I remember why........

Mary370

This year I to decided to try to attempt to grow tomatoes, peas, cauliflower and beetroot........some of the few veg I like to eat.  I have been resisting growing veg for years and now I remember why.  I've been doing a bit of research and read about possible problems like flea beetles infestation, wireworms, caterpillars etc.......that's why I resisted.  I don't use any chemicals in my garden and grow a lot of flowerings plants from seed, while there are bugs etc. to watch out for while growing flowers, the thoughts of eating something that could be/are affected by these creatures turns me off.  I suppose being a city girl I've been conditioned to eat 'clean' shop bought veg  . I won't give up yet, will continue to attempt to bring to fruition my few veg and maybe by them my squeamishness will have abated.

fidgetbones

That clean shop bought veg will have been sprayed many times.  I usually dunk my home grown veg in a bowl of salty water for 20 minutes. The wigglies usually come out for a swim.

pansyface

I tried veg growing when I was young.

We bought a house with an enormous, flat, south facing garden with beautiful soil and I imagined myself like lady bountiful with my trug full of veggies heading off to make something delicious for dinner.

But then I met the rabbits, the deer, the pigeons, the rats and the badgers. Not to mention all the other more usual things like slugs and aphids.

In the two years that we lived there, I doubt that I managed to grow anything that I could have put on the table without first carving large chunks out of it.

Having spent a small fortune on traps and deterrents I decided it was easier and cheaper to go to the supermarket. 

This year is my first year of trying again and everything is being grown in pots. Even so, the badgers managed to pull half a dozen of those over, just to have a peek inside.

Obelixx

It's not easy but it is so worthwhile when it works.   Even something as simple as lettuce tastes so much better fresh from the garden.   I have given up on caulis tho.  Ours had a strange taste and texture, took absolutely ages to grow and then all matured at once.   I'll stick to the occasional organic one form the SM or market.   Broccoli is much easier!

We have enough tomato passata and semi dried in oil to see us thru till this year's crop ripens, have had lovely broad beans since Easter tho all done now and we've had our first courgettes.   Pumpkins will come later.

Strawberries and raspberries have been cropping for a couple of weeks and the onions, garlic and leeks are coming along nicely and we had our first picking of curly kale on Thursday.  Can't get that in the shops here.

We net the brassicas against butterflies and do snail patrols. 

Skandi

Don't worry about it to much, just eat the ones that apeal to you and put the rest in the compost, as you go along you'll find that your standards will drop and larger holes will become acceptable.

I grow organically and I sell fruit and vegetables. I do not sell anything with any flaws and I would guestimate my reject rate is around 10%

tomatoes rarely get any damage to them, and peas are also pretty "clean"

Sabina13

Mary, I'm the same. Complete city girl, I struggled with touching any veg that wasnt a "perfect" shape and colour, let alone eat it. I was that bad! As a child and into my 20's when my mum would buy fruit and veg from the market as a pose to the supermarket I'd not go anywhere near it so she quickly learnt the only way to get me to eat it was for her to prepare and slice it up for me so I didnt see the "defects". 

I really was awful with it. However my parents always grew veg in their back garden, my childhood garden was huge so I have many fond memories of watching things grow. 

I only started growing my own last year and I absolutely loved it. The joy of picking a fruit/veg and feeding it to my family is like none other. I still struggle to eat things myself though especially leafy greens! I do the washing in salty water thing but after I've seen all the nasty things that have touched those leaves hell would have to freeze over for me to bring that food to my lips... 

This year I'm growing more things with skin that I can peel/cut away and I'm hoping this is the key for me to feel comfortable with eating my own garden produce! 

Alas, I struggle everyday with my base urge to get out into my garden and pesticide the pants off every tiny flying, crawling, living thing out there; I hope one day I can feel unafraid enough to let bugs coexist beside me without sending me running. 

That is the key to all this, for me, my fear of creepy crawlies. My bee/wasp PHOBIA doesnt help.  

Mary370

 Phew......I'm relieved to learn I'm not the only one.......thanks for the comments.....

Skylarks

Nah, you’re not the only one and this is why I can’t bring myself to cut slugs in half, freaks me out. As a child I was stung twice by bee/wasp. For years, I would run away whenever one got near me. I’ve learnt to move slowly away and now I love seeing the round plump bumblebees. 

I grow my own veg because like others have said, they taste so much better. 

Mary370

@Skylarks same here, no way on earth could I cut a slug in half or intentionally step on one

Topbird

We usually have a lot of trips away in the summer so I'd given up growing veg. Very disheartening to nurture something and come home after a week away to find it munched by voles or pigeons or succumbed to the drought which is our normal summer. 

This year, of course, things are different so I'm growing a few things again. not much but there are a couple of rows of peas (I adore freshly picked peas), chard (great for salads and stir fries) lots of herbs and a couple of pots of tomatoes. It's a wonderful thing to be able to use huge handfuls of different herbs & make huge bowls of tomato salsa.

I'd completely forgotten about the pigeons, slugs and the neighbours 5 cats.....

Fire

I wouldn't believe all the guff about "you'll never taste any produce from a shop that tastes as you as the ones you grow". I have never once grown a tomato that tastes as good as my favourite shop bought toms. It's just too disappointing and too much hard work, year after year, to grow underwhelming tomatoes. Battling slugs for one bowl of beans per year or 6 tasty tomatoes? Give me flowers every time.