newbie from belfast

[neil1280]

hello everyone im new to home ownership a garden and growing stuff!! well i just moved into a place and i have a 50ft garden and i intend on starting to grow some veg, i have went a bit mad and done all these within the last 2 weeks

so far i have started on herbs which have all just germinated and hardening off at the moment, basil,coriander,thyme,mint,dill, chive, parsley, oriental leaf, rocket, oregano, swiss chard, mustard greens, and parsley

also some veg and fruit. peas, courgette, tomato, cherry tomato, blackberry, strawberry

i dont have a raised bed at the minute but im trying to find some wod to build one with, could i build the raised bed in the middle of one of the lawns, and put the weed blocking sheet (is it called a permeable barrier) straight on top of the grass and fill it with compost?

also my courgettes can i just grow them in a bag on the ground like you would potatoes? my pease are growing like crazy!! is it very important that the seeds are ver far apart? i have mine about 5ins apart in a square shape 4across 4 down if you get me

if any of you have some valuable advice on anything that i am growin please let me know and thanks

neil

[ginger ninger]

Good Morning Neil and welcome to the vine.
You look to have a nice big blank canvas to work with. Your peas should be fine just make sure they have something to grow up i.e some canes or twiggy stick's, as they get bigger keep an eye out for green fly and caterpillar's squash them if you see any.
If you have a builders yard near you it could be worth asking if they have any old scaffolding planks, there good for building raised bed's with. I'd dig the turf off where your sighting your raised bed, that way you'll have more depth to your bed. Hope this help's.

[Nicos]

Hi there- and welcome to the Vine!

( peas sound fine!)

How deep are your raised beds going to be?
The weed supressant membrane will block most/all of the roots so you need to make sure you have enugh depth for the roots of any of the veg you are growing.
Never tried courgette in bags...but I don't see why not- but they do need quite a bit of moisture/watering.

[Florence Fennel]

Hi Neil and welcome to the Vine. I covered areas of lawn with cardboard to suppress the grass before siting my raised beds, but that's because I'm physically challenged when it comes to digging! As Nicos says, dig off the turf if you can before filling so that your veg roots can grow down. I'd save the permeable barrier for in between any beds you build to make paths. Good luck with it.

[northepaul]

Hi Neil,
what a great blank canvas! I bet you're itching to get planting!
Good luck & welcome to the vine!

[elsie-scot]

welcome to the vine. You've been busy already

You can grow most peas 2"/3" apart in zigzag, so they'll be fine

This is what I did for my raised beds, just moved into house earlier this year, if you have time -skim off the turf, dig out some earth to spades depth, fork over base, put in raised bed, so is a bit lower than rest of grass (less to fill up), rip up turf and put in base(upside down), I then put in some of earth, then seaweed (since I have loads nearby), then more earth. I haven't gone to full depth of all my beds as growing my roots elsewhere, so more just for shallower rooting plants, but if growing roots will need a good depth of soil. Over time with manuring, home grown compost they should become a full raised bed.

I grew my courgettes in pots last year, so don't see why potato bag wouldn't work

[Jeanied]

Just wanted to say welcome to the vine Neil - nice to have another Grape from the Emerald Isle.

[neil1280]

thanks for all your replies guys! yeah really excited about getting stuck in! i called on a few places today trying to get wooden pallets to build my first raised bed and a mate at the woodfloor warehouse gave me some spanking new ones! and turned out he had 4 x 3ft lengths of 6"by6" (mouthful) real heavy wood as well i think it goes on their racking system for the short pallets to sit on, so these will be brilliant for my corners!

you can see in the above pic the lawn on the left, the part thats turned up is where i ripped up loads of old plants and weeds, it is infested with weeds and what i think are tubers after some research, so im gonna dig up until its all gone and make a bed maybe 1-1/2 to 2ft high, gonna be busy with work so i may not get some done until the weekend

couple of questions

when the some comes up it hits the left side of the garden where im thinking of putting the bed, then early afternoon it shines toward the bottom half of the garden then it will so down on the left side shining on the right of the garden, is where i am putting the bed ok?

would the clothesline cause any problems with planting in the lawn would the washing powder pollute it or anything wierd like that?

i have a large patio area as well its 18ft x 20ft what would be good on the patio? something that doesnt need a lot of sunlight it also has a small sheltered area

[neil1280]

I then put in some of earth, then seaweed
I grew my courgettes in pots last year, so don't see why potato bag wouldn't work

seaweed eh? whats the purpose of that?

[Jeanied]

Neil the seaweed is a useful source of nutrients to plants.
Never heard of washing powder causing problems so I wouldn't worry - you are not planning to shake it over the plants, are you?