very new and very nervous!

[Snadger]

hi mumsie, my best advice is don't try to do too much at a time, take it easy and steady. there is a good book full of sound advice for all standards of gardener, its called "grow your own vegetables" by joy larkcom if you want to get it and need to order it the ISBN number is 0-7112-1963-x ive found it very useful over the years.

all the best scooby

Good advice scooby!

[jake]

enjoy it

hi this is my first time aswell i am a new allotment holder with very little gardenning and computer skills. I have started to dig and sow potatoes for the first year as the old hands have said it will help combat the weeds, also some say water some say dont water?, allotment was overgrowne so doing a bit at a time. as i am mid 50s myself but wish i started in my younger days.

[HeyWayne]

Nerves are natural. Just relax and enjoy it.

To answer your questions (as best I can - I'm new too):

1) I'd suggest veg is quicker and easier at this time of year. There's still plenty you can sow/grow now. Do a quick search on here and you should pull up plenty of answers.

2) Again, a little wander around the Grapevine should give you plenty of suggestions. If you're already considering encouraging wildlife into your plot, you know a bit about gardening I'd suggest.

3) Horse manure right next door? Lucky you. The older the manure is, the better. Fresh stuff can "scald" plants as it rots. I'm pretty sure the darker it is the better. That said, you can bung fresh stuff on your compost heap to help things along. Get what you can and pile it as high as you can, then just leave it. The best time to dig it in is in the autumn - feeding the ground ready for the next growing season.

Good luck whatever you do.

[mumsie]

wow! i never thought i would get such a response!
well the plot was in a bit of a bad way, but i roped in my little brother (who is a whole lot bigger and stronger than me! lol), and we managed to clear a large part of it yesterday, then dug down about 6 inches and turned it all over, got rid of the stones and rocks etc, so now it looks pretty much good to go.

in answer to what veg i like, well i like pretty much everything but i just cant stand parsnips! then again the rest of my family love them so i can still grow them!

im a chef so i like to try new ways of cooking things all the time, so i dont really mind growing a bit of everything, if i can that is! lol.

i was thinking maybe to start of with, some tomatoes (any kind), dwarf beans, peas, onions and maybe some carrots and spuds. but by going on what you guys have told me about potatoes clearing everything i might go with that first, ive got some old maris pipers chitting, can i use those?

[Tori]

Get the potatoes in!! - I am a newish to growing too and I was soo excited when the first potato plants started coming up! - They grow really quick and you can harvest the pots as soon as the flowers come (a few at a time by wiggling your fingers around in the dirt) - and they taste amazing!

[chuffa]

Welcome to the vine mumsie, Its very easy getting too many books on growing veg but all have different useful info in them. The three that i use are Grow Your Own Veg by Carol Klein, The Allotment Book by Andi Clevely and if you want to go organic, a book called Grow Organic Cook Organic by Christine & Michael Lavelle and Ysanne Spevack. Whatever you go for just enjoy yourself.