Not wanting to disturb my garden to accomodate a veg patch, I've grown in containers on the patio for the past couple of years. Last year were carrots & spring onions. Both were easy to grow, but because the kids sowed the seeds and I never got round to thinning-out, they were limited in size.
This year, the carrots have been great (I thinnned them out). I don't usually eat carrots, but the sweetness of these is amazing. The spring onions have been bigger, too.
The potatoes have been the real stars, though. Grown in two big plastic tubs (bought for next to nowt last autumn when some bargain shop was selling-off its garden stuff), I'm now left with about two-thirds of one tub, after 4 meals for the lot of us. And the taste! Fantastic.
The sprouts look OK, too. Perhaps the plants are a little on the small side, but I did plant them a bit close together. Going to up the plant food now.
The peas were a disaster. Initially quite strong growth, they just seemed to hit a wall and stop growing. Out of 7 plants, I reckon I only got about 25-30 pods in all, most picked in late June, after which I expected another few crops, but they seemed to wither. Any clues, anyone?
The broccoli's also been a fail. Out of 8 plants, 6 have bolted and the other two don't look that strong. I learned that it's vital to keep the roots cool, or they go to flower/seed. Won't be trying those again.
Think next year I'll stick to root veg.
Martin
Home: St Helens (26m asl) Work: Manchester (75m asl)
A TWO addict since 14/12/01
"How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics."
Aneurin Bevan