**Grow your own 2012**

Glaucus

Glaucus

Glaucus

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Grow you own 2011 thread

Well I need to ask some advice so thought I would start this years thread. For discussion, pictures and the like.

Anyway just got some massive pots and want to grow some trees/bushes and want to ask which variety people would recomend, what fairly hardy and heavy choppers, but also good taste. I'm after
Cherry
Plumb
Blackberry
Goosberry
Crab apples
3xcider apple trees, 2 vintage varietys and 1 other.

Anyone got any ideas? And what's with the pollination groups?
 
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Marshalls have introduced the UK's first ever primocane blackberry. 3 plants for £20. Will give them a try I think.

Best container cherry is probably the cherry celeste.

Remember, when purchasing fruit trees for containers, look for trees grown on an M27 rootstock.
 
Thanks for the email, tesco had some on offer yesterday £4 each. So got some.

Any opinions on these breads, this shop seems cheap compared to most, goosberrys I wnat the old fashioned green where you can see the "segment" lines in it.



Ribes 'Hinnonmaki Green' (Gooseberry Hinnonmaki Green)
£6.99/ea
Rubus fruticosus 'Loch Ness' (Blackberry Loch Ness)
£6.95/ea
Rheum x hybridum 'Timperley Early' (Rhubarb Timperley Early)
£6.95/ea
Prunus 'Farleigh Damson' (Farleigh Damson Tree) - B/R B 150-180cm 2yr SJA £19.99
£19.99/ea
 
They're all fine for big containers. And very cheap. I'd like to know where you got them for that price pls.

One word about the damson though is that it is self fertile but yields are greatly increased with cross pollination from a similar genus. Maybe put a nice victoria plum next to it.
 
This year i'm gonna be concentrating more on fruiting varieties than root veg.

Root veg can be too hard work for me, needs too much space and tbh, it is so cheap, I dont see the point.

Some of the veg/fruit I will grow this year are:

Potatoes
Cucumber
Tomato
Chillies
Sweetcorn
Bell pepper
Courgette
Blackberry
Cherry
Apple
Plum
Peach
Pear

There will probably be more along the line. Most of the time when I get to the garden centre, I just cant resist!
 
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Bought 2 magazines today. Came with a seed collection worth nearly £25. Not a bad deal.

seedcollection.jpg
 
My second season as an allotment holder and my first full year on the plot, done some hard work over the winter with the spade and fork so I'm already well ahead of where I was in early may last year. Just waiting for the weather to break so I can do some final digging and then the planting begins only thing I've finalised so far is my potatoes

First Early - International Kidney (Jersey Royals but not grown in Jersey!)
Second Early - Vivaldi (Great modern multi-purpose spud)
Main Crop - King Edward (Old School but always brilliant)
Main Crop - Desiree (Need a nice red potato for wedges)

hoping for much better crops in general this year as everything should get in the ground on time for a full growing season so no more minature veg and also going for my fist soft fruit adventure got a load of one year old strawberry plants a friend of a friend was chucking, I've rescued a couple of old Strawberry canes from the plot and I plan to tie in and cultivate the wild brambles that were such a pain to clear.

Wish me luck.
 
I will be growing an Immense crop of Tattys as per normal every year now on my Allotment. I'm just waiting for all this frost to do all the hard work then it's time for the big clear out & prep.
I'll take some pics when it happens. :)
 
Expanding my operations this year. I extended a plot in the garden last autumn which should fit some lovely things in. Hopefully, most of the ground preparation has been done, its just the greenhouse which needs cleaning out! Got my seeds all ready for when they need sowing.
 
Bought this months copy of Grow your own today. It's right up Glaucus' street.

Comes with 4 packs of seeds and (quite a big) Great British Food magazine. And you can send off for a free Asparagus growing kit. Think you can only get the mag from Tesco's.
 
I've got a blueberry "top hat" that I got from J Parkers a couple of weeks ago, just before the cold spell. I kept it in doors and it's turned from a twiggy looking thing to full on green with plenty of growth! I really should go out and buy some acidic soil for it, and would be tempted to get an other one to help with cross pollination.
 
I've been reading about "windowsill gardening" for the last week or so and am very interested - thinking of growing a couple of easy things like herbs and spring onions on the windowsill as I have no outside space to grow things, unless I take a rake to the garden outside (which I don't think college will be too happy about :p). Any tips or starters from people who've done this before? Is it possible to grow more exciting vegetables on the windowsill?
 
Picked up a naval orange and eureka lemon tree at the weekend which are going to go in our patio, I'm also going to build a planter box and steps this weekend to put a herb garden in which should be fun! :p
 
Dave said:
I've been reading about "windowsill gardening" for the last week or so and am very interested - thinking of growing a couple of easy things like herbs and spring onions on the windowsill as I have no outside space to grow things, unless I take a rake to the garden outside (which I don't think college will be too happy about :p). Any tips or starters from people who've done this before? Is it possible to grow more exciting vegetables on the windowsill?
Click to expand...

Herbs and spring onion are great on the windowsill. Unwins do a nice windowsill kit that can be filled with herbs and spring onions.
 
Winter clearance work on the allotment is progressing well, cleared tons of dead wood from the back of the plot which has kept the fire burning at home for the last few weeks of cold snap! got nearly all the winter digging done that I had planned just one more bed to go then I'm ready to spring into action as soon as the frosts are over.

Just ordered my seed potatoes and onions got a lot more than last year as I have loads more space ready for planting and we've just about eaten all of last years spuds and Onions!

Itching to get going now even if that does mean digging in loads of stinking manure, hopefully got some new plot neighbours too as last years just seemed to be growing weeds!
 
My blueberry bush:
IMG_20120217_150905-1.jpg


I keep rotating it every week when I water it. As soon as I get off my backside it'll be replanted into a tub for outside.

When it's fruiting I am envisaging myself having to use chicken wire around it to keep birds and squirrels off the fruit. Or is this not a problem?
 
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