Talkback: Growing veg in small spaces - Talkback

21/02/2011 at 16:04

Cayenne Chili - cropped for months for me last year and saved us about £60 or maybe even more... (we buy lots normally!)

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21/02/2011 at 16:55

I only started experimenting with growing veg last year in a few pots but would like to expand this now so I can produce more. I have a boring rectangular lawn which I am quite happy to dig up completely but I am stuck for what to do with the layout. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make my garden productive and attractive at the same time. I am struggling to find inspiration and a design for my garden (which is at the front of my house and not at the back so it's quite visible) and any ideas would be gratefully received.

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21/02/2011 at 18:06

Hi llamalady Why not grow flowers with your vegetables like like for example sweet peas with your runner beans.

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21/02/2011 at 20:41

Hi.. Find footage of Geoff Hamilton's ornamental garden (think Gardeners World MAY have covered it).He plants crops such as Chard amongst his shrubs.Not only does it look good,it fills spaces, adds colour and is considerably cheaper than unedible plants.

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21/02/2011 at 21:09

hi.. llamalady check out chelsea flower show website. they have a few show gardens,that have flowers and vegetables growing together. also they have plans of designs that you can try in your own garden ,with a full list of flowers and veg.good luck in your search and keep us informed on how u get on.

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21/02/2011 at 21:13

Do what they did at the Bristol University Botanic Garden last year, llamalady. it was quite beautiful and would have been admired in any road as a front garden. Start with a wigwam of six bamboo canes in the middle and grow barlotti beans up them(pink and white1). From this mark out straight lines to the edge of the plot and sow pretty lettuce, red spring onions, fennel, beetroot, chard yellow, orange and red. Then, in the triangles left plant yellow and green courgettes, squashes of various shapes and sizes, sugar peas, peppers and even aubergines. Four groups of marigolds to deter pests, dark kale pants round the beans and many other unusual varieties were of great interest throughout the season.

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22/02/2011 at 08:51

Hi everyone Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions now all I have to do is wait for it to stop raining so I can get started :-)

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22/02/2011 at 12:41

Hi there, just found the book mentioned above on ebay & purchased it, there's one copy left, here's the link for anyone who's looking for it, sounds like an interesting read http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330517845986

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22/02/2011 at 12:45

Actually, can someone tell me what is the minimum space required to walk around/kneel at raised beds, i.e. what's a comfortable distance to have between them? I plan on erecting 4 x 1m square raised beds, I have limited space but want to be careful not to have them too close together, if needs be I'll make the beds smaller. thanks!

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22/02/2011 at 17:04

Reply to Lisa. Not sure what others think, but I have limited space too, so have made the paths between beds 45cm (18in) wide. This has been fine for access for sowing, planting, watering, weeding, picking, etc. Any wider would be a waste of space.

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22/02/2011 at 19:35

Reply to Lisa. You may need slightly wider access if you plan to put raised covers on the beds - such as rectangular covers or cold frames, so you can still bend/kneel ok. And if you like to keep things neat, ensure you can get your normal broom or rake between the beds!

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22/02/2011 at 19:42

Re veggies & VSR, the other thing to consider is to factor in the cost (or even accessibility) of buying such a crop in the shop. So, this could raise the VSR of cherry tomatoes, most herbs & slads, pak choi, asparagus, chard, early salad potatoes, apricots, kiwi fruit, physalis, etc. and then of course, any Value depends on your tastes !

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23/02/2011 at 15:38

@Adam, @Chalkweed - many thanks for your suggestions, I'm going to start marking out the beds today!

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23/02/2011 at 16:53

We have a raised bed 12ft x 4ft in which I planted about 60 chitted potatoes mid March last year: Desiree and Charlotte. We dug them up at the end of July and managed to fill three big sacks. http://archers-at-the-larches.blogspot.com/2010/07/gardening-in-pictures-iv.html These potatoes lasted us (family of four) till January, a brilliant saving on a £12 outlay.

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23/02/2011 at 19:44

Can someone help please i have blit in my veg patch can i put jeys fluid on it if so how long do i leave it before i use it. Thanks

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24/02/2011 at 13:48

I bought 5 bags of seed potatoes last year and only yealded maybe 3/4 sack!! the cost was far greater than buying a sack.....have already planted six plastic heavy duty bags with 3 spuds in each and covered from the frost. I am to keep filling up the sack and then hopefully a greater yeald. Has anyone any further suggestions to get more potatoes per seed?

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24/02/2011 at 19:44

Loads of well-rotted horse manure did it for me - huge potatoes,huge yield of "Swift" and that is an early. Almost as early were King Edwards and same result.

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24/02/2011 at 20:28

Hi Lisa, I have 10 raised beds in my garden, I think they are about 75cm apart which is loads of room. Hope that helps. ONe piece of advice I'd give though is don't make the beds too wide, mine are 1.5m which is a bit too wide I find myself stretching to get to the middle. I read somewhere that 1.2m is the optimum width I think that sounds much better.

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24/02/2011 at 21:47

Put some shredded newspaper at the bottom of the potato bags,compost mixed with any general all purpose fertilizer with the potato seeds on top then cover with more compost. Always water well by by using a two or three litre bottle pushed upside in the compost with holes in the lid and the bottom cut out the bottom for easy water acses and hopefuly you will get agood crop.

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25/02/2011 at 11:15

Reply to Chris G: Why would you want to Jeyes Fluid on the soil? This is an outdoor cleaning fluid, so I can't think of any reason why you'd want to.