The Cottage Smallholder

I'm a mere dabbler compared to most folk here, and only grow a few things for the pure joy of having something to eat that's come fresh from the garden. But in relation to your question: I grew two long troughs of onions last year and it made me realise that, at the rate I use onions up, I would never grow all I use. Unless I grew nothing but onions 🙂

i could never grow the volume of fruit we go through unless i had a full sized orchard , i have a small patch of family trees that grow more than one variety of plum apple and pear , leeks id need a field full but i still grow a lot because in a winter its just not worth a trip out for them , onions i grow a variety of, but plain cooking onions are dirt cheap to buy , greens and weird beetroot i grow loads of , purple spuds and fir apples plus my Mimi that crop up like weeds around the garden , strawberries and raspberries i can never grow enough of , beans and peas are the same as fast as they ripen theyre gone with my vultures , courgettes i pop a couple of plants in where theres a gap , tomatoes , well after the polytunnel setting off down the fen im not sure how i will manage those this year but i will . Big patch of garlic , turnips that always seem to get eaten by flea beetles it sounds endless and is i have acres but i dont ...lol...its amazing what you can grow

Hi Claire. I've got a tiny plot with high raised beds, like others have said, its only worth growing veg you love and is expensive or less appealing to buy. I grow lots of leafy things, spinach, chard, pak choi, corn salad, rocket, land cress, sorrel - in small amounts to eat young in salads then some grow on for cooking later. I also grow red and white beetroot and eat the young leaves as well as the roots, and kohl rabi. I love squashes so grow a few and wish I had room for more. Mostly mini pumpkins, cobnut and spaghetti squash because they're prolific, never let me down and store well but I'd love to try some different ones (recommendations anyone?). I poked a few sweet corn in as well. I grow peas because they are so divine eaten minutes after picking, and french bean Cobra because it just keeps on going, even when the weather isn't good. Potatoes in bags, tomatoes in my 6'x4' greenhouse, strawberries wherever I can fit them in. Since the cold weather cleared out my tender perennials I've replanted the flower bed with fruit and herbs, and a few perpetual onions and garlic as well. Oh and I've got some rhubarb and jerusalem artichokes.

I didn't buy any veg for several months last year (I only have two of us to feed most of the time), and with eggs from my duck as well I was very happy. In fact we've only recently eaten the last of the beans from the freezer.