Responses of "oh, we have a lovely market outside our door that has everything locally grown in perfect condition" will not be considered helpful ...

Well, definitely things you eat very fresh, probably raw, first of all. In other words, not much sense in doing potatoes (or just a bit for summer new potato pleasure).

You can probably grow different salads all year round. I had an article on this somewhere, I remember trying it for a year and it worked (ie no need to buy salads at all for a year). The drawback was having to have a bunch of different seeds, and the right ones at the right time. Roughly, you can grow different types of lettuce in spring, summer, autumn, then endives (or chicory, I can never get these names right between British, French, and American usage), including the red Italian kinds that heart in January.

A nice catch crop is corn salad, there are autumn varieties and frost-resisting varieties for later in the year. Rocket should be easy to grow in your climate, spring and autumn. Sorrel is a bit acid, but can go into mixed leaf salads (and also be cooked like spinach, accompanies fish well). Red cabbage is good raw, sliced thin, and easy to grow.

Spinach would be good, too, and chards which you've already mentioned. Beetroot you could have over a fairly long season. Spring carrots and onions would be nice, even if you chose to buy in for the rest of the year rather than take up too much space.

It might not be done where you are, but I'd want to sow peas and broad beans late in the year to get them out of the way a bit earlier the following summer. Cabbages, Brussels (Euro)sprouts -- I don't know, they take up space and the growing season is long.

Tomatoes -- we grow "heirloom" varieties and have done some testing of these with our nurserypeople neighbours. Here we get a long season, so we've tended to select and keep (seed from year to year) of long-season varieties. But there are Siberian (!) short-season varieties we've tried, and they're good. I'll have a word with the neighbours and see what they suggest.

One variety I'd definitely recommend is Bloody Butcher -- the fruit is small to medium sized and bright red, very tasty, and it starts early and will go on till the season is over.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

We are quite successful with our Jerusalem Artichoke harvest this year. Successful means, we did not have to do squat, while our Tomatoes died, and we have not been very successful with anything else either...

I grew cress seeds once.  I usually forget to water house plants.

I have a not large apartment with a balcony.  Rules of the leasehold prevent me from putting much on the balcony though so in practical terms I only have a very small amount of space in/outside to grow anything.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to have a go but I can't see myself doing very well.

I definitely don't have the time (or inclination if I am honest) to get an allotment - the nearest ones I know of are at least 10/15 minutes drive away. I like the idea of growing my own food though.

Ad astra per aspera

Oh, there is a very nice local producers' market on the square close to my appartment. They have everything I need, including delicious varieties of tomatoes, goat cheese and , well, everything...

<ducks and runs...>

"Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char

Herbs for sure, because they can be grown in containers or among the flowers. Basil is the only tricky one; the rest take care of themselves. There may be a hardy basil variety, but I haven't found it. MUST have sufficient, but not too much, water; MUST not get too cold; MUST have decent amount of sunshine. Beyond that, many bugs love basil as much as you and I. Funny thing is that, once the basil gets established, it flourishes - barring the aforementioned water issues.

All herbs can be frozen - just rinse them off a little and air-dry for an hour or two, throw them in a freezer bag, press the air out of the bag, seal it up, and throw it in the freezer. Another way is to make basil, parsley, olive oil pesto - pine nuts, if you want - in the old Bassomatic 500 (Dan Ackroyd skit), then bag, press, and freeze.

Best bang for the buck - green beans, climbing variety. Stake 'em or build a tripod, occasionally convince them to stick to their climbing pole. Plant in mid-Spring (past frosts), then again in July. Soil does not have to be high-quality, but some humus never hurts. Harvest frequently to keep them going.

Second best is lettuce, because you can eat the thinnings. Trick - get small glass storage bottles and label them with, say, three varieties - I like Romaine and Butter Crunch for two of them. Add about half a jar of sand, throw the seeds in them, cap 'em, and shake to mix the seeds into the sand. When you plant, grab some of the sand and let it run out of your hand into the row or broadcast it into a small area. Plant regularly through the growing season, but they will bolt to seed quickly, when the weather gets hot.

Tomatoes, no doubt. I concentrate on cherry-types for quickest production and Romas for eating and freezing. Romas resist all kinds of diseases, plus splitting from heavy rains. They are the best storage tomatoes, and, if you like your sauce meaty (not runny), then Romas are for you. These can also be run through the Bassomatic, bagged, and frozen - no prep other than light rinse, unless you don't like tomato skin in your sauce.

If you have the room, build an arbor and grow, say, two grape vines - same variety. Two years to get a decent crop, then only pruning annually to maintain the relationship of the vines to the arbor. Under an arbor, you can sit in the shade, or you could grow some of that lettuce that doesn't like hot sunshine.

Carrots and spinach can be overwintered with a little protection from some light mulch. Plant edible-pod peas in late July for peas in September-October, because they don't like hot weather either. Best to have climbing devices for the peas, too.

