The Time Has Come To Grow My Own!

reply to post by AlreadyGone


Yes the shipping is a bit of a hitch. They will ship to UK though so may do this and get a friend to forward them on to me.
I am in Co Wexford, the "sunny south east", where in the summer we are inundated with strawberries! Looking forward already to my first farmed trout on a bed of green leaf, scallions, radish, and spinach...

The point you make about not diving into it, is a good one. I know someone local who has been doing this a while now, and he pretty much said the same. It's good though that at the same time as growing this stuff, it is also giving me exercise, and an opportunity to educate my young kids into the fact that peas do not come out of the freezer or tin! If you get my drift.

Sláinte

To the OP. Collect your own seeds from everything. Plant your potato peelings, they grow too.

I recommend redcurrants, strawberries & brambles if you have the space. Cheap and abundant and plants last for years. I don't recommend throwing your strawb plants away and replacing them every 2 years. Mine are about 6 years old and yield huge crops.

Feeding does make a difference. e.g. I have a young pear tree, got half a dozen fruit each year till last year then I fed it just before flowering and I got pounds and pounds of fruit. HUNDREDS!

If you're going to have an apple tree I've read 1 cox's apple gives you more vitamin C than 2 pounds of golden delicious.

Tough polythene by the metre off ebay is cheap. You can build tunnels or geodesic domes or anything these days, on the cheap. You can buy hub connectors from ebay too.

Tyres, if you saw off an inch or two from the rim (both sides ) then turn the tyres inside out, they can stack as high as you like for a potato tower. (an inside out tyre has much more space inside than an ordinary tyre, and it stacks tightly)

Keep watching the local ads for cheap timber, railway sleepers, glass, polycarbonate sheets, pots, bricks, slabs, anything. Growing your own shouldn't cost a fortune. Shops like lidl, home bargains, etc, sell fruit trees, seeds etc cheap.

Get your chops around these

reply to post by wigit


I'm loving that dish of fruit!
You speak a lot of common sense, I am sourcing old scaffolding planks for my raised beds and nursery cloches.
The little garage round the corner has said I can take as many old tyres as I like, had the spuds in mind for that, maybe parsnips too.
Thanks for the info.

Just a reminder, when saving seeds and getting ready to germinate...many will need to be put in the freezer or very cold fridge for a few weeks. This simulates winter so the seeds thinks its spring and time to sprout when the temperature adjusts to the atmosphere when you take them out. The friend who gave me the strawberries stores all her seeds in the freezer, and swears they last for years until she is ready to plant them. Kind of a rotation alternating the variety since she has so many. Good Luck and post pics of your seedlings and tunnel. Would love to see it.

I have this book I have had for many years all about this sort of thing.

Book title is "Home Solar Gardening" and the author is John H Pierce. ISBN is 1550133810 Dated 1981.

Looks like there are a few at abebooks.com

Abebooks.com

Six at amazon.com

Book talks about all kinds of "solar growers". Structures starting with the simple cold frame up to complicated attached to your house growers with movable insulation and heat storing features.

Also includes chapters on what to grow and one chapter on how to make soap and shampoo and personal care products from common garden plants.

Also you can buy a number 10 can of non-gmo non hybrid seed that can store for many years.
Can o seeds

@Sunflowerstar and kawika

Thanks very much for the advice and links, I have never considered freezing seeds before, and I will definately check the books out tomorrow.
Cheers Guys

I started this thread last year when I was about to embark on a different style of living, trying to become a little more self sufficient where I can. I wanted to ressurect it again as now I feel a fair bit of progress has been made and hence I am keen again to soak up any advice you guys have.

I now have the polytunnel up and running, 28ft x 10ft
I also have a flock of 14 laying hens to boot

Am keen to take it a step further now, realising that if I in reality have a cap on my earnings, then the way forward is to try to save money and make what I do have go further. I love looking around sites which recycle and reuse "junk" such as pallets and again, would be appreciative of any handy tips of stuff you have tried out that work.
Cheers in advance

reply to post by Mufcutcakeyumyum


I'm taking the plunge soon as well, been researching for months...so I'll have to reply back later as well.
I'm doing raised beds (just for convenience and my wife's back), and we have horses, so plenty of manure.

I do plan on planting small started plants though, vs. from seeds, for quicker results to keep us motivated. I plan on using soaker hoses for watering, so I can just turn on the faucet, go do another chore, then turn it off after a time (or get a timer mechanism).

My plan so far is:

Carrots, cucumber, tomato, celery, onions, green onions, potatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, banana peppers, green beans, and radishes

Around the house:

Roses (medicinal), Pineapple, and Aloe (all three of these are already growing around the house)

Then, we're making a separate culinary/medicinal garden around a small goldfish pond in the entryway:

Roselle (FL Cranberry), Garlic, Chives, Lavender, Rosemary, Shasta Daisies, Parsley, Witch Hazel, Sage, Catnip, Chamomile, and Oregano

Also, some trees:

Tangerine (already growing), 3 Apple trees (Anna, Tropic Sweet, and Dorsett Golden), Avocado, Dwarf Banana, Orange, Pear, and Peach. Of course, will take years for these to bear fruit. We're buying small (about 4') trees

reply to post by Gazrok


That sounds great, but I bet you have the climate for all those "exotic" examples, sadly in Ireland I would be restricted to in the tunnel.
I like the medicinal garden, and have decided to grow a selection of herbs etc too. Sunflowers for the seeds is a must, as well as fruit bushes such as blueberries. To go with this, we are going to try to "cultivate" our own yoghurt too.
I suppose the list is "endless" but your point about motivation is important: On some days the last thing you may have time for or the inclination for, is the garden but I keep reminding myself of the benefits, and watch or read what others have done for ideas.
12 eggs from 14 hens yesterday, so omlettes for dinner later I think!

Keep in touch with it.

reply to post by Mufcutcakeyumyum


Yep, I had to research a lot (especially to find apples that will grow in sunny FL and still taste good).

The carrots and apples are primarily for the horses as well as us. The celery is primarily for the bunnies.