Advice for a beginner

Carra23

Hi , I am close to my first attempt at growing vegetables. I have the seeds bought and raised bed built , I have topsoil and compost ready to go in so just need a few tips before I start.

First of all I had planned to build two raised beds at 4ft x 8ft but that was before my girlfriend and her brother hijacked my materials to build sandpits for the kids ! so all I have now is one raised bed which is alot smaller than planned , think 3ft x 6ft I know its quite small but I'm only learning and if it takes off for me I can build another bigger raised bed.

Yesterday I bought the following seeds mint,parsley, basil, leeks, radish,tom thumb lettuce,red & green lettuce, purple broccoli and kale. Apart from the basil & mint the rest say to sow out doors and I am wondering is sowing germination because I know what germinating is ? and also can the seeds be sown straight into the the raised bed or do I have to do them in small trays and pots then transplant ?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanos

Nice few herbs there, one thing to note about mint, it can take over an area if you don't keep an eye on it. It send out runners in any direction it can and will take up as much space as it can. All the others should be fine. Always remember to let you parsley plants go to seed, that way you will have lots of little plants the following year.

Had leeksmyself last year and they did really well, remember to plant them in a hole, about the size of a tin can (deep and around them), this will slowly fill in with watering/rain and then you can mound them up after that to get nice long white roots on them.

Lettuce should be planted ever 2 weeks or so but only a few plants/seeds at a time, you do not want it all comming in at once!!!.

Purple broccoli is usually planted (or at least i do) later in the season, this is a hard plant and will grow big and can give you produce over the winter months.

I would usually plant my seeds in trays, this means i can then place them where i want to once they are big enough, avoids you having missing spots where one does not germinate (if you planted directly in the bed).

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

Carra23

Thanos wrote: »

Nice few herbs there, one thing to note about mint, it can take over an area if you don't keep an eye on it. It send out runners in any direction it can and will take up as much space as it can. All the others should be fine. Always remember to let you parsley plants go to seed, that way you will have lots of little plants the following year.

Had leeksmyself last year and they did really well, remember to plant them in a hole, about the size of a tin can (deep and around them), this will slowly fill in with watering/rain and then you can mound them up after that to get nice long white roots on them.

Lettuce should be planted ever 2 weeks or so but only a few plants/seeds at a time, you do not want it all comming in at once!!!.

Purple broccoli is usually planted (or at least i do) later in the season, this is a hard plant and will grow big and can give you produce over the winter months.

I would usually plant my seeds in trays, this means i can then place them where i want to once they are big enough, avoids you having missing spots where one does not germinate (if you planted directly in the bed).

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers for the tips and I'm sure I'll be back for more

Burgess5

Mint, basil and parsley. You only need to sow a small amount of these, better indoors in a pot on a window sill. Mint will tend to spread so when you are ready to plant it out dig a hole in your bed and insert a large plant pot with the top about an inch out of the ground. Basil needs heat and might be better in a pot on a sunny window sill than outside in Ireland. Soak parsley seeds overnight in a glass of water before sowing them - you should get better and quicker germination.
Leeks, broccoli and kale are slow growing - sow a thin line of these across your bed.
Lettuce and radish are quick growing. Sow a small quantity now and repeat in about 2 weeks. This helps avoid a glut of lettuce etc followed by a famine.
Your bed is quite small so you will only need to sow very small amounts of seed.

Skrynesaver

Later in the season when the leeks are about the size of a small scallion water them heavily and drive holes into the ground with the handle of a shovel, lift the leeks and drop into the holes, now fill the hole with water.

This will give you nice fat blanched leeks in the winter (best after the first frost as they sweeten starch=>sugar).

Purple broccoli can go in now, they get huge for the size of bed you have and you will have to wait until Spring next year for a harvest, they are however delicious (particularly with an alioli dip), worth the ground are in my opinion. Again plant in one end of the bed and transplant in late summer (when you're taking up the summer salads, (scallions, beets, etc..) to give you full use of the bed over the winter.

Kale is another big brassica, and not really worth it in a bed that size, I'd add carrots, peas and spinach to your seed list as they are really good fresh.

Finally if you have an ornamental bed with some space, consider sticking in an artichoke, spectacular foliage plant, tasty food and difficult to get in the shops.

Best of luck.

Carra23

Thanks a mil for all those tips , I'll have to print them out probably small amount of info there but alot when you haven't a clue what your doing. Thanks again