Starting own vegetable plot

[calibanzwei]

Might not be the place for this, but.......

.....I'm about to move into a new place (rented, but have permission) and want to have a go at being, at least a little, self sufficient. It'll be in the rear of the property, W/SW facing with a high wall around it (almost 2m) and about 8-10m square.
Problems are that the north wall is where the path to the rear gate is and the east wall is the house itself; patio underneath the kitchen window (although I should be able to have pots for beans with A-frame bamboo beneath). Not ideal conditions.

I think I be restricted to a single raised bed, 2 feet wide running the length of the remaining S and W facing walls.

I'd like to grow a combination a leaf and root if possible, that would give year long 'fruits of labour'. I'll be in the property for at least 3 years so I'm aware of the need for rotation, but need advice on what would grow best under these conditions......

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Colin

EDIT - Yeah, on thinking about it 'Lovely Grub' may have been a better bet - Mods if you wouldn't mind obliging? Ta

 

[locum76]

Hi Colin.

tatties and beets are always a good starting point, leef beet or chard is perrenial and would give you year round leaves for stir fries and salads.

can you dig up the lawn (presuming there is one) or at least mulch it? either would give you more freedom next year.

could you take a photo and let us see? I could be more helpful if i could visualise it. for example you say there is a path running along the south facing wall, is there space between the path and the wall to plant some fruit canes or maybe even espalier train a fruit tree (i know you'll only be there 3 years but a fruit tree is a wonderful legacy).

with a 2 metre wall around the plot you'll have no issue with shelter but it could be cold everywhere except the south facing wall so sunflowers, sweetcorn, pumkins and the like are probably out of the question which hampers any native american permaculture type stuff.

my starter for ten.

Rob

 

[calibanzwei]

I'll take some pic's next time in the property - don't officially move in until Thursday - but thank's for the info.

The agreement we have is that we can do a fair amount with the property, as long as it doesn't detract from it's value however convincing SWMBO to dig up the lawn maybe a step too far

The espalier trained trees sounds intriguing - I'll have to check how much of a gap there is.

Cheers!

 

[xylaria]

Salad crop like lettuce, pak choi, rocket are easy to grow, have a fast turn around, and for space versus money saved buying them from supermarkets are very economical. A bag of cheap salad is about a £1 and lettuce isn't much cheaper, but last year I grew cut and come again "salad bowl" lettuce and rocket in three containers and didn't need to buy sailed for between april and november. The seeds and compost cost less than £5 easily.

Spuds are good for breaking new ground but are very spacious for the price a sack of tattys are in the shops. I grew runner bean plants last year in partial shade I got a about a plateful a week for 2 months and although they are big they are only big upwards. We too have a cold shady wall so a I tried hanging baskets where the plants stick out over the top, the only problem is that the local drag-up urchins then vandalise them or nick the berries.

Last year and the year before were very poor years for tomatoes and spuds due to the rain spreading blight. I am trying out burdock but nothing has germinated yet. Remember that you can eat more than just the range of shop veggies, rosehips always work no matter what the weather. Dandelion's forced under a dark pot to grow bleached leaves taste like cos lettice, i ate my first plate of them last month, it will be a few weeks before my lettuce is ready to eat.

 

[Kerne]

Runner beans! They grow up so ypu get an excellent yeidl off a small ground area.

 

[MartinK9]

Don't forget hanging baskets and pots to grow your veg in also



Edit: ooops didn't read xylaria's post properly sorry

 

[Gleams]

I have just started growing my own veg. I bought a little plastic green house to help get the seeds started. Kind of went a big over board with the amount of seed I grew as I don't have much of a garden to plant them in. But its all a learning experience. I have planted:
Carrots
Parsnips
Potatoes
Onions
Leeks
Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts
Spinach
Tomatoes
Parsley
Chives
Basil

So I cannot give you much advise at the moment but I will offer some as soon as I learn anything.

 

[Nagual]

I recommend getting as many gardening / seed mags as you can - there are quite a few of them - check online and you can order them free. I suggest this not only as it will give you ideas, but many of them also have lots of tips and alternatives. Such as try growing sweetcorn, runner beans and squash all in the same patch. The sweetcorn gives the beans something to hang on to and the squash grows near the bottom and doesn't interfere wit the other plants.

Perhaps, if you haven't had much experience in gardening, just try out a few basics first, taters, carrots etc 'easy crops' you can get varieties that are resistant to pests too.. always a bugger when growing things. When you do start growing, have have your little patches - just make sure you have enough room to move between them.. nothing worse than having to lean over too far or stand in the middle of something.

Happy growing!

 

[w00dsmoke]

I'm kinda in the same boat. I started growing veg 3 years ago and other than a knowledge of growing tatties and tomatoes as kid, none at all. I only have a small patch and grew leeks the first year (40) and bought initially 3 window boxes and had a succession of rocket throughout the summer from them. I also grew loads of chives/parsley in buckets and pots. In the house I grew chillies on the window sill.

This year I dug part of the lawn up for onion sets, carrots and beets. I intend to grow potatoes in rubble sacks filled with £1 growbag compost. I'm planning on maybe around 15-20 bags for growing potatoes. I've got some old plastic containers that I'll try some fruit in. On the side of a sunny fence I'm going to try and grow courgettes under plastic.

I think you should dig a bit of the soil up, look at it, test it if you wish to find out how rich it is and then make your choices based on your findings. The expert guides are fantastic for beginners and will expalinall you need to know.

