What is your Favorite vegetable to grow? and eat?

[Enormous Sage]

Kohl Rabi (though it's an... aquired taste.)

One of my favourites! But then, I grew up with them. And I don't seem to be able to grow them, which is really daft, as they are difficult to buy...

Kohlrabi are very versatile, and can be eaten raw as well as cooked.

They tasted much better raw than cooked, in fact I think most veg does! :)
I grew them because I was given a pack of seeds and had never seen them before. Not sure I'd grow them again, but I liked them a lot more than Ms Sage did.
They're suprisingly easy to grow, and mine come up early in the season & quickly.

[Chickenlady]

Good question!

Has nobody mentioned runner beans? Easy to grow, yummy to eat, as long as you don't let them get big and stringy.

Also asparagus. Such a treat lightly boiled with some butter. Not that easy to grow, as has been mentioned.

Are you planning any fruit? If so, I recommend some currant bushes - red or black are best. They make lovely jelly.

[MikeM]

beetroot (s'prised no one's mentioned that one). Like a lot here, spinach in it's various guises (perpetual for me) so versitile (goes great in a veg curry). Beans are good (love french). I've never had a whole lot of luck with brassica tho, dunno why. I'm gonna prioritise them this year and hopefully won't kill them off.

[Cheezy]

beetroot (s'prised no one's mentioned that one). Like a lot here, spinach in it's various guises (perpetual for me) so versitile (goes great in a veg curry). Beans are good (love french). I've never had a whole lot of luck with brassica tho, dunno why. I'm gonna prioritise them this year and hopefully won't kill them off.

I'm eating my savoy cabbages at the moment, they're brillient (January King), but my first experiences with brassica's last year we're not great, so I'll list a number of things I have learned last season.
1. Brassica's like the soil limey, so apply very liberally the previous winter...didn't do this but have done this time.
2. I've got club root it killed off last years broccolli and red cabbage. THis apparently is hard to get rid of, but can be suppressed by.....large amounts of lime!! ahhahh!. It can't be mistaken as the roots go thick and ...club like, and stops growth. Along with the lime I've bought expensive club root resistant varieties. Strict rotation will also help.
3. Brassica's like a rich soil, apply large amounts of muck the winter before...didn't do this have now. I did apply compost that came with the lottie, and I think this is where my club root came from.Since the beds I didn't use it are better.
4.Planting the seeds direct is asking for trouble, much better to grow in the cold frame and plant out strong healthy plants, they have a better chance against the slugs,club root,etc.
5.Pigeons love brassica's, so netting is the only sure answer...but...
6. Slugs love brassica's more than the pigeons, and if you have netted the brassica's frog and birds wont be able to get in to eat the slugs, so you might need to use slug pellets or some other anti slug device.
7. Cabbage white fly and cabbage white butterfly's are a right pain, again fleece or constant vidulence and extermination will save a crop (soft soap will get rid of white fly...alledgidy).

Hopefully this'll help get you started, cos theres nowt better at this time of the year than some winter greens!.

[ina]

They're suprisingly easy to grow, and mine come up early in the season & quickly.

Lucky you - they never do what it says on the packet up here...

Cooked we often had them mixed with carrots - like peas and carrots... You can mix them with both peas and carrots, of course, which is even nicer; more colourful.

They are also good in a white sauce, with chunks of cooked ham in it, if you like that sort of thing.

[MikeM]

thanks for that cheezy. I think this year the slugs got 'em (probably combined with cold and prolonged rain when I planted them out). I do grow them in pots in a frame, but I think I may have planted them out too early (I was time pressed last year which hopefully I won't be this). I think the soil should be OK up the allotments (everyone else seems to grow them ok) and this year I've put loads of muck on the plot. If I can keep the slugs under control this year I may have a chance...

[Enormous Sage]

They're suprisingly easy to grow, and mine come up early in the season & quickly.

Lucky you - they never do what it says on the packet up here...

Cooked we often had them mixed with carrots - like peas and carrots... You can mix them with both peas and carrots, of course, which is even nicer; more colourful.

They are also good in a white sauce, with chunks of cooked ham in it, if you like that sort of thing.

Mine were more luck than judgement (it's only my second year of veggie growing) We have a heavy clay soil and I dug manure into it in the winter, if that helps any?
Planted them very early at the beginning of March and watered them about once a week (almost no feed)
Some failed, some grew nicely, I think the ones that grew well had better spacing (further apart) than the failed ones.

[Macha]

Broad beans and Broccoli are big faves here and radishes, all pretty easy to grow.
Much as we love them I just can't grow cauliflowers or scallions

[newbiemum05]

Hmmm.
For growing courgettes - They are so easy and plentiful, great for cooking 101 different things with too.
But homegrown toms are fabulous - my mums brandywine, st Pierre and marmande were delicious - nothing bought has compared !!

[ina]

Planted them very early at the beginning of March and watered them about once a week (almost no feed)
Some failed, some grew nicely, I think the ones that grew well had better spacing (further apart) than the failed ones.

Did you sow them direct, or into modules or a seed tray? I tried them in modules before, but thought that maybe they don't like transplanting?

The timing is a bit of a problem, too - we had snow in March, after that I'm too busy lambing to do anything in the garden for a couple of months - maybe it was just too late after that. Or rather, we had no summer after that last year...

[oldfella]

We have many farmers markets here in the region so I tend to buy my stock of vegetable plants from one of the local retired Paysants whose garden I know, only ever sees the product of a horse nether regions and and various organic washes and beer traps (for slugs) and if I see something new, I stick it in and try it. Last year he had yellow tomatoes so we bought three plants. They tasted like tomatoes used to taste. So I would suggest you buy and try some of this and some that, and you will be surprised at what you eating and enjoying in few weeks.