Newbie gardener advice please

Tulip09

Hiya, we will be moving into new accommodation on the 1st and have just discovered it has a huge garden with lots of different fruit trees etc in it. (Damsons, blueberries, blackberries, gooseberies, redcurrents, cooking apples, crab apples) and some sort of peas in a pod. There is a little shed etc for chickens also.

We would like to be able to use this fruit and plant some vegetables but really dont know where to start. Can anyone reccommend some easy idiot proof websites or books where we can learn from pretty quickly. And places where we can buy cheap seeds/plants etc online. There is big patches of muddy areas in the garden where i think they may have grown vegetables previously and a make shift compost heap type thing at the bottom of the garden, and there is more than enough space to buy (cheap) pots/ containers etc

The vegetables we use mostly are salad stuff/ onions/ potatoes/carrots. Thanks for your advice

miltonskeen

Blimey, firstly... lucky you.

Secondly..... take it slowwwwwwwwwwly at first! In fact, given the time of the year you are moving in, I would suggest doing not a lot garden wise till spring. You will most probably have a fair bit to do in terms of DIY, painting etc indoors. The reason I say this as its not a good time of year to really set a whole lot of veg off. I have posted a guide to what you can grow at this time of year, its in the Autumn thread I think.
It would be better to make a proper go of the growing from spring onwards so that you have time to plan.

Now for planning, can I recommend Carol Klein - Grow Your Own Veg Journal. A week by week guide to the year as to what to do and when, with pics, recipes, guides to building things etc all thrown in, plus a blank page every week to write in your own notes, thoughts, progress etc. Afterall, while it might be fine to start off one plant in Feb in Cornwall, you might have to delay till March in Newcastle...

Your library will have books to identify the trees you have and give details on how to prune for optimum fruitation next year.... again, time, and planning is key! I suggest a cold winters morning, a pile of books and lashings of bacon sandwiches and coffee would be the perfect garden planning time!

Good luck, keep us updated