Growing produce in my garden

Please help! I have a large patch at the back of my garden where I would like to start growing some fruit or veg. Although, it's a little shady so not sure what would do ok there? Any ideas?

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10 replies since 3rd May 2010 • Last reply 3rd May 2010

Onions are really easy, especially if you go to your garden center and look for onion sets. They are onions which have been started of so they are like little onions which you plant out and grow till they are fully grown. Courgettes are really easy too but you need to make sure you space them well as they need a lot of space Don't grow them though if you don't like courgettes tho as they produce loads and you need to pick them regularly or you'll end up with marrows. They still taste nice but they can get really big.
Another one thats easy is sweetcorn. You need to start them off indoors. What you do is get some kitchen roll or toilet roll and get it wet. You then put your sweetcorn seeds on the soggy tissue and cover it over with cling film or a clear plastic bag to keep the moisture in and then in about a week when you have little shoots you plant them out in pots or in your garden.

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Depends on the quality of your soil. If it's heavy and clumpy you would be better with something like potatoes or other root veg. Potatoes are quite easy. You have to turn the soil over first to get air into it. Make a small furrow along the length of the row. Place your seed potatoes about 6 inch apart and build up a mound with soil from each side. The tubas will grow in the mound above ground level to give them room. Means bigger spuds too.

I agree with Arty Kikat, onions are really easy.

Don't go for carrots as they are quite difficult unless you have the patience to prepare the ground by turning, adding a bit of sand and really making the soil light.

Rhubarb grows really easily and adds a bit of height & width with the leaves. Just be careful to cut well below the leaves when harvesting though as they are not good to eat.

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I'm jealous. Wish I could grow my own fruit and veg. I live in a flat with no garden (well we've created our own plant corner with 5 or 6 plants hehe). Are there any fruit or veg you can grow indoors all the time? As in not just starting it off indoors like Arty KitKat suggested with the sweetcorn...

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Hi Ruby. If you have enough sunlight and the space for a grow bag you could try tomatoes Happy

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We've also grown herbs indoors and if you have space for a hanging basket you could try strawberries or tomatoes. We have a balcony which we share with everyone in our block and we have flowers grown out there. We also grew squashes the other year. They didn't get as big as they would if they were outdoors but they were good. And we have been growing chili peppers for the last few years on the window sills.

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Wow, they all sound brill. I feel like I've bombarded your thread now PepperPotts, sorry Happy

But thank you everyone!

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I agree with all the above.I miss my 1/3 of an acre and veg plot but I grow salad veg on our balcony.Lots of herb too.Mixed lettuces are very forgiving.If you have a local gardening group they may be having veg starter swaps around now and are helpful for advice on local conditions.Plant rhubarb and cardoons for big structural effects.

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Ha Ruby..don't worry it's ok! Thanks for all the ideas x

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I have about a 2 quare feet to keep some plants. Since it's all concrete, no planting anything. What I did discover is mint. I keep it in a semi-large flower pot and it's growing a lot. There were just two 2-inch tall plants, now we can't keep up with it! Problem woth mint when it's not in flower pots, is that it grows at enormous speed, so really hard to contain to a certain part. You could try zuccini or pumpkin. According to my inlaws, the easiest vegetable ever! Happy

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Hey Ruby i love gardening but i have lots of dogs so i can't grow anything outside. One day i found an onion in my fridge that was growing, i took it out, filled a glass with water and pulled the roots down so they touched the water. Soon i will put it in a small pot. it grows great inside. and if you buy a couple onions and leave them in your fridge they will start growing all by themselves, no maintence required.

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