Rocket Gardens?

Tulip09

Hiya

I have moved into a house with a huge garden a few months back that has a pretty big veggie patch & herb garden . I have not really got a clue about gardening or where to start tbh and wondered if anyone had any experience of these rocket gardens. Where you just dig it in the mud and things grow? And if they are a good idea for a begginer or could recommend one they have used etc.

The veggie patch that was in the garden had potatoes/ beetroot/ some sort of lettuce/ carrots/ strange looking skinny leek type thing with a bulb on the bottom and lots and lots of weeds.

The herb bit has about 4/5 different types and about 3 metres of that purple sage stuff? There is a fruit bit further down the garden which is damsons, cooking apples/ eating apples/ some sort of plum and 2 different types of berries (one red/black colour/ one purple/blue colour) and about 3/4 metre rows of what i think was strawberries (Not 100% sure)

Now we didnt have time or the inclination to sort the garden out when we moved in, so most of whatever it was/ is under lots of snow and will proberly need dug out before i start doing anything.

Should i just dig it all out and get one of these kits that tell you when/ where & how to do everything. My first thought was get a gardener but even a local unemployed teen wanted £20 per hour cash in hand :eek:. So i will need to do it myself and learn along the way.

Any advice how to tackle this garden and where to start growing my own would be appreciated.

cootambear

I`m sure you don`t mean this

http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/rocket-garden.aspx

As far as I can google `rocket garden` it seems to be a seed company of some sort., not a gardening style though I could be wrong.

Where you just dig it in the mud and things grow? sounds like gardening to me lol.

I would relax because there not much you can do this time of year apart from mulching (putting rotted leaves or dung down to break in to the soil over winter).

come spring you could post some pics on here, and google pics of different veg so you can identify them. however most of the veg we grow are annual (ie only good for 1 year) so you would probably have to replace them anyway. there are some exceptions - asparagus will crop for 20 years for example.

strawbs will produce for 4-6 years so I would leave them. ditto fruit bushes which are good for a bit longer.

gardening is as simple as you want to make it or as complicated as others wish to make it for you, but it has a gentle learning curve. it gives moderate exercise, cheap great tasting food, and the open air.

You will need

a trowel
a hoe
a spade

you can get these from pound shops or supermarkets

seeds from pound shops or supermarkets

manure from farmyards, or leaf mold from around trees for compost.

HOW TO GARDEN

1. manure
2. remove weeds and keep removing
3. turn soil with hoe or spade
4. chuck seeds in
5. water
6. water after a week of no rain
7. pick and eat when ripe.

If you do this you won`t go far wrong. No kit (apart from the tools I`ve mentioned) is required.

Good luck, and welcome to an enjoyable and rewarding hobby.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

DOn't dig stuff out this year - you could be waving goodbye to the best asparagus of your life - and hundreds of pounds of valuable produce.

Perhaps get a few books on gardening in the sales?

I am jealous, though - a mature garden with fruit trees, vegetables and herbs? Heaven!

rhiwfield

I echo Jojo, very jealous.

Seems like the house was previously owned by keen gardeners and its best to see what comes up before you start making changes.

The established veg patch is probably fertile soil with a good humus content. The first year its best to wait (othet than removing obvious weeds) to see if there are any perennial plants waiting to come up e.g rhubarb and asparagus. Try to see whether the fruit trees and shrubs are labelled, otherwise you have the fun of identifying species and varieties from books.

In addition to borrowing or buying a few gardening books, maybe get one or two on what to do with surplus produce (jams, wine, granitas, pie fillings, cordials) and you'll begin to look forward to your future harvests.

lucylucky

Take a trip to the library and start looking at some gardening books.

No need to do much at the moment, apart from plan.

By the way what is a "rocket garden"?

funkymonkey1

http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/

We have bought a couple of these in the past when we were first setting up our allotment. Bit of a cheat but it was great to get us in the swing of it.

First time,we just had the Rocket Garden, second time we grew lots from seed as well and now just grow from seed ourself.

It is much cheaper to grow from seed but for getting yourself going, they were great.

Axx

Tulip09

http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/ - this sort of thing where you dont have to grow anything from scratch they send you all the stuff and you just sort of plant it.

I have got a gardening book for Christmas, but even that looks a bit advancing for me. I never thought of going to the library, so will be doing that now, thank you. It is very daunting having all this stuff and not knowing what to do with it or what half of it is. The garden is quite big and i think the previous family must have been very self sufficient veggie wise and they definately liked lavendar and roses as they are everywhere. In the garage they have left me loads of gardening tools/ pads for your knees so i dont think i will really have to buy much in the way of tools.

There is an area at the bottom of the garden which has alot of weeds/ rotting stuff in it. I am now thinking that this could be a compost heap. The farm on the corner leaves bags of manure on the roadside for people to take so i can get some of that if need. I have a coal fire also which creates a lot of ash. My mum seems to think i should dig it around the edges of the veggie patch? Or should i put it in the compost area first?

Thank you for your advice.:T

wssla00

I had one as a present for moving into my new house. The plants were very healthy and gave great produce. The straw that comes with it is good for mulching too. Good if you are a complete novice!

lucylucky

tbh I don't think you need a rocketgarden (thanks for letting me know what they are)


You sound as if you have a great basis for a wonderful garden, it is just some knowledge and hard work you need, not stuff out of a packet.

Any keen gardeners around you that can offer advice?
Any suitable night/day classes?

Do a search for "garden forums" and you will find a wealth of info and willing people to help you on your way.

Davesnave

Tulip09 wrote: »

I have a coal fire also which creates a lot of ash. My mum seems to think i should dig it around the edges of the veggie patch? Or should i put it in the compost area first?

Thank you for your advice.:T

Coal ash contains traces of chemicals which may not be good if they build up long term in your vegetable patch. The general advice is that wood ash is fine, but avoid spreading coal ashes on the garden, especially when fresh.

lostinrates

Tulip09 wrote: »

http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/ - this sort of thing where you dont have to grow anything from scratch they send you all the stuff and you just sort of plant it.

Part of the whole fun of it is seeing a plant where you put a seed. Also, its much more affordable. Buying plants simply to grow bigger will probably cost you as much as buying veg in shops.

Even experienced gardener's make mistakes, so don't feel a flop when things don't go to plan.