I am officially a market gardener...

[Bunjiweb]

Bought my own house late last year and with the nice weather i've been out in the garden a lot this week - Weeding, planting, mowing, Weeding, planting mowing - seem's to be an almost endless cycle! I've also decided to have my first try at some home-grown veg, wish me luck!

Couple of pics for ya..



Lettuce:


Carrots:


Ben

[g8ina]

Niiice

Since our lodger moved out and took her daft dog with her, our garden has blooooomed No more dying cuz of pee/poo plants !

We have plums, apples, pears, redcurrants and goosberries, plus herbs everywhere, oregano, thyme, parsley, mint, sage, chives and garlic.

Went to the dump to dispose of some junk, and picked up 6 terracotta pots, which I value at over 80 quid, so we have more stuff to buy yet

[peterb]

Must get out into the garden to grow a few veg this year. Nothing like freshly picked runner beans!

[Rob_B]

We moved from a flat so have a garden now, no grass so need to pot everything but as we're out of our first winter here I wanted to get a few pots/tray-thingys on the go now. Any suggestions?

I thought carrots, few herbs, runner beans, probably not warm enough for toms and I don't want to fill the garden with tacky plastic sheets covering everything.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Sorrel (?spelling) is good for salads and quite hardy. Mildly toxic apparantly!

Have to get some preservative on the shed if you get time!

Nice tidy garden.

[scaryjim]

Hate to say it, but if you really want to make progress you're probably going to have to dig up some of that turf

Of course, now's the prefect time to plant seed potatoes. Buy some this weekend/Monday, you've got just enough to let them chit properly (i.e. grow tentacle ) before planting them on Good Friday. One tentacly potato every foot in a well turned over bed, and you've got a nice crop of new potatoes if you harvest in July, or main crop if you harvest in late August. The great thing about potatoes is that they'll grow in pretty much any soil, and then help enrich and work the soil for whatever you want to grow there next!

But you would need to take up some of that lovely turf to fit them in, I'm afraid....

[Bunjiweb]

Well I have dogs too, which is why i'm immensely proud I've got it looking so nice! They're not big dogs, but it does mean daily picking up of poop to ensure that it doesn't mess up the grass.

The reason I've started with the stuff in the pots is to give it a better chance against their antics!

[cptwhite_uk]

I think I've posted about my garden before, but since I have a bit of time now I thought I'd share the transformation I've given it over the last 4 years, and things I've learned along the way...

So this is how the garden looked when I first bought our house in 2007:



It had massive potential, but the owners weren't really gardeners - the trees had been pruned way to harshly, and it was rough around the edges from neglect. The retaining wall at the foot of the garden was also cracking and falling forwards due too the over bearing weeds and shrubs behind it.

In the last four years we have:

• Removed the retaining wall and set a clear edge for the grass, added ground cover and self-built 2 large raised beds from railway sleepers for planting vegetables (then constructed a cold frame over one of them for plants liking warmer conditions)
• Had the fencing done on all sides, removing the hawthorn down the right hand edge (eurgh!)
• Shaped the fruit trees and pruned back to health
• Set a patio area behind the garage
• Defined the plant bed on the left hand edge with timber sleepers
• Produced a strawberry patch down the right hand edge again using sleepers

Here's what the garden looked like a couple of years ago (2009/2010 era):



...and here's what it looked like last summer:




...and just now (Obviously it's not come into full bloom yet this year...)



Here's a few general pointers I would give during my time learning about gardening and vegetable growing:

• Add a good quantity of compost / well rotted manure (i.e. older than 12 months) to the beds every spring to feed the soil. Scrape off the top layer (1.5cm of soil) from large pots where possible and add some to the top as well. Or some slow release plant food (sold as pellets) to the tops of plant pots
• If creating edges to grass, for the love of god, do NOT use half round edging board - the grass and weeds will grow in all the gaps and all you can do is physically pull it out, or weedkiller it. Both of whcih aren't ideal. This is why I've used timber sleepers - solid, clean edge to work too with a mower and strimmer and will last for years
• Pay attention to your soil type - acidic / alkaline, free-draining (sandy / gritty) or clay based and if it's mostly sunny or shaded. Research plants suitable for this conditions for best results.
• Clay pots will dry out much faster than plastic pots, so an equivalent sized clay pot needs watering more frequently
• Pots below 25mm diameter should avoided as the dry out very quickly during summer
• Ensure all plastic pots have a number of drainage holes drilled into the bottom. A 10mm drill bit or similar size in around 4-8 positions should be ample
• Give a 5 minute de-weeding once every week. If you apply compost and manure as stated above the top soil will be nice and loose and the weeds pull out very easily with your bare hands if you get them while they're small
• Watering a small amount regularly is MUCH better than flooding them once a week (yes, I'm guilty of this too but the difference of a little water every other day is massive). Water every day during peek summer heat of 25C +
• Don't be too afraid of "pruning" at the wrong time. Avoid during November to February. Roses should be pruned hard to encourage new growth and prune slightly above the "snubs" along the branch, as this is where new growth will continue from (generally true for all shrubs).
• New plants will need watering more frequently until they develop a stronger root system

Finally here's a few comments about your pictures

I'm sorry to say your carrots won't do anything like this! The pot simply isn't suitable (too small, shallow and the seeds too tightly packed). You need to invest in some rectangular, deep, plastic troughs for growing carrots. Something like this. Using your finger create small 0.5cm deep troughs in the soil and LIGHTLY spread the carrot seed into them. Keep in mind you will be thinning them in a few weeks to there's effectively 1 seed every 5cm - so don't go overboard with the seeds. When they're slightly smaller than what's shown in your picture pull out the majority so only the strongest are left, trying your best NOT to disturb the soil (carrots HATE disturbed soil and cannot be transplanted easily). Once done so there's one left every 5cm, given them a light watering to help the remaining seedlings reseat themselves in the soil. Try and use a carrot variety that isn't going to outgrow the depth of your container - this year I'm trying these.

If you have any other questions let me know and I'll see if I can help! I'm still learning myself, but it's mostly common sense when you think about it.

Things I've grown and my thoughts:

Carrots/Parsnips - easy to grow, need soft soil so the roots can bear down, regular watering. Be aware of carrot fly which can damage the roots. Pick around early September at the latest to get the best from them.
Onions - buy mini bulbs so they get a strong start, very easy to grow - good for kids to grow.
Lettuce / Spinach - quick to germinate and grow. Best grown under cover but can be grown outside, water reguarly. Good for kids to grow.
Sweetcorn - look awesome, but results have been disappointing, might do better in the south. Need heat and regular watering with a neutral to mild acidic soft soil. Love compost
Strawberries - fairly hardy, good for kids, will be happier in the ground. Best to have a minimum of 12 plants for a half decent crop. Will produce runners (cut off late October and set in pots to get new strawberry plants for the new year!) Will die back over winter (clear dead leaves in early March) and new grown will come in late March early april, and they will flower in late April/May)
Raspberries - grow vigorously, very hardy. Suggest NOT planting them into ground as the roots spread out and new shoots will come up all over the place in Spring (like a weed!)

Green house plants: (all these HATE the cold)
Tomatoes - very fast gowning in you get the right variety, I've gone for dwarf bush "Vilma" this year to ensure it doesn't outgrow my cold frame - need heat, plenty of water and feeding with tomato food once every week once flowering.
Peppers / Chilli - need heat and decent quality soil, not quite as fussy as tomatoes but treat similar

[Bunjiweb]

Some great points there CPT - And your garden looks lovely!

[peterb]

Well CP, that is inspiring! Circumstances have meant that I have had to downsize from a large garde3n (which never reralised its potential) to a smaller garden, much easier to manage.

[scaryjim]

I miss having 96 acres of woodland as part of my back garden

Sadly I always seem to end up with small uninspiring spaces in the last few years - a while back I had enough garden to turn a chunk over to potatoes (3 month's worth once I harvested them ), keep a nice neat patch of lawn for sitting on, and have a semi-maintained wildlife garden. Current place has a nice big triangle of grass for the kids to play on in the summer, and a concrete yard, which I intend (road to hell, good intentions, yadah yadah ) to add pots and raised beds to this summer. We'll see how far I get with that plan as the months tick by, I guess!