Veggie patch from scratch

[Greenleaves]

Jay-ell ! That's the fantasy I'm after...........nice one sir

You sure you are on the right forum SP

[Chestnut]

South west facing, rich loam. Well drained soil, no risk of flooding but own water supply (borehole, or piped fro nearby watercourse).
Double layer brick walls on north and east end, for shelter and with a few established trained fruit trees like apricots figs and pears, plus a morello cherry on the back wall. Glasshouse against south wall for orange and lemon.
One outdoor area set aside as an orchard, small productive trees so I don’t have to go up ladders, pears, plums, apples, and maybe a damson or greengage as well. Beehive or two in orchard.
Lots of raspberry canes, enough varieties to give me a 5-6 month cropping period at least.
A handful of currants, gooseberries, rhubarb, strawberries.

Then outdoor space for a 12 bed rotation: nightshades, brassicas summer, brassicas winter, legumes, alliums, plus chickens and pigs in the 9th. 3 beds covered with biggish moveable polytunnel(s) for winter cropping/frost protection, and meditteranean stuff in summer (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines). Polytunnels preferably on railtracks so no manual labour required to shift them!
No perennial weeds or diseases.
a friendly neighbour who farms dual purpose cattle and sheep (for swaps!)
A harry potter style flue system so i can pop out to visit friends and family - without them needing to move house
Oh, and with a large pot of gold included in the nominal purchase fee, so that all bills and expenses are covered with enough left over I don’t need to go to work, so and can spend as much time as I like in my garden.

[Jay-ell]

Jay-ell ! That's the fantasy I'm after...........nice one sir

Yeah - where I can grow chestnuts underground and peas on trees.

[JanieB]

When I left my 1st husband I moved into a cottage with a quarter acre of garden. My biggest problem was that it was heavy clay soil so claggy when wet and like concrete when dry. There didn't seem to be any in between. The veggie patch was already defined by a block surround. The rest was mine to do with as I wished. I had such plans. But I started a degree course and had to move to be closer to the university and be there for my son. That was the first garden that was all mine and I miss it but am happy with what I have now, which is 0.05 of an acre.

I have a rough design and the start of it was 2 years ago when I had a Log Cabin/Summerhouse built at the bottom. So far I have a patio just outside the back door. The rest is a blank canvas. More would have happened if the summer hadn't been so hot and dry. All the seeds I propagated in the spring are still in my kitchen as it was too hot to deal with the work needed to be done before putting them outdoors.

Still planning.

[sparrow100]

It depends so much on the size. A bigger one would be walled. Laid out like Hampton Court Kitchen Garden, but with a few more curves to the beds and paths. Raised no-dig beds everywhere. I am assuming HorseFace and his potential companions would devote their daily existence to provide the mulch, and would have a few acres adjoining. It would have flower beds interspersed with the veg beds - HorseFace is particularly fond of roses. All the fruit would be trained onto the walls, bar a huge mulberry tree in the middle with a bench all the way round. And a peach tree that would be in the leanto glasshouse on the south wall. There would be several beds devoted to both saffron and squashes.

[noviceveggrower]

For argument sake let's say you have 1/4 acre blank canvas. When I say blank, not even a boundary fence / hedge............nothing !

Well if its a totally blank canvas then I would put hedging round to encourage the wildlife. Would put some fruit trees in as well in the hedge.
Plus would also make room for a small pond for frogs etc.
Would also make room for my bee hives and chickens. Always fancied keeping quails as well for some reason.

This is part of mine and the kids 5 year plan. Save up as much as we can and move somewhere that we could do something like this. We are looking at Northumberland. Of course 5 years will probably turn into 10 years but always got to try and aim for something in life.