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How much to grow...
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Message 1.Â
Posted by MrsBeginner (U15188446) on Friday, 13th April 2012
I, (and when I say 'I', of course I mean my husband) have created three raised beds, each measuring 2.4m x 1.2m approx. I've bought various pkts of seeds, but I've no idea how much to plant. For instance, how many runner beans would you grow to get a nice yield for two/three people? 6 plants? Less/more? What about peas, lettuce, spinach? I'd be interested to hear the quantities that experience gardeners plant. Thank you.
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Message 2
Posted by thedogcody (U14659366) on Friday, 13th April 2012
Runner beans-depends if you want to freeze them but in my experience there is a lot of kerfuufle to get them to freeze and then cook nicely later- but might be doing that bit wrong
As a family of two I grow around 20 plants-if you look in the shops runner beans are always expensive I expect because it is labour intensive to pick them-it depends on how much you like them -
Message 3
Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Friday, 13th April 2012
Runner beans, six plants every six weeks through the season. Cheers, Tony. -
Message 4
Posted by the2 jays (U14383723) on Friday, 13th April 2012
Sorry I can't do links but if you google the home grown greengrocer & scroll right down there's a list of plants & yield per metre row.
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Message 5
Posted by lovespumpkins (U14259050) on Friday, 13th April 2012
Peas
I sow 2-3 seeds per pot.
One pot per cane.
I like to use the wig-wam cane design because its stronger, using roughly 5-6 6ft canes.
I always deep 1sq ft holes and fill with compost because peas are greedy and results are far more superior.
I do 2 sowings per season - I have some plants hardening off and I will this weekend set some more off.
Lettuce
I sow a few seeds every few weeks throughout the growing season. -
Message 6
Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Friday, 13th April 2012
Here is a couple of pages from a small but excellent book, The Allotment Gardener's Handbook by Alan Titchmarsh. I.S.B.N. 0 7278 2026 5
[IMG]/IMG]
Hope this helps? Cheers, Tony. -
Message 7
Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Friday, 13th April 2012
Try again.
Cheers, Tony. -
Message 8
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Friday, 13th April 2012
I started off in 2010 with two beds of a similar size, now have three plus a GH and fruit bush bed.
I set off each year sowing for 1 but yield sufficient for two-three people so some veg does get frozen, pickled, dried and stored.
I would advise to sow alittle of a lot of different varieties of veg which you like. In this way you are unlikely to have a glut of anyone thing and are able to test you skill at growing different things and taste a variety of veg you have grown yourself.
Alot depends on the weather and soil type as to how successful you will be during the first year and where you live in the country. By growing alot of different varieties you aren't too disappointed if one fails because there are likely to be several more which don't and you soon forget about the failures.
Veg like peas and beans grow upwards so will produce a better yield than root veg and so there is less need to grow alot of these types of plants. Beans I would suggest 6 plants at the most but sow more in case some don't germinate or reach the point of planting out. 6 - 10 pea plants again sow more for the same reason.
Brussels grow upwards and so two to three plants would be sufficient for 2 - 3 people.
Slugs love lettuse leaves and spinach so I grew these in seperate pots the first year along with radish and spring onions in troughs. All quick growing stuff which you can be eating within a couple of months of sowing. These can be sown closely together without little thinning out.
You can plant about 6 Onion sets across in a bed 4ft wide to produce onions about tennis ball size and when slightly smaller than this, can start picking them as you want them, allowing those left in the ground to grow bigger. I grew about 60 each of red and white onions in the first year which was far too many and had a nice string of white platted onions which lasted until about December hung in the shed to dry.
Beetroot, swede and turnip can be planted at similar spaces to onions and can be harvested as mini veg, leaving some in the ground to mature.
Hope this is helpful. -
Message 9
Posted by 7magpies (U8108459) on Saturday, 14th April 2012
We don't grow runners (never liked them much) but we grow climbing French beans. I think I raised about 25 plants last year, on two tall wigwams. We still have some beans in the freezer - they are not as good as fresh but it's still nice to have them to fall back on.
