Thoughts on my choices for the coming season?

Dogmum

I’ve grown bits and pieces of veg before, mainly runner beans and/or tomatoes, a small planter of carrots etc but now that we’ve moved I have a much bigger space to work with.  I want to grow more but don’t want to overwhelm myself in the first year, it’s so easy to look in the seed catalogues and think, yes, I’ll grow that, oh and that, oh and the other.  Anyway, I have a 2x3m poly tunnel and currently two 1x2m beds, already dug, manured and covered, I could easy put more beds in though.
my current planting list is -
Chilli De Cayenne and Apache
Toms F1 sweet Million
Gherkin cornichon de Paris
Potatoes Charlotte (in bags)
Runner beans Firestorm
Sweet corn F1 Swift
Butternut Squash Hawk F1

I’ve also got a variety of flowers planned, but I’ve grown more of those previously so I’m not so concerned about them.

Do you think I’m being too ambitious with the veg or is there something I’m missing that could easily be fitted in?

Thanks for reading and any comments appreciated.

bertrand-mabel

Similar size polytunnel @Dogmum and last year we had the following growing:

peppers, chillies, tomatoes, melons, strawberries, kohl rabi, pak choi, carrots, cucamelons, various salad leaves, cucumbers, aubergines.

Last week dug up the last carrots, some pak choi and kohl rabi still in the growund and the salad leaves are still doing great.

I don't think you are being ambitious.

What about leeks, beetroot, broad beans, swiss chard, spinach?

We don't like runner beans so grow a variety of dwarf french beans and so them in succession so that we can harvest for many months (the same with peas).

Used to have parsnips but the last few years no success,

We had to buy a small extra freezer to put all the surplus fruit and veg in. Christmas time had us eating from these stored garden veg. Brilliant as always.

Still loads to keep us going. Rarely buy fruit and veg (apart from bananas) until early summer when the veg is just starting to produce.

We buy our seeds at the end of the year when they are half price!

JennyJ

I grew Apache chillis last year (from a pack of seedlings that I bought on impulse from Aldi, so no indication of heat). They were prolific but very hot, even to my OH who has an asbestos gob. The chilli jelly that I made from them has to be used sparingly.

Dogmum

@bertrand-mabel do you grow direct into the ground in your tunnel or is everything in bags/tubs/trays? This is my first experience with a tunnel, it’s brand new and I need to erect and position it yet.  Just a thought on layout, do you grow everything against the edge or is it better to have rows from the side towards the middle?

Dogmum

@JennyJ maybe more of the de Cayenne and less Apache then 😂

LunarSea

JennyJ said:

I grew Apache chillis last year (from a pack of seedlings that I bought on impulse from Aldi, so no indication of heat). They were prolific but very hot, even to my OH who has an asbestos gob. The chilli jelly that I made from them has to be used sparingly.

It's the seeds you know   It's the only chilli I grow but I always take the seeds out before using them.

bertrand-mabel

@Dogmum The carrots are sown directly as are the salad leaves.

The pak choi and kohl rabi are sown indoors and then transplanted.

The strawberries are there all the year.

The peppers, chilles, aubergines are also sown indoors and then transplanted.

The tomatoes, melons, cuccumbers etc are also done in the same way.

The salad leaves are sown directly and is the carrot (can't grow them outdoors)

So either sown directly into the soil in the polytunnel or transplanted once germinated into the soil.

The polytunnel has given us over 15 years of produce but we will need a new covering this year!

Dogmum

@bertrand-mabel thanks for all the info. I’ve only had room for a small 4 tier plastic grow house before, and I’d actually gone out to buy just a slightly bigger one, but somehow ended up with a proper poly tunnel, so I’d just not really considered that I could plant direct into the soil. Thanks so much.

Skandi

I don't think you have space for those sweetcorn in your current set up. they'll need an entire bed just for enough plants to get pollination.

Joyce Goldenlily

Dogmum said:

@bertrand-mabel thanks for all the info. I’ve only had room for a small 4 tier plastic grow house before, and I’d actually gone out to buy just a slightly bigger one, but somehow ended up with a proper poly tunnel, so I’d just not really considered that I could plant direct into the soil. Thanks so much.

Dogmum said:

@bertrand-mabel thanks for all the info. I’ve only had room for a small 4 tier plastic grow house before, and I’d actually gone out to buy just a slightly bigger one, but somehow ended up with a proper poly tunnel, so I’d just not really considered that I could plant direct into the soil. Thanks so much.

Only grow crops you like and know you will eat. Unless you want to experiment. There is no point in growing things to throw away. Seed is getting too expensive to do that.
Parsnip seed does not last more than 1 year so you need to buy new seed every year. You can try sowing old seeds but germination is very erratic and you need to sow far more seed than usual to get a crop.
Also, check on veg. which will store or can be left in the soil until Spring to save storage in the freezer.
I bought an under-the-counter freezer just for my soft fruit and tomatoes. 

JennyJ

VictorMeldrew said:

JennyJ said:

I grew Apache chillis last year (from a pack of seedlings that I bought on impulse from Aldi, so no indication of heat). They were prolific but very hot, even to my OH who has an asbestos gob. The chilli jelly that I made from them has to be used sparingly.

It's the seeds you know   It's the only chilli I grow but I always take the seeds out before using them.

If I'm taking the seeds out, I want bigger fruits with thicker flesh! The Apache seedlings were an impulse buy and I won't repeat it!