Last year we decided to grow some veg in the garden and chose to focus on tomatoes, onions and various herbs which for us turned out to be a massive success with respect to the taste of the veg not the quantity of veg we harvested.
This year focus was on being smarter, starting earlier and having more diversity so we decided to get a bigger greenhouse (after the storms this winter ruined 2 of the 3 that we previously bought) and somehow in the process we ended up getting 2 (because more AND bigger is always better).
Greenhouse 1 
Greenhouse 2
This year we even got a UV lamp to help get some seedlings going in the attic during winter (considering in winter there’s not that much daylight and also considering UK weather (usually cloudy) AND considering the fact that the attic has 1 relatively small window (so not that much light coming in) – the UV lamp did help a bit but unfortunately the soil we used was crappy compost so not many plants made it (the ones that did we moved in greenhouse nr 2).
In terms of diversity this year we’re experimenting with:
- carrots
- radish
- parsnips
- cucumbers
- peas & beans (various types)
- herbs (basil, parsley, dill, lovage)
- tomatoes (cherry, plum, beef)
- potatoes (a few potatoes that decided to sprout in the cupboard)
- onions (classic white and red bought for this purpose and some that we did not eat when we should have that decided to sprout) and garlic (whatever garlic we had for longer that we should have that magically sprouted)
- lettuce and friends (rockets, spinach, curly lettuce, etc) – think salad bowl
- peppers (hot and regular, various seeds we collected last year)
- berries (strawberries – 3 plants, raspberries – 2 plants, blackberries – 1 plant)
- fruit trees (got a few more trees this year: 1 x fig tree, 2 x sour cherry tree, 1 x peach tree)
- we also have some exotic stuff which we have no idea how to grow 🙂 – tobacco, coffee, avocado and a Laurus bush/tree (think bay leaves) not to mention last year’s citrus seeds that sprouted and are now the size of young bonsai trees (lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine trees)
- oh an a ton of flowers which the boss (wife) insisted on planting on one side of the garden to make it more colorful and pretty 🙂 (and she’s right about it, she’s always right about these things)
Indoor tray with various herbs and veg 
strawberries, beans, tomatoes, etc 
carrots, tomatoes, etc 
various fruit trees 
sunflower, dill, peas, beans, peppers 
parsnips, peas, etc
We split the “crops” into 3 (kitchen/conservatory; greenhouse1; greenhouse2;) to test what sprouts and grows best and where (some plants need warmth, others need shade, others need wet, etc) then as they grow we’ll move them to bigger pots and again split between the 3 environments … some will also go in the garden (in regular garden soil).
This year we even looked at what type of soil works best for our plants (the regular garden one, regular compost, vegetable compost and even got some coconut based compost) not to mention we got various types of fertilizer for them seeing that the regular compost we bought is crappy (bone meal fertilizer and some manure based capsules apparently good for roses … ) and started mixing things up
I’ll tell you this … I can’t wait to start harvesting! 🙂
For some reason I’m feeling positive about this year’s grow your own project … the entire family chipped in (digging, planting, selecting the seeds, installing the greenhouses, etc so thank you family! you’ll be rewarded with the fruits of your labor!)
I must admit, this year we put in a bit more effort into it but because this is such a fun and relaxing activity we did not really feel any of it … time flies when you’re having fun right ?
Standby for more … will share more updates on this as I have them (plant shuffling, harvesting, eating 🙂 , etc)