Advice would be nice

[downtoearth]

Hi everyone, the name is Clive.

I've been thinking of growing my own Veg' for sometime and hopefully this seems to be the place to get some good advice.
My garden is a good size and I would like to utilise a plot of around 24ft x 12ft for starters. The problem is that at the moment the area is covered with turf, and is pretty wet after the recent wintery conditions. It would be much appreciated if anyone can give me some advice on what the best way to get around this is.
Would it be best perhaps, to rotivate the area first ?

I Look forward to getting some valued advice, and meeting other novice and experienced vegetable growers.

Thanks a lot
Clive.

[Flummery]

I did the same thing with my long and entirely grassed garden when we moved here. I stripped the turf and buried it a spit (spade's depth) deep. This involves a lot of moving around of earth but if you put the turf brown side up () at the bottom of your trench it won't grow again and will produce a lovely loam when it rots down. I think it you just rotovate you'll end up with grass re-growing which will aggravate the hell out of you.

Welcome by the way - how rude of me not to offer a greeting - and good luck with the growing. It's seriously addictive!

[zazen999]

Welcome Clive

It would help if you pop your location into your profile.

For what it's worth - I recommend raised beds personally. Also, have a think about what you want to grow and go to the search button and have a look at what others are doing - it helps you get a sense of what's practical or not.

[Snadger]

Welcome to the vine clive!

Glad you've seen sense and decided to ditch the green desert!

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine Downtoearth.
Flummery is absolutely right about the grass. And I agree with Zazen about the beds.They are much easier to work.
For this year you could just dig out the beds and leave grass paths between them til you decide what you want to do. If you decide to go for beds it's best not to make them more than 4 feet wide or you can't reach into the middle.
Look forward to hearing how you get on.

[selfraising]

Welcome to to vine. Good luck with your growing season!

[Two_Sheds]

I am turning a large lawn into flower beds (same principle as veg beds)

I am just turning over the turf, and planting into it. It is rotting down fairly quickly, and it's good soil underneath.

[Glutton4...]

Hi and welcome!

[Basher]

Hi Clive,
I'm also new here at the Vine. I have just reorganised my beds and expanded a little into a previously turfed area. I've made some 12' (ish) raised beds. I wasn't sure what to do with the turf and was worried about getting grass regrowing in that area, so I removed it to a depth of 6' and have made a large pile under a black sheet. I hope to reintroduce it the bed once it has rotted down some.
Does anybody know how long that might take, or if there is anything I can do to speed up the process?

[Samwise]

Hi Clive and welcome to the vine

[Solebay Diamond]

Hi and welcome to the vine

[Two_Sheds]

o I removed [the turf] to a depth of 6' and have made a large pile under a black sheet. I hope to reintroduce it the bed once it has rotted down some.
Does anybody know how long that might take, or if there is anything I can do to speed up the process?

So you've made a stack of turves to rot down into compost? That will take 6 months to a year or so, depending on conditions. It will rot quicker as the weather warms up, and if you add an activator eg. comfrey tea, wee or nettle tea

[Basher]

Longer than I expected. I might have to make some night time visits to the mound in the garden . Thanks

[jeannine]

If you're just about to make raised beds, it might be worth your while to go on freecycle and let everyone know that you're planning to grow veg. There may be people near you who have all sorts of goodies like tools, timber, seeds etc that would be free to a good home - it's amazing how helpful people can be!

[pebbles]

When you make raised beds do you have to remove the turf first or just grow on top of it? Might seem like a silly question, I'm new to this.