The start of the gardening year

[summer_moth]

A couple of weeks ago it was nice enough at the weekend to get out in the garden and assess its condition. We pruned and cut back the fruit bushes and trees that needed it, and discovered that most of the strawberry plants had made it through the winter - even the ones in the trough that fell off the fence in the bad weather and had been sitting

Comments

[anerise]

question for you- I've resolved to grow my own herbs this year (in pots on the windowsill), but am not sure where to start. Which ones would you (or Tam) recommend for a beginner gardener?

[cowprintavenger]

I'm butting in before Sarah gets chance, but I've been growing my own herbs for ages cos they're so much nicer than dried ones so I thought I'd add my suggestions. In part it depends if you want to grow them from seed or start by buying the plants, because some herbs can be harder to grow from seed than others. Buying the plants is a lot easier but more expensive, unless you get cuttings from someone, but I'm sure if you ask around you'll find someone who has the herbs you'd like, I know I'd be quite happy to do you some cuttings if you want any. If you do buy them, plants from a garden centre are usually cheaper and healthier than the one from the supermarket

[summer_moth]

Pretty much agreeing with Starr here :-)

Grow what you want to use, start with a couple, and work from there. Mint is super easy, and there are lots of different variaties. Rosemary and chives also don't take much work, and all three of those will be quite happy outside if they get too big for your windowsill.

The ones I've always really strugggled to keep alive are basil (which makes me sad) and for some reason parsley - it just dies on me! I'm doing parsley from seed this year though, so we'll see if having lots of it negates my bad luck...

On that subject, Starr's already offered you cuttings, but we're gonna be starting verious herbs from seed this year, so if you want any seedlings we'll probably have spare! From memory, we'll have parsley, sage, chives, thyme, coriander...probably more that I'm forgetting.

[anerise]

thanks, sarah! do let me know if you end up with spare seedlings (esp coriander!).

[cowprintavenger]

What veg are you going to grow this year then? I'm planning to do tomatoes, sweetcorn and soya beans in the front garden - it's only little but it gets tons of sun so I'm having to squeeze as much in there as I can. I grew those 3 things in the back garden last year and they were useless, it doesn't get much sun out there so I've resigned myself to having to put squish them all into the front garden this time. Not sure what to grow in the back now though, any suggestions for stuff that likes shade? The pumpkins did fantastically out there last year, but since "doing fantastically" involved them basically sending out 8 foot long shoots with giant leaves that covered the entirety of the flowerbeds and paved area, I think I'll be giving them a miss this year in the interests of being able to walk around my garden without feeling like I'm in triffid territory!

[summer_moth]

Oh god, tons! Um...salad leaves, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes & marrows, peas & beans, leeks, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, aubergines, sweetcorn...

Shady stuff - maybe potatoes? One of our neighbours grows potatoes in their front garden, which is north facing so less sunny than the back.

I'll have a think & get back to you...

[cowprintavenger]

I still have some confused-looking broccoli plants from last year in the front garden. They were supposed to be harvestable in Jan-Feb but they got to about a foot high last autumn and haven't done anything since, I don't think they liked the snow! I'll see if they do anything once it starts getting warmer...

[summer_moth]

We have some too! Ours are supposed to be harvestable in March/April so I keep looking at them hopefully. They've gone very leggy and straggly though...