Lettuce and other salad veg you want little-and-often. Once I bought a tray of lettuce plugs and put half out in the garden, leaving the rest in the plug tray for a couple of weeks. This helped space out the crops. I have some salad leaves (raised under cover) almost ready now, so I'll get some more in soon. Rocket will keep well in the ground, even over the winter if you're lucky, and land cress is a great year-round salad crop. Spinach is easy to use up in large quantities (or any friend with a guinea pig will appreciate any extras), and you can sow small rows in succession so you always have some that hasn't bolted.
The Hessayon book, "Vegetable and Herb Expert" is very useful and includes estimates of the crops you can expect from a given number of seeds or plants.
Courgettes are easy, but don't over do it as they need space and are very prolific. I usually plant four plants and wish I'd stuck to three. They don't freeze well except, for example, cooked up with tomatoes. -
Message 10
Posted by MrsBeginner (U15188446) on Tuesday, 17th April 2012
20 plants for two people!?! Wow, I'd no idea. Either I've been grossly overestimating the yield per plant or you two really, really love beans! Thank you for the info.
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Message 11
Posted by MrsBeginner (U15188446) on Tuesday, 17th April 2012
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It is most helpful. I'm getting a small greenhouse too and I've also planted three fruit bushes and two rhubarb crowns in another bed. I live in Lancashire and the temperatures here don't get as high as in the south, but I'm going to plant several different veg and hope, as you say, that my triumphs will cancel out my failures. I've printed off your reply for future reference, as who knows how long they'll keep the historic messages once the messageboard closes for new posts.
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Message 12
Posted by MrsBeginner (U15188446) on Tuesday, 17th April 2012
I've just checked out the Home Grown Greengrocer site and it's a good 'un! I've bookmarked it to delve into for future tips and information. Great stuff, thanks.
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Message 13
Posted by thedogcody (U14659366) on Tuesday, 17th April 2012
Mrs B-a lot of posters have gone here-many familiar names
and yes we do like runners
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Message 14
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Tuesday, 17th April 2012
Hi,
I'm in Lancashire too,in that case you should also be able to grow sweetcorn if your garden is sheltered and gets sun for most of the day. These need planting in blocks to pollinate each other 5 by 4 or 5 by 5 will produce a reasonable harvest with at least two ears pr plant and sweet corn freezes well. They need to have deep roots as their 's is a long growing season, they won't be ready to harvest until at least October time and should be planted in a small trench and earthed up when the plant starts to grow similar to spuds, this enables the plant to develop deep roots needed later on in the season if there are strong winds.
I've found white and red currants are easy to grow along with gooseberries. Black currants do well too but their pruning is slightly different to the other currant bushes. Mine grow very happily in a bed originally manured and only 1 ft by 10ft with pine strawberries in their roots. The birds love currants so any bushes need to be netted as soon as the currants start to show.
We may not get as warmer weather as other parts of the country but we get our share of the rain which keeps everything nice and lush
Happy gardening. -
Message 15
Posted by floraltips (U14757778) on Tuesday, 17th April 2012
Could someone kindly post the link to the home-grown greengrocer site please.
I've googled all sorts of permutations and all I get is your local,friendly greengrocer etc lol -
Message 16
Posted by the2 jays (U14383723) on Wednesday, 18th April 2012
Put 'homegrown greengrocer' into google. It was the 3rd one down under Gardenworld discussion boards. One day I will learn how to do links.
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Message 17
Posted by thedogcody (U14659366) on Wednesday, 18th April 2012
and as if by magic
my work here is complete -
Message 18
Posted by MrsBeginner (U15188446) on Thursday, 19th April 2012
Oooo thanks, another gardening forum to bookmark! I'm getting obsessed with vegetable gardening and I haven't even planted anything yet (apart from the RB's too early, but we won't go there again for fear of someone losing their sanity).
....anyway, runner beans are good for you, so get 'em down yer...
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