Newbie needs tips on starting veg patch?

Lillylilly

Hi all,

Recently we moved into a new house with a substantial back garden and I would love to start growing my own vegetables and herbs. There are a lot of good tips on this forum about herbs, but I know nothing about starting a vegetable patch.

As I said, the house and garden are new- so the soil isn't the best. It's kind of gravelly, and I don't have much money to spend on this project. I was thinking of making a raised bed and filling it with the soil needed to grow veg.

What sort of soil do I buy? What are the best things to start off growing and when should I start planting the seeds?

As mentioned, I'm very new (and clueless!) so please "dumb down" your responses!!

Thanks,

L.

Thanos

Well if cost is a factor and you do not mind doing some hard work you can do a lot of this yourself.
First of all you want to plan where to put the patch, nice sunny spot. Check out where the sun rises and sets and base it on that.

Initially the ground will be very hard and depending on how bad it is, is it soil that is just packed together or is it marl (yellowy/grey dense and sticky), will determine what you need to do next. You will need to dig up an area and see what it is like. If it is really bad (marl) then you may well have to go the raised be route.

If however it is not too bad you may be able to work it into a good condition over time. To start with you could buy some sand to add to it. Sand helps to bread up the soil and help drainage. Also if you have any compost you can add this in also. Potatoes are a great vegetable to start with as they help to open up the soil as they grow.

You should try to dig down at least 12 inches (18 -24 if possible) removing as many stones an other objects as you can and then back fill in layers of soil (with sand added) and compost. This process will get easier over the years as the soil gets better.

Hope this give you some idea of where to start and if you have any other questions................ just post

davenewt

Some useful links for you OP!

Monthly calendars which give you a good idea what and when to plant / tend to / pick...
http://www.allotment.org.uk/garden_month.php

allotment.co.uk wrote:

There are two questions that are regularly asked on the forums by new gardeners:

'How do I clear my plot?' and 'What should I be doing now?'

There's also a calendar on the RHS website:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/calendar/January

And the BBC has a gardening how-to section as well...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/gardening_guides/

Should be more than enough advice on those sites to get you started.

I started growing veg for the first time last year - you can go boggle-eyed looking at all the websites, tips and suggestions... in the end you just have to get stuck in. You'll find some things work better than expected, other things might be a disappointment... but you'll learn as you go, and there's no shortage of people willing to give advice

Hope that helps!

Dr Galen

hey Lily
welcome to the gardening forum

there's loads of info here for you to have a look through. try doing a bit of a search through for relevant threads. I'll have a look later and post links to anything good i find

Rive Gauche

I've joined a GIY group and find the people there very helpful. Here's a link to find a group near you:
http://www.giyireland.com/home.php

Ever2010

I'd just like to give my seal of approval to GIY as well. We joined a group late last year and have really enjoyed all of the lectures/talks. We also do seed and tool swaps and can get involved in Meitheals where you can help out in someone else's garden - or you can get some help if you need yours digging!

obscurething

Just to say yes to the GIY groups - you can also join the online community of gardeners - lots of people to answer all of your questions, even a few Youtube videos - Good luck - this is just our third year growing and it's amazing what the clueless novice can grow! Would also recomend Joy Larkcom's Grow your own Vegetables book.

castlemoy

if you need some slabs for a footpath around your veg path please pm me i hav 63 of them i need to get rid of the are blocking a lot of space for me

Dr Galen

castlemoy wrote: »

if you need some slabs for a footpath around your veg path please pm me i hav 63 of them i need to get rid of the are blocking a lot of space for me

have a look at the for sale/wanted thread on the top of this page castlemoy, you might get rid of them a bit quicker mate, you can obviously get rid of free stuff using this method too.

westportpoultry

www.teagasc.ie has an exellend 40 page document downloadable PDF.

deisemum

I've been going to the GIY meetings since last April/May and have learnt so much plus I've made some very nice friends. Everyone that I've met have been extremely kind, helpful and generous.

The seed and seedling swaps are great and a great incentive for newbies.

I've got 2 raised beds each 14' x 4.5' and plan on hubby building another one this coming week. I've only got a city garden so I'm also doing stuff in containers. I also got 4 hens last September and most days get 4 eggs.