New Vegetable plot planning

suki1964

We have had a 10 foot square raised plot for the past five years. We are both new to vegetable planting and have varied success, its been a bit of a hobby tbh rather then something we have relied on to feed us

However, income has dropped, food prices rising, and more time at home has got us thinking we need to take this seriously


We have identified an area of the lawn that we can turn over to growing. We are looking at an area of 19 x 16 feet

We are on back filled land so we know we dont have any decent soil or depth so will be doing a raised plot again ( have soil being donated and piles of good quality compost and manure available )

Questions are

Do we need to remove the grass first or will covering it with the soil be enough to kill it off?

Will that size, along with our existing plot be enough for us to see a good return on our labours?

We live on the NW coast of NI, we have very short summers and lots and lots of rain. Frosts can still come in the middle of June and already now there's a nip in the air. Over the years we have tried a variety of veg but found we usually do ok with carrots, parsnips, broad beans and brussels. This year we have had pointed cabbage (first cut Sunday and was delish). We have had success with potatoes as well in the past, just the small area we have had means we can only plant a few of anything as it all gets so over crowded and things bolt


So we are looking at starting this project in the next few days so any advice would be most welcome

Thanks in advance

RAS

Hi

Have you tried peas? early ones like Meteor?

Peas are hardy, just get knackered by wind, so shelter is your main requirement. I grwo a mangetout each autumn (planted about now) which will happily freeze several times and still produce a small crop weekly until the storms batter it at New Year.

I will find my list of other things that have survived frost.

RAS

This was my list on another thread

If it is of any interest, this is my list of green stuff that I can pick outside in the first three months of the year which may not be on the normal plot.

Down to minus 19 and survived even when the snow melted and it was then minus 11 all day and minus 19 at night

Giant Red Mustard - strong flavour
Mizuna
Land Cress
Lamb's Lettuce/Mache
Swiss chard - Lucellus - not all plants.

Note cabbage stalks rotted and rocket popped its clogs. All the above thawed late afternoon so picking was before dusk.

I suspect that other mustards would survive and are milder in taste (the Streaks) and other Chinese Veggies would be worth a trial.

If the winter only drops to minus 11 at night then add

Swiss chard - mixed colours
Rocket
Oriental Veggies
Salad onions.
Parsley

SailorSam

If you're growing things to save money rather than just it being a hobby, the thing is to look at the veges that are expensive in the shops, things like carrots and potatoes may be cheaper to buy in, leaving the space to grow something more exotic (weather permitting)

suki1964

SailorSam wrote: »

If you're growing things to save money rather than just it being a hobby, the thing is to look at the veges that are expensive in the shops, things like carrots and potatoes may be cheaper to buy in, leaving the space to grow something more exotic (weather permitting)

Ha, have you seen the price of potatoes?:eek:

Just back to post that work has already started whilst I was posting the first time, and the frame has been marked out and nearly built (he dont hang around :rotfl:)

So any ideas about the grass, will I kill it off ( its part of my main lawn, ) dig it up, or just topsoil over it?

Many thanks for the suggestions in planting so far.:)

suki1964

RAS wrote: »

Hi

Have you tried peas? early ones like Meteor?

Peas are hardy, just get knackered by wind, so shelter is your main requirement. I grwo a mangetout each autumn (planted about now) which will happily freeze several times and still produce a small crop weekly until the storms batter it at New Year.

I will find my list of other things that have survived frost.

We have had peas, not a lot as only planted in containers. Are you saying that I can plant from seed now and will see peas later this year? Or should I have started off in pots before now?

jj@8cv

Cover the grass with cardboard, then compost, green waste compost or manure etc. For more information go to charlesdowding.co.uk the no dig specialist.