vegatable in my back garden

The Paws

Hi!
I was just wondering do you know what www links or books would help me on how to grow vegatables in my back garden ( for beginners) I always want to do that but never got to it until now. since it is feb and it is a good time to start planting seeds...
anything will do and thanks:D

Irish Gardener

Here is a link to an under-construction section on creating a new veg patch.
It will be updated further as the days go on.
See how you get on with this.... Creating a new Vegetable garden.

Aeneas

Good books, in my order of preference, are
1) The Great Vegetable Plot by Sarah Raven (BBC Books). Very clear and helpful, and good on recommending varieties for the ordinary gardener
2) The RHS: Fruit and Vegetable Gardening by Michael Pollock. Comprehensive, clearly laid out, and covers fruit as well as vegetables. Everything you need to know to get going.
3) Grow Your Own Vegetables. by Joy Larkcom. Probably the most detailed. It has everything about veg., maybe too much for the beginner. But it is not clearly laid out.
4)The New Vegetable and Herb Expert by D.G Hessayon. Part of the very good Expert series of Gardening books. Good sound advice. Widely available in bookshops and garden centres.
If you are thinking of starting off in a small way I would recommend raised beds - rectangular beds of garden soil held in by wooden planks say 9ins high - with paths of gravel, grass or earth in between. Don't make them more than 4ft wide. They are a bit of labour to set up, but they make veg gardening very easy thereafter.

isthatyoudave?

The Paws,

I do a little bit in my back garden, and the best tip I can give you is spend a little at the start and build raised beds. By far the easiest way of growing veg.

Dave

MayoForSam

Also, make your own compost from kitchen scraps and mix it in with a decent soil conditioner in the raised bed. My home-made stuff, even semi-composted, acts like rocket fuel for plants in my garden. Lettuce / rocket / spring onions / green beans would be easy enough to try out first.

The Paws

Thanks everyone!
It is alot more work than I first thought!
but I will try the small raised bed first and I will plant something simple like lettuce and green beans. I will get back to ye in a few days/week when the raised bed is done.
meanwhile keep up the posting!

Sonnenblumen

This might be helpful, article on "Sustaining A Working Garden".

http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com/workspace/upload/C&T%20Autumn%2007.pdf

artieanna

There are lots of easy to grow veg like beetroot, lettuce, onion sets, spinach, cabbage sets, peas etc.

Go to your local library and take out a few books like the ones mentioned as they'll give you an idea whats involved.
Then invest in the book that you find useful.

enjoy it!!!

Aeneas

The Paws wrote: »

Thanks everyone!
It is alot more work than I first thought!
but I will try the small raised bed first and I will plant something simple like lettuce and green beans. I will get back to ye in a few days/week when the raised bed is done.
meanwhile keep up the posting!

Raised beds are the way to go. I have experimented with different sizes and I would definitely recommend not making them more than 4ft or 4.5ft wide, ie wide enough so that you can easily reach the middle of the bed from the path. They can be any length but I find that more than 12ft and you are inclined to walk across them. The point of raised beds is that you rarely have to step on them after the initial work thus compacting the soil. Don't use old sleepers. And add compost when you are preparing the bed.
A few tips when planting. The guidelines on the packets about timing, spacing etc are pretty good but they are generally designed for people who are growing a lot of veg in long rows. You will be growing a small amount in small beds so you will need to adjust accordingly. For some crops, like peas and beans, parsnips, carrots you get only one or two harvests in a growing season ie you sow the seeds in March and harvest in the summer or later. For others like spring onions, lettuce, spinach you can sow and harvest them over a long period. For these succession planting is suitable - a few seeds sown every few weeks will keep you in these veg for a long time. It's difficult to get amounts right. Even after many years of veg gardenig I still plant too much. Ask yourself the question: how many lettuces will I need in a week? Do I really like beetroot? Don't hesitate to thin plants when they germinate and begin to grow. Many beginners feel this is a waste of seed. But what you need are good strong individual plants, not weak spindly ones crowded together. Don't be tempted to grow brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli) until you have some experience of easier crops. Happy gardening.

