Story of Hugsville Patch

Smoffi

A little update as Hugsville Patch has spread yet again (kind of)....

If you have been following this, and not confused, I shall remind you lol..
Patch 1 is down the side of the garden..
Patch 2 is downt the other side (Compost bin to strawberries)
Patch 3 has grapes in there..

Patch 4 (At my step-daughters place) is being prepped for next year start...

New addition!!!
Patch 5 A smallish patch (not sure of exact size) but its about 10ft by 4 ft and its now located at the side of the church I go to.. Its overgrown as it not on view and cant be used for anything at all.. So I asked today If I can grow veggies there and anything I grow from it can be given away to those who need it!

If your church has any grass area and its not being used ask them if you can use it and the answer might be surprising as it was for me today...I had thought about asking for a couple of months but never got around to it...

Measuring and planning will happen in the next week... Clearing over this month.. Prep during december.. and planting Feb - March (if everything goes to plan God willing)

Pics and plans to follow

Smoffi

Got my gardening magazine this month and found something really useful in it.. and have just got around to scanning it...

http://img194.imageshack.us/i/gardencalendar.jpg/

the next post will be a biggie, next week, as I will have pics of the church area, a download seed listing and my home patch plan for 2010... If anyone finds it easier to look at a simple layout than try to imagine it all

Smoffi

Well visited the church patch today to get a first look at what I have let myself in for lol..

Its huge.. 4ft atleast wide.. by 30+ft long.. not idea location but cant complain.. and will be a great project..

Heres the before image...
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8329/churchpatch1.jpg

Now I have learnt that I have to have it as a "L" shape.. so 3 ft patch and 1ft walking path..

Ideas of what to plant I am still thinking about..
Spuds in the bottom of the L so it takes the whole length of the fence at the bottom..
Several spaces of about 3ft all along the wall..
Ideas I have had are:
Beans
Peas
Toms
Sweetcorn
Cucumbers
Watermelon
Celery
Cabbage
Cauliflowers

I need to bear a few things in mind..
1. low maintenance
2. Its all being given away
3. not alot of sun will hit the space I believe

any ideas and thoughts would be very greatful please!!

Smoffi

Church Patch has been dug over.. took 1 1/2 hours to do... now just bear dirt

Its 35 ft long by 5 ft wide..

the potatoe patch will be 6ft x 6ft...
I have marked out where the border will be and it is looking good for a small path to be down the side to get access..

I have spoken to the person who does the "tea rota" and getting her to speak to all the others to keep the tea bags and coffee granuals so they can go on the patch as well!!

God did bless me today as it started to rain a little just to make the ground abit softer than it was since we have had buckets of rain over the last week.. Also the rain cooled me down

Pics will follow of the cleared patch..

Anyone with ideas on what to plant pleeeeeeeeeeease help lol

Smoffi

Well the grapes finally got trimmed

All beds are covered over at the home patches..
roof garden will get some attension when it stops raining lol..
Church garden is sitting and awaiting the "donations" of unused potatoes
Step daughters patch has had nothing done to it..

A word of advise.. if you are going to think of using manure on the unused patches make sure you do not use too much.. its taking me ages to dig it in and move it to other patches in the garden ..

All the beans and peas are in both greenhouses and still hiding under the compost...
Carrots in greenhouse are about 1 inch high... still not ready to go out
Leeks in greenhouse are about 1 inch tall and same as above

Might have to look into purchasing another greenhouse OR a proper one... huge amount to plant and no space.. will have to think about amounts to start growing and time spans..

So have a serious think about space you have in greenhouses and space in garden.. make sure you have some of every crop in greenhouse and then spread the crops out over whole groing season.. <-- first lesson I've learnt and its not 2010 season yet lol

Smoffi

Home patch update...

