the year. Spring Onions because we eat so many, sweetcorn because the taste of fresh cobs can not be compared with shop bought.

I have fruit trees and grapes and I'm trying more flowers next year to assist feeding and maintaining the Bees because if they die out then so will mankind.

[Jay-ell]

I'm a veg person.

I like to try different things you can't find in the shops or are a pit pricey. I enjoy hearing about something on an Australian you tube channel, working out what it is and tracking it down to a belgian website written in Dutch.

It's really satisfying when you're throwing your home grown split tomatoes at unsolicited solar panel salesmen know they have less carbon miles. (I don't do that - honest)

[SusieG]

I really started out with just 'veg' and a bag of strawberry plants ....

It's just sort of evolved ~ I just want to try growing anything .....but am having to rein myself in a bit because of :

. time
. Cost of buying seeds/bulbs/compost/pots
. Available growing space
. time ........................

I'm just not ruling anything out.......... just get a thrill when that seed planted shows itself for the first time ~ then produces something so tasty you can't buy that taste from shop-bought stuff........

Loving my chillis and other GH things at the mo - cucumber, toms, lots of toms

Apple trees I inherited and have used some in cooking or given away. Flowers I'm a complete novice with, but getting excited by the possibility of growing something beautiful to look at and help our dwindling bee and butterfly populations........

[Nannysally99]

We started with veg years ago when kids were small.
Fast forward to retirement and its veg and lately flowers as well.
There is nothing like picking to pot in less than a minute, the taste is just so much better.
Sweetcorn tastes sublime straight from the garden, as do peas, carrots and runner beans
New potatoes mmmmmm
Need I go on lol

[bramble]

I grew up in a family where everything was home grown. My grandmother made jam from any fruit that came to hand. My father and grandfather grew all the vegetables for the house and my grandmother also kept hens, so fresh eggs.
We went out to the open fields around us and picked fresh mushrooms. I dont ever remember my mother ever having to buy any of these things.
So it was a way of life and one I continued when I got married.
I dont have a lot of space but I grow both fruit, veg, and flowers plus my greenhouse is a major plus as it allows me to grow stuff that otherwise would not grow outdoors.
I dont do any of these things because I have to, but I do them for the sheer love of gardening.