Veggie Garden

gorgo

Hi Folks,

I have always lived in the city and never had a garden until now. (so excuse all my gardening ignorance pls) I'm looking to start growing some veg in the back garden. I'm going with the raised bed plan, something not to big to get started.

However, reading more into the subject it looks like I've missed the growing season. Can I get a bed together for this season or should I relax and put a bit more prep in for next year???

THX

Anduril

If you want something easy with a fairly big yield, try peas or courgettes. Should be fine to plant now. And for next year, plant rhubarb - the gift that keeps on giving...if you don't mind furry teeth...

dardevle

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while you may have missed the seed sowing end of things, the time is still right for planting out seedlings that can be got from most garden centers and the variety is quite good...broccolli,onion setts,radishes are an easy quick crop,carrots are worth a try.



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bmaxi

If you're really a novice I'd leave it 'til next year and get prepared. Try and find out what your soil is like, is it good loam, is it sandy, is it clay? For example there is no point in planting carrots in a wet clay soil and onions wouldn't do as well in soil where carrots do. You should also find out if your soil is acidic or alkaline. A simple Ph test will do this.
Go to the library and get a good book or invest in some of the "Expert" gardening books, or really go for it and buy the "RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening", and swot up over the summer.

hedgeh0g

I think its good to learn by mistakes, I heard some one saying give it a whirl and see what happens.

Get some strawberries plants for starters.

gollyitsolly

hedgeh0g wrote: »

I think its good to learn by mistakes, I heard some one saying give it a whirl and see what happens.

Get some strawberries plants for starters.

Its not too late to plant a lot of things. Remember we are a cooler country and its still ok here to plant out stuff even in May. My 2 most favourite sites are Allotments.org and RHS.UK. Everything you want to know is there.

bmaxi

hedgeh0g wrote: »

I think its good to learn by mistakes,

It is also, frustrating, time consuming and expensive.
Plants or crops fail for a variety of reasons, and your plants may have failed for one, some or all of those reasons. I reckon it is much more rewarding to do a little research into what those reasons may be, and avoid them, rather than watch the fruits of your labour rot in the ground.
It may be good to learn from your mistakes but it's better to learn from someone elses.

wewantchilly

doing some good soil prep now will eliminate any problems later, so would hold out, take your time and get it done right.lots of organic matter(manure) and dig them good and deep.next year you will be thankful

dardevle

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try something small for starters...couple of containers or a small raised bed,even a grow bag or two,read the books,browse the web... maybe even take a weekend course.
if you start growing tomorrow or next year, you are guaranteed to make mistakes and if you are keen to grow it seems a pity to wait for a year
to start making those mistakes:D.






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artieanna

dardevle wrote: »

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try something small for starters...couple of containers or a small raised bed,even a grow bag or two,read the books,browse the web... maybe even take a weekend course.
if you start growing tomorrow or next year, you are guaranteed to make mistakes and if you are keen to grow it seems a pity to wait for a year
to start making those mistakes:D.

I completly agree.. buy a few plants in a centre and get started, the sooner you start the sooner you learn...

Irish Gardener

gorgo wrote: »

However, reading more into the subject it looks like I've missed the growing season. Can I get a bed together for this season or should I relax and put a bit more prep in for next year???

The season is just rightly getting started to be honest gorgo.
There are tonnes of seeds you can still sow and reap a harvest from this year.
This article lists a load of them....... What vegetables can I sow this month?………. A Guide.

sharonl

Theres still loads you can sow, most seed packs have instructions saying sow indoors from march. I have found that most seed packs I'm using this year, say for outdoor sowing wait until april/may, so you should be fine for most. I'm growing onions, leeks, beans, peas, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, rocket, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and most of them say sow outdoors in april/may or start inside february march. Just as well as I'm only getting onion sets in this weekend and preparing the rest of the beds for everything else to be sown in may. Have some broccoli sprouts and leeks sown outside in seed trays for transplant in may. So still loads you can do, theres a good forum at www.gardenplansireland.com/forum if you want loads of useful advice and tips. Having said that this is my first year with an allotment so we'll see how it all goes. The one thing I think you have missed is potatos and garlic.

sharon

www.plot103.blogspot.com

Dodser

Don't put it off get something into the ground. I really only got going at this stage last year and I had a stack of Carrots, lettuce, Courgettes and tomatoes. have to agree that rhubarb is a great one to get into the ground. make sure you get some sort of manure or compost into the ground first.
It's an awful shame that this wet weather has just arrived though. It'll slow your work down a bit!

gorgo

Cheers for all the tips and input folks.

I visited a garden centre yesterday & got talking to a pro. I've priced how much it will cost to get started. Taking all your coments into account, I've decided to start.

I'm gonna start off with a small area raised bed. We recently got a patio put in and there is a tonne of good loam I'm told there in the garden. There is a good deal on compost aswell.

I'm gonna single dig the ground thats there now. Then put a half compost/ half topsoil mixture in on top in the bed. Gonna split the area in 3 for a standard crop rotation.

I've have a little more reading to do on the particular veg I wanna grow to see what the differences are on what they each like to grow.

Thats the plan.....

Cheers again

dardevle

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good for you,but just remember when the growing bug takes hold......
it never lets go:P





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jobrok1

I’m in the same boat as you ‘Gorgo’.

Made a half-assed attempt with pots and buckets last year, with some results. Kept putting off digging the patch set aside, until finally I got going a couple of months ago.
Just turned over the sod. Dug manure into the subsoil. Placed the sods back grass side down, broke up the roots and forked in some more manure and compost on top.
Got spuds in! Carrots! Parsnip! Onions! Beet Spinach! Got the Broccoli and Cabbage starter packs from Lidl a few weeks back and set those too.
All was going well until the last couple of weeks. ****ing rabbits have turned up in droves. The ***** are having a mighty time helping themselves to my veggie patch.
So obviously next on the agenda is to but up some rabbit proofing.

ladymerrion

I agree, it is not too late to start, we never sow much until the end of April, beginning of May. Before that it is too cold for many things (and now it is too wet to do anything).
Don't start with too many varieties. And watch out for slugs, they are usually the first ones to benefit from your gardening efforts!

davenewt

ladymerrion wrote: »

And watch out for slugs, they are usually the first ones to benefit from your gardening efforts!

Well said! Found 3 the other day on my new veg patch - one of them was after munching his way through half my sprouting carrot shoots, the little bugger. Might have to invest in some strips of copper to fix around the perimeter...

Not to hijack the thread but hopefully add to it, I've filled my first patch with parsnips, carrots, peas, shallots and now leek seeds... I have some packets left over: courgettes, mixed lettuce/salad leaves, one or two others I can't remember off the top of my head now... so I was wondering if I could just buy a grow-bag for these "extra" veg or would I be better off creating another "proper" patch once I clear some more space in the garden?

Never used a grow-bag so not sure if I'd need to plant on at some stage or if they'd be fine for the duration?

Help. Next thing I'm going to be planning my new garden and using words like "greenhouse"...

hedgeh0g

Someone mentioned courgettes there.

They are very sensitive to the cold. Keep in doors (sunny window) and plant outdoor in June Im told.

I nearly lost all of mine to the cold, they wilted one by one but I managed to save 6 of them