I have taken out oif storage all the seed trays and they are sitting in the rain being washed.. then will be fully washed late on
Plastic sheeting is being washed and used for a coldstore in the garden

Carrotts are still growing and doing well.
Celery is superb! Best off grown on the roofpatch.. Will get more up there next year
Grapes have been trimmed back.
Harvested some parsnips.. were nice for dinner. .they were a little on the small side but were grown in pots.. (my mistake)

Collecting potatoes ready to plan them out when they start growing side shoots... need atleast 100 to do all the patches I have lol...

What have I let myself in for.....

Any helpful hints or tips are always welcomed.. I am no expert on any of this lol.

Smoffi

Lesson learnt for last year:

Do no put start to plant things in a plastic framed greenhouse that has no heating 1 month before major coldsnap, ice and snow are coming ( did not know about it coming!! )

Lost the whole lot.. atleast 70+ seeds...

Thinking about DIY insulation on the shed ready for next year... bubble wrap or something.. (project in planning)

Once this cold snap is over I shall be cleaning out both the greenhouses and getting them ready.. also cleaning out the shed ready to have a mass growing session in there as well.

Thinking about contacting the local supoermarket in order to get alot of unused potatoes so I can plan them in the Church Veggie Patch.. after explaining to them what it all will be used for... hopefully they will run with it as well..

Purchased loads more seeds: parsnips, sweetcorn, sporuts, onions, swede, french beans, peas and turnips

A good mag to get that is currently on sale is teh BBC gardeners world (do not normally get it but it has a big veggie planting pull out..

More when the snap is over..

Smoffi

Well that is hopefully the snow over with!!

(Hugsville patch)
spent most of today out in the garden,
Washed both mini greenhouses inside and out.. patio all ready and clean... huge amount of seed trays cleaned and drying (loads more to do!)
Potato patch started as I now have a huge hole in one end
Seed listing updated

Very good news is that the majority of the peas and the beans in the greenhouse that I thought were dead due to the freezing temps are ALIVE!!! so far 20+ have sprouted.. God Bless!!"
Leeks are still going well..
Carrots are ok..

Church Patch
Nothing has been done yet (still have not got in contact with local supermarket to get old spuds). Have checked it and no weeds growing yet and all the snow and ice has gone.. Planning to dig a huge hole at one end to start the spuds in Feb..

Step-Daughters Patch
nothing has been done yet...

Roof Patch
Roof garden requires looking at as I now ache and struggle to get up the ladder after today lol.. I am thinking of getting this sorted out next monday hopefuly

New seeds have arrived so I am so happy.

What is going to be sown in the greenhouses in Feb are already put to one side.

I have to go to the local garden center for more compost.. whilst I am there more pots will be acquired

I have to look at getting 1 maybe 2 more greenhouses soon.. also clearing out the shed and using that as well for germination..

Smoffi

Well after a great adventure at Dobbies..

Hugsville Patch
6 bags of compost!
More seeds..(some stuff I have never heard of! - Scorzonera
More free seed trays (they have a huge container outside where people just dump them in)
Onions as well for spring

Been out planting tomatoes in the shed..

Going to sort out roof patch as well today.. it got hammered in the snow and ice..lost most of it as couldn't work out how to protect it all..

Nothing really updated for other patches..

Smoffi

Well its been a horrid winter for my little patches... Finally uncovered 1 section on Hugsville Patch..
Also taking a great idea from a friend.. I decided to grow 14 tomatoes in small pots on a window ledge and they have gone nuts!
So I have peas, sweetcorn, squash, cucumbers and others now growing in pots in the warmth!!

Still cant use the 2 mini greenhouses outside yet as we still getting horrible frosts here.

I wonder how many pots around the house I can get away with before wife notices lol..

This week will be a busy gardening week as I am off work YAY!! so expect a few daily posts here with more information on what the progression of patches are!

Also all my failures

oh speaking of failures. due to the cold the roof patch got totally obliterated under snow, ice and rain!!
learnt: make sure you can cover up things and get to them quickly if required!