[IrishYank75]

Hello All! I've been living in Ireland for 10 years. I spent nearly 3 decades getting used to one gardening environment (Upstate NY) with severe winters and severe summer and then I moved here to a place that has much milder winters (but they seem to re-appear any time of the year!!) I'm still trying to get my head around trying to grow certain crops without the benefit of any kind of reliable sun. I grew tomotoes in hanging baskets last year and had moderate success, but it was also one of the nicest summers I have seen since I moved here in 2002. I'm looking for some reliable producers of foods that I will actually eat and that gets the most from what you put in. For example I'm not interested in crops that have a small yield after an extended period of time. I have a really nice rhubarb that I started about 4 years ago and it has really established itself well. I have lots of raspberry plants and I have perfected using organic rooting gel to get little sides shoots to grow whole new plants. Anyway I just wanted to say Hello to all my fellow members of the order of the Green Thumb. I look forward to hearing from all of you and sharing your wisdom. I'm looking for ideas on things to plan and am especially interested in things to plant now. Take care!!

[tagwex]

You're very welcome along. Maybe you could teach us a thing or two as well about US methods that are viable here. Zillions of old posts can be found here covering many aspects just hit the search buttons. It would be a help if you told us your county as advice will vary according to your location, big climate differences/growing seasons between Donegal and Wexford for example and coastal to inland counties too.

[IrishYank75]

Thanks tagwex! Happy to help my fellow gardeners in any way I can! I'm in county Dublin.

[crosseyedsheep]

[My Potatoes]

The best piece of advice I can give you is to grow what you eat regularly. Many people may recommend beetroot but if you never or rarely actually buy it and eat it yourself, then you're wasting your time, money, et cetera.
Once you've a list of the above compiled, you can start researching yield and growing period. One of the best places to do this is in front of the seed packet displays in a garden centre. The back of the packets will give you a very accurate idea of the growing season and there may also be an indication of the yield.

[Greengage]

Now listen up you're in Ireland Now so its spuds and cabbage and hairy bacon and we in the country have our dinner at 1pm unlike yea city dwellers eating the pasta cusco and lasagne and skinny lattes.
welcome along hope you enjoy the banter here we all dont agree but have your best interests at heart.
Re the Raspberries forget about the jel they will grow anywhere and spring up all over the place, you will be fed up pulling them soon enough.

[tagwex]

I started a thread last August called "Maximising profit and returns" touching on this very subject, didn't get many replies but the humble spud did get a few mentions, don't remember anything about beetroot though. As my potatoes says grow what you eat, it makes the most sense. Work out your crop rotation and go from there. What size is the plot? What we found this year was a definite saving on buying vegetables, any amount of produce stored in the shed, having said that it is beginning to look a bit sparse - must be time to start again soon.

[IrishYank75]

Thanks all for the excellent tips. I plan on growing only things that we'll eat. Otherwise I'd die from radish overdose. I have a back garden that's probably 60 or 70 feet long by 30 feet wide. At the moment half of my battle is trying to grow things in a way that our dogs won't destroy them. Hence the hanging baskets. I'm currently looking at growing in raised beds that the dogs can't get to. One dog can't clear two feet but the other one must be half reindeer and she can easily clear a 4 foot wall!!
I'm looking for some heirloom or organic seeds for cherry tomatoes that grow in compact space. I had good luck with a cherry tomato that is slighty pointy, hence it's name Heartbreaker. I'd love to grow more of these. I saved some seeds from last years crop. Is there anything I should be aware of when growing from harvested seeds? Are they likely to have a lower germination rate or is there a chance they won't be able to bear fruit?
Also I tried to grow carrots but the seeds germinated but shortly after they were GONE (without a trace)! Any ideas what may have caused this? The rhubarb is flourishing in this same area, so perhaps the soil is missing something or there is too much of something else?

[crosseyedsheep]

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[IrishYank75]

Thanks Xeyed Sheep. I supposed it could have been birds. I was thinking below the ground, perhaps i should have been looking higher.