Dopey

Aeneas wrote: »

Raised beds are the way to go. I have experimented with different sizes and I would definitely recommend not making them more than 4ft or 4.5ft wide, ie wide enough so that you can easily reach the middle of the bed from the path. They can be any length but I find that more than 12ft and you are inclined to walk across them. The point of raised beds is that you rarely have to step on them after the initial work thus compacting the soil. Don't use old sleepers. And add compost when you are preparing the bed.
A few tips when planting. The guidelines on the packets about timing, spacing etc are pretty good but they are generally designed for people who are growing a lot of veg in long rows. You will be growing a small amount in small beds so you will need to adjust accordingly. For some crops, like peas and beans, parsnips, carrots you get only one or two harvests in a growing season ie you sow the seeds in March and harvest in the summer or later. For others like spring onions, lettuce, spinach you can sow and harvest them over a long period. For these succession planting is suitable - a few seeds sown every few weeks will keep you in these veg for a long time. It's difficult to get amounts right. Even after many years of veg gardenig I still plant too much. Ask yourself the question: how many lettuces will I need in a week? Do I really like beetroot? Don't hesitate to thin plants when they germinate and begin to grow. Many beginners feel this is a waste of seed. But what you need are good strong individual plants, not weak spindly ones crowded together. Don't be tempted to grow brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli) until you have some experience of easier crops. Happy gardening.

Interesting post. Why should you not use sleepers to make a raised bed? Can you suggest an alternative? Also, how high would you recommend to raise it?

grahamo

As far as I know the preservatives used to coat old sleepers are toxic to plants. I think new sleepers would be OK.

bmaxi

Dopey wrote: »

Interesting post. Why should you not use sleepers to make a raised bed? Can you suggest an alternative? Also, how high would you recommend to raise it?

This has come up a few times. Old railway sleepers are usually contaminated with creosote which is toxic and carcinogenic, it will also weep and destroy clothes etc. Use scaffolding planks, 9"x3"x12' and treat them with a good preservative. New tannalised sleepers can be used but they are very heavy and unwieldy.

Mylow

bmaxi wrote: »

This has come up a few times. Old railway sleepers are usually contaminated with creosote which is toxic and carcinogenic, it will also weep and destroy clothes etc. Use scaffolding planks, 9"x3"x12' and treat them with a good preservative. New tannalised sleepers can be used but they are very heavy and unwieldy.

Any recommendations on preservative?

I thought railway sleepers treated with creosote were no longer legally available. Taken from another site below

On June 30th 2003, European Union rules banned the sale of creosote to consumers, because of fears that it is carcinogenic. An EU scientific committee has warned that the potential of creosote to cause cancer is greater than previously thought.

With effect from 1 May 2003 creosote is no longer be available to DIY users and any spare DIY creosote should have been used up by 30 June 2003. After this date it may then only be used for industrial applications by professional users such as to treat telegraph and electricity poles.

Dopey

bmaxi wrote: »

This has come up a few times. Old railway sleepers are usually contaminated with creosote which is toxic and carcinogenic, it will also weep and destroy clothes etc. Use scaffolding planks, 9"x3"x12' and treat them with a good preservative. New tannalised sleepers can be used but they are very heavy and unwieldy.

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense. What sort of brackets or supports would you use for the scaffolding planks?

Aeneas

Old railway sleepers have toxins. Whether they are taken up by veg or not I don't know, but it's best not to risk it. And you don't want to find yourself worrying about the consequences for you and your family. And then have the bother of changing your beds --as I did! You can raise the beds to whatever height you like, but generally 9in is sufficient, and handy to make. I nailed the planks together, but some people use stakes at the corners. I don't use preservative for the same reason as the sleepers - possible toxins. The planks will last a long time anyway and can easily be replaced.

bmaxi

Mylow wrote: »

Any recommendations on preservative?

I thought railway sleepers treated with creosote were no longer legally available. Taken from another site below

On June 30th 2003, European Union rules banned the sale of creosote to consumers, because of fears that it is carcinogenic. An EU scientific committee has warned that the potential of creosote to cause cancer is greater than previously thought.

With effect from 1 May 2003 creosote is no longer be available to DIY users and any spare DIY creosote should have been used up by 30 June 2003. After this date it may then only be used for industrial applications by professional users such as to treat telegraph and electricity poles.

Creosote is no longer available but the sleepers are. Any good quality fence or shed paint will do, the planks will last a long time.

@ Dopey
I use 2"x2"x2' stakes at each corner and in the middle and screw the planks to them. If you use stakes remember to treat them as well, they will rot a long time before the planks do.

Alibelle

Dopey wrote: »

Interesting post. Why should you not use sleepers to make a raised bed? Can you suggest an alternative? Also, how high would you recommend to raise it?

I grow veg in raised beds and to be honest, use any timber I can get my hands on - old skirting boards or any such like - depth of beds min of 8 inches and grow everything from herbs veg and salad crops - have few chickens and ducks here and a good layer of old chicken manure at bottom of bed gives brilliant results:)