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This year's produce, next year's plans
Oct. 31st, 2010 07:05 pmWe decided to grow some fruit and veg in containers, as it's now the end of the growing season I'll go over how things did and plans for next year.
Things we grew this year:
Strawberries We grew these in a hanging basket, which kept them safe from the slugs and snails. They were quite fun but I don't think they managed to produce a bowlful between them. This may have been due to neglect, but I don't think they'd be worth repaeting.
Chillis We grew these in pots on the windowsill in our kitchen. We enjoyed having them there so I think we'll grow them again, but next time I'll be less sentimental and only grow on the strongest three in nice big pots.
Coriander This took ages to germinate and bolted pretty quickly. I still think it's worth growing, but next time we might sew successive crops.
Basil Grew quite well. It flowered pretty soon after it was planted outside, but I still think it's worth growing.
Parsley Our parsley plants are still growing well in a container outside. We'll keep them going over the winter if they survive.
Tomatoes The tomatoes grew and we got a reasonable crop from them but they were a bit of hassle. The main problem was that as they were in pots and rather tall, they kept falling over and made a bit of a mess, so I don't think we'll be growing them again.
Lettuce This is definitely the sort of thing to grow, because you can have just a single portion of fresh mixed leaves when you want it. We grew them in wooden veg crates, which worked quite well, so I think we'll do that again next year. The only different I'd make would be to grow varieties designed to be cut and come again, instead of whatever random seeds Aldi had.
Marigolds These seemed to well at keeping the aphids away from the tomatoes.
Cucumbers These were the stars of the year. They grew so fast. It was entertaining to watch them grow practically in front of our eyes and grab hold of the netting we'd put up for them to climb. They provided us with lots of really yummy cucumbers over the summer.
Stuff to grow next year:
Tomatoes I've heard of tomatoes which can be grown in hanging baskets, so I think I'll put those in the hanging basket next year.
Mange Tout I think we'll use the pots we used for tomatoes this year to grow mange tout, us they're a bit shorter and prettier than tomatoes. Also, it's harder to get non-imported mange tout then non-imported tomatoes.
Things we grew this year:
Strawberries We grew these in a hanging basket, which kept them safe from the slugs and snails. They were quite fun but I don't think they managed to produce a bowlful between them. This may have been due to neglect, but I don't think they'd be worth repaeting.
Chillis We grew these in pots on the windowsill in our kitchen. We enjoyed having them there so I think we'll grow them again, but next time I'll be less sentimental and only grow on the strongest three in nice big pots.
Coriander This took ages to germinate and bolted pretty quickly. I still think it's worth growing, but next time we might sew successive crops.
Basil Grew quite well. It flowered pretty soon after it was planted outside, but I still think it's worth growing.
Parsley Our parsley plants are still growing well in a container outside. We'll keep them going over the winter if they survive.
Tomatoes The tomatoes grew and we got a reasonable crop from them but they were a bit of hassle. The main problem was that as they were in pots and rather tall, they kept falling over and made a bit of a mess, so I don't think we'll be growing them again.
Lettuce This is definitely the sort of thing to grow, because you can have just a single portion of fresh mixed leaves when you want it. We grew them in wooden veg crates, which worked quite well, so I think we'll do that again next year. The only different I'd make would be to grow varieties designed to be cut and come again, instead of whatever random seeds Aldi had.
Marigolds These seemed to well at keeping the aphids away from the tomatoes.
Cucumbers These were the stars of the year. They grew so fast. It was entertaining to watch them grow practically in front of our eyes and grab hold of the netting we'd put up for them to climb. They provided us with lots of really yummy cucumbers over the summer.
Stuff to grow next year:
Tomatoes I've heard of tomatoes which can be grown in hanging baskets, so I think I'll put those in the hanging basket next year.
Mange Tout I think we'll use the pots we used for tomatoes this year to grow mange tout, us they're a bit shorter and prettier than tomatoes. Also, it's harder to get non-imported mange tout then non-imported tomatoes.