Re: Food Thread : Mon Jul 15, 2013 2:40 pm
In terms of suggestions to get started, I’d always recommend herbs – you can really feel like you’re achieving something even with just a windowbox.Thyme and oregano and remarkably resilient; rosemary can be attacked by a beetle that’s recently arrived from the Med. Bay is great if you have space. Sorrel is lovely but mine seems to get eaten a lot – and not by me. Mint is easy but can spread, so you need to pot it in order to constrain the roots.
Otherwise, I bought tomato and strawberry and chilli plants last year – and all worked well. We didn’t get masses of strawberries, but the flavour was one of the reasons I wanted to expand. The chillies are great to dry if you have enough – or use to flavour oils and vinegars.
Runner beans have proved good for me (fingers crossed) and I currently have my first two courgette plants going great guns (more crossed fingers). Salad leaves are easy, but I’ve yet to have any joy with radishes or spring onions.
My peas have been completely mucked up by the lack of a spring this year – I had got a early cropper and by the time it started to grow, it was too late in the year. It’s died even as the few pods were just beginning to fatten up. The broad beans – which did better last year – are in a similar situation.
I planted a blackcurrant bush in January, and there’s a small crop. It’s settled very well.
I’ll make more changes for next year – I’m planning raised beds, which will allow even more control of the soil. But it is a bug.