Single hen

[Milly]

.... in my new greenhouse?

 

I have never had one before so feel the need to do something before spring!

 

I want to grow some winter salads, as that is something I buy regularly, but is there anything else I could plant? Someone suggested potatoes for Christmas, but I'm not sure if there would be time to get them chitted and growing.

 

All ideas welcome.

 

Milly

[chickencam]

Don't bother chitting them just plant them on a layer of soil about 6 inches thick at the bottom of a black bag or large pot then as the leaves grow top up with soil covering the leaves until they reach the top of the pot then let the plant grow until it flowers then you should have spuds

 

We grow winter salads and herbs like corriander in the greenhouse in the winter, we plant them in deep wide trays lined with newspaper, like the blue ones that stack together and spring onions are sold in them in places like Lidl

[Milly]

Thank you - I will try planting some potatoes tomorrow. It's certainly worth a go (although the first few things I grow are going to work out as expensive as the £50 eggs you get when the chickens first start laying!)

 

Milly

[Guest]

Thank you - I will try planting some potatoes tomorrow. It's certainly worth a go (although the first few things I grow are going to work out as expensive as the £50 eggs you get when the chickens first start laying!)

 

Milly

 

I wouldn't be so sure.

 

I grew potatoes this summer 2 varieties. I used the stacking up tyres method where you added another tyre and filled it with compost when the leaves were well through. Those potatoes grew for months - I watered them and stacked the tyres and added the compost. Each stack had 5 tyres on it, each tyre took 1 80 litre bag of multi purpose compost. It costs £10 for 4 bags - do the maths I used 10 bags which works out at £25.

 

I got just over 4 kilos of potatoes. If I saw potatoes at £6.25 a kilo I would give them a VERY wide berth.

 

I'll buy my spuds in Waitrose in future!

[Milly]

You might be right Penguinmad. Although I do have rather a lot of compost since I started keeping chickens.....

 

Milly

[Matthew]

Thank you - I will try planting some potatoes tomorrow. It's certainly worth a go (although the first few things I grow are going to work out as expensive as the £50 eggs you get when the chickens first start laying!)

 

Milly

 

I wouldn't be so sure.

 

I grew potatoes this summer 2 varieties. I used the stacking up tyres method where you added another tyre and filled it with compost when the leaves were well through. Those potatoes grew for months - I watered them and stacked the tyres and added the compost. Each stack had 5 tyres on it, each tyre took 1 80 litre bag of multi purpose compost. It costs £10 for 4 bags - do the maths I used 10 bags which works out at £25.

 

I got just over 4 kilos of potatoes. If I saw potatoes at £6.25 a kilo I would give them a VERY wide berth.

 

I'll buy my spuds in Waitrose in future!

 

 

Tip for next time.... you only have to keep adding compost to ensure all potatoes are covered... ... approximately 12-18".. you don't have to keep adding more and more compost past this level