Starting my Garden

[Pandabean]

I moved into a new house last year and the previous owners had a well kept vegetable plot out the back (most of the garden area), complete with strawberry patch. I have been doing alot of reading and going to get started in March depending if this snow or ice goes away by then. All my previous experience of gardening was replanting 4 lavender plants after my girlfriend was jealous of their haircut and chopped them a bit too much, as well as this just planting small things.

I have been trying to work out what was grown where so I dont grow the same stuff in the same area. What veg adds nutrients to the soil I know some can add nitrogen which is good, but I dont know what.

There is also a compost heap but I have no idea if its working....its frozen solid at the moment and there is not much heat coming from it? Surely I can't break a compost heap? It is a hand built one and consists of two areas, it is made from planks of wood with space in between them and is covered witha carpet. We have read what to put in and what not to put in, although there have been some mistakes, we have put in carboard (egg boxes etc) and green stuff. Any tips?

Also we have a greenhouse, there is no heating but the temperature seems to vary wildly from +15 deg C in the morning to early afternoon and down to -10deg C in the evening. Will this eventually even out come the spring as I dont want to start growing anything at the moment in there.

One thing I do know is to plant the crops later up here than mentioned in the books which are mainly aimed at places south of where I am.

Anyone got tips or hints on growing veg? We dont have a lot at the moment to start things off but we will most likely go out and start getting in compost (seeing as mine isnt doing anything) and the like.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[FGYT]

um get a good book or 2 therrs a thread on here already my recomendation is the No Dig organic gardening book by Charles Dowding even if yopu do dig its very usfull and one of a few that made scence to me so much i when on a course of his
http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/

you can use the green house now to bring on seedlings and then plant out later etc

legume family (beans) put nitrogen into the soil and is part of the crop rotation cycle etc which does help control pests but more importantly in a small patch evens out the nutrient removal and replacement as each groop has diffetn needs etc

you may not have broke the compost heap but it might not be operating at its best then again they never do when its cold

ATB

Duncan

 

[dave k]

HI Mate,

Don't worry too much about the compost heap. Don't actually touch it over winter, as it's probably keeping lots of insects and slow worms and possibly hedgehogs warm inside. In spring turn it over (with a big fork dig in and turn it about, get lots of air in there) If it's looking like soil, it's good - spread it all across the veg patch and smother the weeds.

Don't worry too much about previous plantings - if you just divide up the space into 4 area's and then rotate them from now onwards, you should be ok. Look around on the internet about the 4-bed rotation system, it really is good. the best time to start in the garden is this time of year, so you'll be in good shape come spring if you start now. take a look at the layout as well, you want to think ahead to summer and plan the layout of your beds - you want to plant in rows that go East - West, so the tall growing plants don't shade the others. Put all your `Fruit` crops in the warmest place in the garden (tomatoes, peppers, chilli's, etc.etc). I grow them successfully in pots all over the garden, or chillies and tom's in the greenhouse.

As for the greenhouse, they do fluctuate wildly in temperate, mainly because they are glass. Don't worry about minus temperatures unless you intend to grow some non-hardy veggies in there. The best thing is to start buying seeds and planting stuff out into your greenhouse in the next month. As a rough guide, the greenhouse will be about one month ahead of your garden (e.g.you can plant pea seeds outside in April, but if you have a greenhouse you can `bring them on` in March). That gives you about a month to get the soil dug over and ready when the seedlings come up. A greenhouse is a real benefit if you're further north, because it extends the growing season so you can really grow Mediterranean veggies quite well. If in any doubt, get cultivars (varieties) that are specifically bred for your location (there are some really good tomatoes and peppers that grow really well in Scotland).

Best advice over all? grow stuff you really like. No point in growing veggies that you don't eat. Think of the stuff you like to cook, and just grow as much as you can!

 

[Pandabean]

Thanks guys for the advice, I got a couple of books now so I am looking to get started soon, well as soon as the snow goes away. Looks like we will be growing tatties, onions, peas, strawberries (already a patch there), carrots and possibly some herbs but we shall have a look at what else we will need. I do see what you mean about the 4-bed rotation and we have a rough idea where some things were planted, although I am not sure if we have rhubarb, I was told it leaves a mess of the soil when it dies off for the winter but I can't see any stems or that from it.

