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Success with growing your own (guerrilla style!)

6 replies

DuddlePuck · 08/01/2013 19:52

Ok, I have a very small garden which is mostly concrete and frequented by the dog. I've previously attempted to grow veg in a cheapy plastic greenhouse which blew over repeatedly in our very exposed hillside garden. I had to tether it to the drainpipe and fence but my my toms never ripened (think the season is just too short here in Yorkshire unless you've got a proper greenhouse).

So I need advice from other gardeners please :) my mum is a very keen allotmenteer and grows a lot of her own veg, but I just don't feel that I have the time or energy for her barrage of enthusiastic advice! I'm looking to grow a few staples, possibly one or two things per season, which require minimum effort for maximum return. I have my eye on a south facing bank out the back of my house. Which no one seems to be using, but I'm guessing belongs to someone...

So probably low profile too (I.e. no beanpole tepees Sad), oh, and I have a raging slug problem (in the garden, not personally Confused), so anything resistant would be good.

Any advice gratefully received, so far think I'll be putting in some Kestrel spuds, but that's as far as I've got!

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ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 08/01/2013 20:20

Land cress? Miners lettuce? Low-growing herbs? Pumpkins? Courgettes? Salad leaves are probably a no-no because of the slugs.

How easy is it to get access to this bank?

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DuddlePuck · 08/01/2013 20:41

Pretty easy access, just a case of ducking under a fence which someone else has already bent aside.

Thanks for the plant ideas. Never heard of Miner's lettuce, just googled it, sounds good. And looks unobtrusive. Does land cress grow wild? Been pulling something pretty similar out of my garden on my infrequent weeding forays Blush.

Not had much luck with pumpkins, but I have been growing them in pots and I think they dried out.

I had quite a lot of success with repotted 'growing' salad leaves this year indoors, but yes, outside the slugs will decimate a tub overnight.

Any more ideas for native/underrated plants? Going to harvest the nettles out back too for soups.

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DuddlePuck · 08/01/2013 20:43

P.s. your name reminds me of my mum, she sings it every time I visit when she shows me her latest horticultural efforts. Even though my name isn't Maude!

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ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 08/01/2013 20:46

I doubt you could keep pumpkins in pots well-watered enough.

Nasturtiums are edible. How about prostrate rosemary? If it's not your land, I would go for things that grow on it rather than in it. James Wong has a book about under-rated edible plants that he argues should be more widely grown - there are a couple of threads here about it.

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ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 08/01/2013 20:46

Peas? Asparagus peas? Broad beans?

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DuddlePuck · 08/01/2013 21:04

Ooh, I like James Wong. His grow your own drugs stuff is fascinating. Will head to amazon to check I out.

Is there any way I can grow peas subtly?! Or shall I just say sod it and grow 'em up the fence? (Those panels of galvanised stuff that you get round building sites, perfect for climbers!).

Nasturtiums, good idea, and so pretty in a salad :) and can feed them to the rabbits too. I have some rosemary that seems to do really well despite the dogs best efforts but lavender goes spindly and dies. My green fingers are distinctly mottled!

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