To all of the gardeners out there...

Makhaira

Makhaira

Makhaira

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2007
Posts
4,994
Location
Lancashire, UK
Right, new skillset, new chance to call myself a noob.

I've finished building my greenhouse, and the next thing is to take a back seat while the missus steps to the front and gets this going. The thing is, neither of us knows a thing about growing food or growing in a greenhouse.

(I'm excluding knowledge about potting, watering, fertilisers etc, I'm inexperienced, not daft :P).

We're going to grow from seed (I've got a propagator), and probably do a selection of herbs and vegetables - basil, rosemary, coriander, cherry tomatoes, lettuce (cut & come again), mint, red peppers, chilli (green and red) and spring onions.

I've got 2 racks, and I'm going to make some more. I've got pots and whatnot, but I need seed trays and potting compost.

The greenhouse has automatic vents.

So, any pointers/suggestions/tips on undertaking this? More than happy to just be pointed at good resources online, there's just a lot of information out there and I don't know enough to sift the good from the bad!

Cheers in advance.
 
If you haven't got one already then get a compost bin. Buy growbags/ multipurpose peat compost first and then the next year reuse the growbag compost by mixing it 50/50 with your home made compost.

Also collect all the leaves you can this autumn and store them in black bin bags with holes poked in. After 2 years this will make leaf mould, which can be mixed with your home made compost or used as mulch.

Think it's a little late to grow much this year, but you could start your peppers off now to have a head start next year.
 
Buy a book, something aimed at Allotments/ Herb Gardens should be good for advice on starting off plants from scratch, you'll find bits in there that you are curious about, and then read further. Best way to learn IMO

Seed trays and pots are better bought from a garden centre or online, the big DIY chains are too expensive.
 
Thanks for the pointers guys. I was going to check out my local nursery, or maybe go to Dobbies which isn't too far from me. I'vealso got a big cash and carry which might not be a bad bet.

Good shout on the composting, I was thinking of a waterbutt, but compost never crossed my mind for some bizarre reason. Won't take long to fill since the missus gets through a crazy amount of veggies! I've heard of "wormeries", are they better than a straight compost bin?
 
Makhaira said:
Thanks for the pointers guys. I was going to check out my local nursery, or maybe go to Dobbies which isn't too far from me. I'vealso got a big cash and carry which might not be a bad bet.

Good shout on the composting, I was thinking of a waterbutt, but compost never crossed my mind for some bizarre reason. Won't take long to fill since the missus gets through a crazy amount of veggies! I've heard of "wormeries", are they better than a straight compost bin?
Click to expand...

Your compost bin will turn into a wormery in autumn, winter and spring when the pile cools. Or if you just fill it up slowly and go for a cool compost pile it will be full of worms all the time.

You want one with an open bottom and place it directly onto the soil in your garden. If you want a hot pile then you need to fill it up to the top straight away with a 50/50 mix of green and brown garden waste. Greens are grass cuttings, kitchen scraps, soft hedge trimmings etc and browns are cardboard, paper, dried leaves, woody twigs shredded etc. I usually add them in alternate layers, adding a bit of water every now and again. It should heat up after a while and the level will drop, then turn it with a fork and add more greens and browns. In winter the pile will stop heating up and the level will remain the same, but it'll then fill with worms and they will do the rest. Doing it this way it'll be ready to use the next year.

A cold pile will take a lot longer to rot down, but is supposed to make a decent compost. There will be a lot more worms in a cold pile as they will do the bulk of breaking it all up. You don't need to turn a cold pile so it's a far easier method.
 
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