Im looking at buying the seed potatoes soon, do you have to chit them or can they be planted as is when the time is right? Also I know you have, earlies, 2nd earlies and a main crop, do these have to planted at a similar time or can they be staggered?

As for the greenhouse, Dave, you mentioned non-hardy veg, got any examples? Im still worried about planting anything in there at the moment with such a large temperature variation. I dont fancy killing anything off before I have planted them properly.

 

[dave k]

HI Mate,

You can see if you have rhubarb if you carefully uncover the soil, you'll see the tip of the crown. leave it in, as it's a perennial so you'll have it year on year.

Don't bother chitting potatoes, it really does not make much of a difference.
As for the types, 1st earliers are the first ones to be able to be harvested. So I would plant a mix of different types, say one 1st early, one 2nd early and a couple of main crop. I used to grow Pink Fir Apple, which come in loads of funky shapes If you don't have much space for spuds (they can take up quite an area) you can grow them in pots, old bin bags, stacks of tyres, potato sacs (get them at the garden centre 3 for a tenner) etc.etc. The planting times vary depending on the cultivar, check out the packet and it should say. Usually however you only get to buy them in kilo bags which is about 30 plants, so it helps if you know someone else with an allotment / garden, and beg / borrow a couple of tubers from them.


Don't worry too much about the temperature variation in the greenhouse - sow some peas in half drain pipes filled with soil. Once they are about 4-5 cm tall they should be ok to plant out, you just tip the drain pipe into a row and it's really easy. The greenhouse you want all the bit fruit crops. Anything that wants a lot of heat and sunshine. Tomatoes, aubergines, chillis, peppers, anything like this.


Ideally the greenhouse should have an automatic opening vent - usually with a wax cylinder that expands and opens up a top window. This is really important as it will regulate the temperature.

Hope this helps

 

[Pandabean]

Thanks again Dave.

At the moment a local ironmonger is selling seed potatoes per the kilo I guess, do you generally get alot of potatoes from the one seed? That was it will give me an idea of what to expect and how much to buy. The garden is fairly big, the last owner had most of it is veg plots and he seemed to have grown quite a bit of veg.

Any tips on harvesting the potatoes? I guess once they are lifted they are put in large brown sacks/hessian sacks to prevent sprouting.

I would love to try green and red peppers, perhaps next year once I get the hang of things.

The greenhouse is just a basic glasshouse with one window that opens. I won't be looking to "upgrade" it for a while.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[dave k]

No worries mate

Roughly you will get at least 2-3 kg's of spuds on one plant (enough for perhaps a week's worth of meals) Maincrop ones will last longer than the earlies (earlies think of new potatoes, Maincrop the roasting or baking ones) . Once you lift them you can store them in sacks, or use an old-fashoned "earth clamp" (see doctor google).

I would recommend getting a wax cylinder arm for your greenhouse if you can. They are quite cheap from the garden center (20 quid??) and they will stop it from overheating quite well, as they automatically open the vent when it gets too hot.

I'd wait until you've been growing for a year before trying the more Mediterranean stuff also, as it takes a little time to get your "green fingers" in. You can certainly however start growing herbs in the green house, get a couple of seed packs of Parsley and Basil and just sow them into small pots of earth.

My immediate advice would be to start the peas /broad beans in your greenhouse. They'll enjoy a nice start, and this will give you a couple of weeks to dig over the soil. You want to turn it over to a depth of at least 10-12 inches, and try not to walk on it when you've done this. Then in about 3 months time at the start of summer, the peas / broad beans should just have finished fruiting, and you can put in another crop for autumn!

I'm not the best gardener but I've been growing veg in my back garden for the last 5 years. It is really a good feeling getting your first complete meal from the garden!

 

[locum76]

man, I love threads like this. Its a sure sign of spring. I'm trying hard not to offload my entire work plan here.