Good luck

WS

 

[historyphil]

Hello Cali', Welcome to the 'Good Life'.

We have four 4'x6' raised beds which we started last year (Spring) with some success in growing greens and as we are on a budget we looked for cost effective ways to go about it. What we have found is that the best text books (for us) regarding growing are the Dr DG Hessayon series especially his "Vegetable Jotter" as it gives clear instruction on crop rotation, planting times and other basic rules ideal info' for us as first timers. "The Vegetable Expert" more indepth and plant specific , "The Pest and Weed Expert" self explanatory and "The Fruit Expert" good advice of choosing what and which fruits for reasons why, how to grow them and train them. All his books follow the same format very clear with good use of colour in examples and informative and most importantly dirt cheap on Amazon. There are other text books specific to intensive growing using small spaces which we got on loan from the local library.

We followed the TV pundit advice of buying scaffolding planks for the boxes after which we discovered that B&Q sell pre-treated wooden gravel boards for less along with the 2' long stakes to secure the boards with, both do the same job for less cost. We cut up black rubbish bags to cover the inside of the boxes as further weather proofing and nailed scrap copper pipe from a plumber friend of ours along the top to help keep the slugs out. We utilised plastic guttering with fittings brackets etc (B&Q) which come in 6' or 10' lengths into lenghty window box type containers for our 'cut an come' again plantings, you can put these on a garden or shed wall one above the other to create a terreacing (sic) effect. If you think laterally then go to the local builders merchants for materials not garden centers. You will need water butts for the rain collection (buzz word, Harvesting) our local council (Essex) have deals to sell butts and composters cheaper than most. Best of luck Philip

l

 

[Walks with dogs]

Fantastic thread! Me and the missus are planning on starting our own veggies in the next couple of weeks. Probably start off in pots / containers initially.

Thanks for starting this one Calibanzwei.

 

[Melonfish]

col m8, just thinking about some of those mini greenhouse things you can get. seed trays in em to start em off.
also are we digging this at the weekend? i take it you'll want to borrow some garden tools? (and yes i do own some)

 

[xylaria]

Don't forget hanging baskets and pots to grow your veg in also



Edit: ooops didn't read xylaria's post properly sorry

There is now't wrong with saying it twice.

Before I got my allotment last june, I seriously considered the concept of vertical gardening. Short rooted carrots grown in window boxes (no carrot fly ten foot up) , spuds grown in hessen sacks pegged to wall under the carrots. Watering is easier than you think, gray water from an upstairs bathroom is used to water the top window box the water drips through and waters whats below. It has been done.

I grew some not very good soya that produced a small amount of beans by growing some on the inside of a tall window. I germinated beans from the healthfood shop, I think the problem was a basic lack of nutrients, they germinated really well and I should of just ate the bean sprouts. The beans suitable for britain are normally really hard to germinate.

 

[ladanddad]

Not tried the method yet myself but it seems to make sense especially in small spaces

type in square foot gardening on your surch engine and also on youtube

let us know how you get on and good luck

 

[calibanzwei]

Thanks for all the suggestions peeps - plenty to go on. @Walks with dogs - no problem, I guess this is the time of year for it

 

[xylaria]

I added a lot of chicken manure pellets this week, as I think this the right time of year to add well rotted manure. It seems to be the main winter early spring job on the established allotments I have seen is to add the nutrition now. I am using pellets and blood,bone and fish meal. You shouldn't be adding fresh poo this late as it takes time to rot and will make your new house smell and scorch the seedings.

 

[Cobweb]

I'm going to try Tomatoes again this year and I'm very interested in the raised beds/copper pipe idea, I have an awful time with slugs and bindweed. The soil here isn't too bad and I've a well established compost box to dig from as well.

I tried toms last year, but as mentioned before the rain got to them. From the fore casts, this year is supposed to be hot and dry so bear that in mind when planting.

Tatties in sacks work super well, just make sure the roots are in pitch darkness.

Runner beans are great and freeze well as do peas if planted by a fence. Just keep an eye out for the pea moth, opening up shells and finding a maggot inside is very icky.

Carrots, Cucumber, Lettiuce are good as well as mentioned previously.

Plant what you want to eat, there's no sense in planting something you are not going to eat

 

[sandbender]

Good luck with this

You may find some useful research links here...

http://www.housegate.net/woodvival/manualistica/manualistica.htm

 

[calibanzwei]

Plant what you want to eat, there's no sense in planting something you are not going to eat

Already have chili (Hungarian Hot Wax) seedlings on the go - if it turns out how and dry this year, all the better.

 

[scrubcutter]

I hope this doesn't read as off-putting. Whatever you choose, make sure the soil is good and not contaminated; a look at the historic use of the site will give some clues.

The amount of ground that has been contamined by chemicals from industry and then built on is surprisingly high and frightening. I have a friend who grew his own potatoes in the garden and had violent diarrohea after eating his first batch. The site used to have a gasworks in the 1950's and the potatoes were found to contaminated with the muck from that.

Everything was fine after the soil was removed and 'new' soil (a mix of compost and clean soil from his mum's garden) was put in.

Ground contamination is often overlooked and it is not unknown for some local councils to illegally overlook such incoveniences when giving themselves planning permission to build houses.

Sorry if I sound like a kiljoy but best be safe. Good luck.

Cheers.