Want to get growing.........

sammy_kaye18

Hi All

I have been poorly recently with Labyrinthitis (its been 5 months now) and I have been made redudant to boot. Merry Christmas to me.....

Anyway this year I am going to take full advantage of my garden.....
It currently looks like this

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The foundations at the bottom have been turned into a workshop for my other half but as you can see there is a larged grassed section to the left (which I want to keep grassed for the kids/dogs) buton the right behind the hedges is a strip of grass thats about 3.5ft deep and goes the whole length of the fence. Also where the wheely bin stands is now a compost bin - although I get a feeling I need to move this as it is sat on gravel which I didnt check if there was weed sheet stuff underneath - either that or I need some worms for my bin. Any recommendations appreciated.....

Ive decided to grow stuff we eat, so carrots, peas, sprouts, potatoes, onions, tomatoes etc. I'm hoping for raised beds but am trying to be realistic in that this may take months for my boyfriend to get round to doing and on very limited money this could be a problem......

At the end of the garden and in my front garden I have bramble vines which I am happy to stay there as they dont provide lots of fruit but enough for some fresh berries with puddings and we have lots of brambles around us locally that we go picking.

Behind the camera is a sun trap - its a small cubby hole with the back door and kitchen window but it really does get the heat. Half tempted to get the boyfriend to build a lean too type roof over it with clear plastic and have a large almost makeshift greenhouse.

Right so what should I be growing, preparing, chitting etc now? I got given a basket of seeds from my sister for christmas along with a gardening journal

although its frosty as flip here today in south wales and I live on top of a mountain...... :-/ so rather open and prone to elements.

Tiglath

It's still rather early - I don't generally start anything till late Feb/early March because the light doesn't support it; I just don't have the space to grow much indoors, and our greenhouse is unheated. I used to have an allotment but reduced mobility and long working hours mean that's not feasible from now on. Most years I do spuds in old compost sacks, a few tomato plants, some bean tripods. My rhubarb comes up every year, as do the raspberries, and the fruit trees just do their thing. I'm scaling right back this year to make sure it's manageable, and will focus on things that are more expensive to buy; I won't do things like onions and carrots, lovely though they are, and sweetcorn just takes up too much space for the yield I get in return.

Rummer

Hi Sammy!

It is still too early to be getting things started so you have plenty of time to think over what you are going to grow and where. Items like carrots, potatoes and onions are often cheaper and easier to just buy in the shops and often it is worth growing items that are more expensive or have a high yield like salads, peas, courgettes etc

Soft fruit is a fabulous investment and we have lots of currant and raspberry bushes in our garden in space that would otherwise be unused - along fences and hedges. We also have a few miniature trees with the plum in particular producing loads of fruit. A rhubarb plant kept us in rhubarb for months.

We created raised beds and they were really affordable but certainly not essential. A lot of the space was just dug over lawn with lots of compost added. That is an essential though a compost bin/area so that next year you do not need to buy any. Often councils give them away or you can get them for a subsidised price.

Freecycle/Freegle/Gumtree are great for finding free or reduced garden items such as tools, old greenhouses, manure, pots etc so worth registering there and either keeping an eye out or post a request for things you need.

The library is another great resource to browse gardening books to get an idea of what to plant when and if you find a book that suits you can invest in it yourself.

Also worth popping into the Daydreamers thread on here as it is a friendly thread made of of smallholders, keen gardeners and people who dream of both so a great sources of advice and support

Farway

Following on from theme, only grow what is expensive to buy, like runner beans, rhubarb is a must, climbing French beans, I recommend "Cobra", all space saving as they grow up & not sideways

cheerfulness4

You could sow chilli plants.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/8243859/How-to-grow-chillies-anywhere-in-Britain.html

I always start peppers and chilli plants early. Confess to buying a chilli plant last year from garden centre but will be sowing my own again this year.

What seeds did you get from your sister?