beginner fruit/veg garden

Inevitability

Inevitability

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I've been meaning to start a veg/fruit garden for a loooong time now as a means of getting more quality family time... and I finally got started this past weekend.
After some YouTube-ing, we planted some beans into little sauce cups with a mix of potting soil and compost, watered them, and lined them all up in the sunshine.
Best-case scenario is that we water them correctly (Goldilocks zone :)), and in a month's time time they'll grow enough for me to transplant into the garden.

But I'd like to do more. I have a good amount (maybe 50sqm) of space I can use for "farming"

So ... what other vegetables can I plant that are low maintenance, and which will grow quickly and give a high yield?
I'm talking about having a crop before the summer is over (...am I reaching too far?)

Then on the fruit side of things...
Is it possible to buy a fruit tree that's already bearing fruit and just transplant it into my garden?
Ok, maybe on the fruit side of things I can't expect it to bear this season already, but would it be realistic to think that I can buy a tree already set to bear fruit now, and if I take care of it for the next year then I could get some yield next summer?
If the above is a realistic goal, what fruits should I go for?
Again, I'm a beginner so I'm looking for low maintenance, and high-yield.

...any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 
My advice: Don't start off with a bunch of difficult veggies to take care of. Plant easy veggies like peppers and tomatoes etc. for now and see how it goes. Plan properly for next season and then introduce more difficult crops like squashes and watermelon etc.
 
I have the opposite of a green thumb - I battle to get things to grow successfully.
Currently I have 4 varieties of chili that have seeded and hopefully will grow past the seedling stage, but my veg garden is the usual disaster of note.
 
Beans, spinach, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, chilies - they're all high yield, low maintenance. Carrot & beet are also ridiculously easy to grow.

Edit: You can get some seedlings delivered to your door: http://livingseeds.co.za/heirloom-seedlings
 
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Well, my 2c... I've had a vegetable garden every year for the past... 10 years ?
Green peppers works well, and looking at the cost of buying them at the grocer, it's a win. Something easy if you have kids, radish. They grow quickly and is nice to eat raw or i use them in stew, salads. I've got a whole patch with Jalapeno peppers now, they take some time to bear fruit but when they start you have plenty. Nice thing is they are perennial. (If they don't get frost). Tomatoes always a winner - look on livingseeds.co.za, you get a HUGE variety. Herbs are also quite easy from seeds.
Then fruit trees.... I have no clue. :wtf:
 
Carrot and Beet are two things Im not planting again - they wait time to harvest is just not worth the effort.

Spinach and swiss chard is very easy and just keeps on going.

I bought chili seeds but can't seem to get them to germinate - any tips?
 
Pakka said:
Carrot and Beet are two things Im not planting again - they wait time to harvest is just not worth the effort.

Spinach and swiss chard is very easy and just keeps on going.

I bought chili seeds but can't seem to get them to germinate - any tips?
Click to expand...

lol @easy spinach, my spinach just wilts, I dunno why:(

anyhow re chilis I have great success in germinating, the best results was putting the seeds in a weak lukewarm tea (advice received here by someone else) and then I put them in a damp paper towel and sealed in a plastic bag. Two weeks later all germinated and now little seedlings.
my other chili seeds i just put in seedling soil to compare and they also started growing but that can take between 4 - 6 weeks.
 
Spinach is going to be dependent on the amount of pests in your garden. For some reason I find that spinach attracts snails like crazy and every time I've had spinach I've had snails decimate everything in their path. If you're really keen on spinach just make sure to find a method of pest control.

Mint, thyme and rosemary are obvious choices too because they grow like weeds. Although if you don't use them in your cooking (in which case shame on you :p) it would be a waste.

Another great option is passion fruit (or grenadella) vines. As long as you keep their soil well-composted they grow like beast and will almost definitely yield fruit next season. I planted two vines last year and they both had fruit in their first year.
 
In JHB and I'm successfully growing:
Eggplant
Beans
Spinach
Lettuce
Strawberries
Lime
Seville Orange
Blackberry
Guava
Pomegranate
Chives
Beetroot
Lemon
 
based on the posts above and my eating preferences, I'm gonna take a swing at doing:
1. Bell Peppers / Jalapeno
2. Herbs ... I've got some mint already in a small pot that's starting to grow. I failed once before at coriander, but I will try again cos I have like 500g of seeds that I bought for biltong making! :)
3. Spinach
Between these and the beans, I hope that it doesn't turn out to be a total disaster, and that we at least get something out of the experience, both for the effort and cost expended as well as for morale to continue with it even if everything doesn't succeed.

saor said:
Edit: You can get some seedlings delivered to your door: http://livingseeds.co.za/heirloom-seedlings
Click to expand...
The livingseeds seedlings catalogue doesn't have what I need right now but I'll keep checking back there and try growing from seeds in the meantime.

Napalm2880 said:
In JHB and I'm successfully growing:
Eggplant
Beans
Spinach
Lettuce
Strawberries
Lime
Seville Orange
Blackberry
Guava
Pomegranate
Chives
Beetroot
Lemon
Click to expand...
bloody hell!!!
one day ... when I'm big
 
Look into Hydroponics as well. There is a very informative thread on MyBB as well - or PM Zenbaas.. I think.
 
AliCatS said:
Why are carrots so difficult to grow?
Click to expand...

Ground needs to be the right consistency for them to get long. Otherwise they grow and then kinda curl if that makes sense. They are not too difficult to grow though. Just need a bit more prep work.
 
I am also trying to start a small vegetable garden at home. Have successfully got chilllis, parsley and rosemary growing very well.

I cant seem to get tomatoes growing though. Tried both seeds and seedlings and they start off well but then the leaves start turning an ashy grey colour and they wither and die.

I am going to try green peppers, lettuce, rocket and maybe thyme next as we eat of lot of salads.
 
If you're looking for well priced fruit trees, and plants in general, go to David Webb Wholesale Nursery. Their staff are exceptionally well trained (know all plants by common and scientific names). If you're lucky Mr David Webb is there - and you will not find anyone more knowledgeable about plants in JHB. As far as I know, all their stuff is indigenous as well.

https://goo.gl/maps/hppVhvVFjcS2
 
Looking to completely kill weeds and remove some roots before I start mine.

Anyone know how I can kill everything in the soil?
 
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