Vegetable Growing 2012

Following moderate success with tomatoes and Chinese cabbage last year, I had vast plans of self-sufficiency for 2012. After watching one too many episodes of River Cottage coupled with doom filled day dreams of societal meltdown and the end of supermarkets, I pledged myself toward a garden abundant in food.

Phase one: invest in a greenhouse. And with the German efficiency we have become so familiar with, Lidl just happened to have a handy sized one in store for 49.99.

Following words of caution I received from online gardening forums, deeming it "the flyaway", I added extra secure straps and cement blocks on the base. It has survived almost four months, with plenty high winds to contend with.

First plants I set in March/April were:
Peas (mange tout)
Spinach
Lettuce
Pak choi
Tomatoes
Brussel Sprouts
Broccoli
Beetroot

I planted seeds in literally every container I could find, from pots to lunch boxes, empty plastic supermarket containers, fish boxes and window boxes. Great fun transplanting when they started to outgrow the containers...

Outside I planted carrots and onions in raised beds. Beetroot are in window boxes in front (leaves very tasty in salads)

I cheated with my strawberries, which I purchased as plants rather than seeds, but they are yielding a lovely consistent crop:

So far, I have been eating Pak Choi (although I have learned that they prefer cooler weather as they go to seed quickly, so I should have planted them outside - although I fear the slugs would have decimated them), mange tout, the odd strawberry, spinach and beetroot leaves. 

At the moment, I am most excited about my brussel sprouts as I have seen them growing before and they turn out to be a cool minature tree covered in sprouts. At the moment, mine are at the early leafy stage, but looking healthy. Its time to plant them in the big bad ground:

Problems faced:

FLIES in the greenhouse. Rotten flies of all different shapes, sizes and colours. I hung up a generic household fly catcher and it has tempted a few into its treacherous goo already so here's hoping for a full out fly genocide eventually.

SLUGS. I haven't done much about this yet but the plan is to lay jam jars filled with beer into the ground. Apparently they little feckers love the stuff. The reason I've put it off is that I don't really want to kill them but at least they will die happy and drunk.

A TENDENCY FOR OVER ZEALOUS PLANTING TO BEGIN WITH. Had to transplant a lot more than should have been necessary because I planted too many seeds at the beginning. When you look at that tiny little seed in your hand, you think "surely this cannot produce a big carrot all on its own, better add a few more". NO! I have been more sparse and restrained with my later planting and it is working out better. My greenhouse will look very different next year.