Brussels Sprouts are the best payback on the cabbage family - again, because they grow vertically. After that, it's all about space and growing season.

paul spencer

here are some suggestions for small space gardening i've tried and you may enjoy...

sunflower and buckwheat greens.

take a shallow flat box, line with plastic if you want, then fill up with peat moss, compost and or soil, it doesn't need fertiliser.

dampen medium, then sprinkle in unhulled sunflower seeds, cover with a sheet of damp paper and keep watering till the hulls crack and the sprout emerges, a few days. remove paper and continue light daily watering.

harvest with scissors when about 8 cm tall.

buckwheat works in the same way... this is an easy, cheap way of  providing fresh greens during the winter, on a sunny balcony or indoors in a sunny spot.
when a tray is finished, compost the peatmoss and root mat.

the first few days till the sprout emerges you can leave the trays in the dark, then move to a light place to enable photosynthesis.

that way you can have some sprouting in a cellar or dark zone, while harvesting the ready ones.

i cannot emphasize enough how tasty and nutritious these greens are, and how even a child can follow through on such a simple process and experience the satisfaction that comes from growing your own food.

wicked in sarnies too...

the buckwheat ones are high in rutin, which is good for you.

of course there are alfalfa and other seed sprouts that can be grown in glass jars, tilted upside down to drain.

the soaking and rinsing water is much appreciated by houseplants.

there is a drink that used to be popular in pre-industrial times in america called rejuvelac, that is super nutritious. it is made by soaking wheat berries in water, then pouring off the milky, slightly fizzy liquid to drink.

quite refreshing...

then when the berries sprout, you can grind them, make small loaves, and cook them in the sun, or a solar oven.

very chewy and delicious...

getting OT here, but while we're at it, i should add how to make seed cheese.

grind almonds, sesame, sunflower seeds, or cashews till a flour, the add water from rinsing sprouts, and let paste ferment to taste.

the enzymes in the sprout water change the seed meal into something spicy and spreadable, that can be enhanced with a few chopped herbs, such as green onion, basil or parsley.

a healthful winter to you all!

Peace is not the absence of war -- peace is the absence of fear. Ursula Franklin

so i tent to stick to fresh veggies that i enjoy eating - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil in the summer, beets, carrrots, peas, green onions and cilantro/parsley in the winter. most of the mediterranean herbs (oregano, thyme, tarragon, lavendar, rosemary) have gone native, and act more like weeds than crops. i'm playing with the idea of planting potatoes this winter (we have relatively mild winters, only occasional frosts and very rarely snow) just to see how it goes, and to get a leg up on the rest of the suburbanites if kunstler's doomer peak oil scenario ever pans out.

i'm very lucky in that the previous owners of the house i rent planted several fruit trees, so i get to eat lots of citrus, peaches and what are apparently called "pineapple guava."

Here in Florida we grow a lot of mustard and collard greens. For those who don't know collards, they're sort of a loose leaf cabbage. Very tasty and nutritious.
Mustards are really quick to grow and when they bolt you can use the seed too. Oh, and I always like to plant turnips too, they grow like weeds around here.
Here in the northern part of Florida (St. Augustine) we still get a few frosts in January and February, but lettuces, all types of greens and perennial herbs, potatoes, peas still grow vigorously. And here you have to grow your own, because there is no local agriculture.

I've been wanting to green my fingers again - especially now spring is hitting South Africa. Most of the things I aimed for have been mentioned - in no particular order I've my eyes set on herbs (the usual suspects of basil, rosemary, thyme, sage and hopefully lemongrass), salads, spring onions, carrots, possibly beans. I'd love to extent with larger plants, like courgettes (I love my courgette!), tomatoes, cauliflower - all vegetables with a large diversity for in the kitchen and expensive in the supermarket. The mentioned three also neatly cover three seasons. But lack of space will currently prevent me from embracing bigger plants. My next dream: to grow a pineapple.

The problem of course is that I can't even start with the small plants because the equipment I will need to start will rob me from my funds to buy me proper quality food. Before I've grown anything, I'll be starved unless I will be able survive on chips and sausages for two months. Which I won't.

it's probably a good time to start a little series on growing food at home in urban environments in the hope of encouraging people who could grow their own but don't to give it a try.

I hate gardening.  Does that make me a bad environmentalist?

I totally support urban gardens and people growing their own food.  Good for the pocketbook, the environment, the soul ... good skill set for the coming end of the world as we know it.  Yes, yes, yes...

I was a successful co-gardener: picking things out and then noticing when they weren't being properly tended to.  I especially like picking off the crispy dead bits.

But left on my own...  I kill things.  I don't mean to.  Don't tell me I need to practice.  It's not practice.  It's that plants are so needy and I am so selfish.  I have enough stress caring for a cat & making sure it doesn't die.  A whole garden of living things depending solely on me for their survival?  I don't get that zenny feeling so many gardeners describe.  I feel more like the hospital resident on whom someone's grandmother's life depends.  I come to resent them.  You'd think by now plants would learn how to feed and water and prune themselves.  

I also do not sew my own clothes or cut my own hair or do my own yearly exams or drill my own teeth.  I'm sure the environment would benefit from me never leaving my home because I am so self-sufficient.  There are people who are very good at these things and who enjoy doing them, and so I gladly pay the local or organic farmer, my stylist, doctor, dentist ... probable sweatshop workers employed by H&M.  

I see all the benefits of the DIY lifestyle.  I've dabbled.  But the fact is no one is good at everything.  I'm no good at gardening.  And I hate it not because I hate plants, but because I hate killing them, letting them down.  I know neglect is a form of abuse.  I hate abusing these poor fragile leafy beings I've agreed to watch over.  And then rejecting them when I refuse to eat them.  I just think it's better karma to have some farmer who actually likes what he does, gets some satisfaction from this noble job, and does it well, grow my food for me.  

And I have no guilt about it because I walk to the grocery store and farmers' markets.  Which is probably even better than getting in a car and driving to the nursery where I'd buy my urban garden plants.

I do have one living plant.  Indestructible.  Also inedible.  Though my cat eats it.  And it still looks amazing.  This plant has learned to live without me.  We have an understanding.  

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

I've made two attempts to grow stuff, with surprising success.  Should I ever have a larger space to grow things, I shall try again.

The first time, I was ambitious.  I had never had a garden before.  My parents could hardly maintain a lawn, let alone a garden.  I didn't know anybody who had one.  I was a graduate student, and my friends were equally clueless.  I was on my own.  But I wanted to do it.

So, I started by spending a good part of two weeks turning over the soil in my 10 by 15 foot patch with a shovel, and pulling out ever vestige of root and weed by hand.  It seemed like a good idea.  Before that, I'd had to cut away a huge growth of feral, thorny rosebush.  I think this plant had a serious grudge against some previous owners, as it did nothing but send long, LONG branches covered with thorns in all directions.

I was reading a bunch of stuff about asian peasants at the time, so at first, I wanted to grow rice.  Sure, it was Michigan, and I was in a suburb next to other houses and stuff, but I thought it would be really cool to have a rice paddy.  I would feel solidarity with the peasantry!  My peasant studies teacher said he'd give me an automatic A for growing rice!  However, I found that it was next to impossible to find proper cultivation tips for growing rice.  I had no clue what to do.  I also sort of worried about the whole fetid swamp effect.

Then I went to the store, and bought a bunch of seedlings.  I mostly got pepeprs, bell and jalapeno and habanero and bananna peppers.  I love cooking with peppers, so I figured I'd use them.  I also planted some swiss chard, because I had some left over space, it was there in the market, I didn't know what it was and was tempted by its exotic lure, and couldn't think of anything else to do.  I grew up in a household where we ate virtually no vegetables or fish, and had only recently come to a basic understanding with green vegetables.

So, I planted things.  I soon realized that I'd planted everythign way too close together, but whatever.  The plants grew straight up, instead of out, so to keep them from falling over, I tied them to stakes.  They got used to this after a while.  Bugs attacked, so I spent time picking bugs off my plants, and treated them with some organic home remedies I read about online.  One of them involved tabasco sauce and urine, if I recall correctly.  It worked, and all my plants survived.  Peppers are pretty hardy, I guess.

The plants grew, and then they started producing tasty peppers.  I was happy!  I ate them.  Then I realized how many peppers I was to have, and started giving them away.  There were too many peppers!  Arg!  I had no idea what to do with them, so I either ate them fresh, gave them away (most memorably, I gave away a few pounds once in a big basket as a housewarming present), or let them rot.

Then winter came and everything died.  The circle of life and all.  The next year I was lazy, and after the spring planting season had passed, I put down a few flowers, just so I wasn't stuck with a big empty patch of dirt.

My first year in Japan, I again decided to try growing stuff.  I got some window boxes, and again wanted to grow peppers.  They are hard to find here, and I missed them.  I also wanted to grow cilantro, which is impossible to find here.  I planted some habaneros (lord knows why I could find them - far too hot for most Japanese people to touch, let alone eat), togarashi (domestic red chilis, very mild), a couple bell peppers, and a box of cilantro from seed.

The cilantro died, as I didn't know how to sprout it right.  Also, it was getting too much sun, I think.  The togarashi and habaneros did quite well.  For a while, they were being attacked rather mercilessly by some sort of insect, until one day a bunch of ants showed up.  From that day forward, the ants took care of my insect-killing work, and my plants were bug free.  Yay, ants!  Sadly, the bell peppers never grew properly - I think the boxes were too small.

Since then, I've been lazy.  Random stuff sprouts in my boxes.  I let it do what it likes, and it dies eventually.

In terms of bang per buck, they[re probably not worth it, but grow some cucumbers. The difference between home-grown and shop bought is ridiculous.

Also the difference between Bulgarian and English is ridiculous tooo. I loved salad out there, but it just aint the same here.

keep to the Fen Causeway