My pics

[Amybee]

OK I am going to try to show you guys 2 pictures.

1 is of my cabbage seedlings look how gorgeous they are! And I haven't killed them yet.

The other is a pic of my garden from the window upstairs, as you can see plenty of space for more beds next year if I am successful

The tiny black dot in front of the shed is a blackbird!! The bigger black bit on the right is a hole my rabbits dug

At the back is my compost bin, the rabbit run and next to it you can just see my rhubarb!

Hope this works...

[smallblueplanet]

Looks like you've got plenty of scope for hard work ahead of you! Are you going to make some raised beds? The fences will be good for growing stuff up.

Your cabbages look promising.

Good Luck! SBP.

[andrewo]

Pull up the grass! Get those veg patches out! They're begging to have a greenhouse...

[Nicos]

And fruit trees along the fence! -underplanted with strawberries of course!

[andrewo]

Amybee, we should have the ground force version for grapes, one day, forty grapes and a whole new garden, which combines, fruit, veg, rhubarb distillery, greenhouse, polytunnel, rasied beds, potato bins, hanging tomatos of babylon and a giant waterwheel.

[Nicos]

Count me in!!!

[nick the grief]

Dont pull up the Grass Amy, lift it & stack it upside down , alternate with a layer of manure & in twelve months time you'll hve superb stuff for either the beds or tubs

[sewer rat]

Amybee
Nick is bang on - if you do lift your grass, stack it as he suggests and you'll have beautiful loam to put inyour beds/ pots next year

Andrewo
As Nicos said, count me in. Superb idea ! Can see a tv / book spin off - we could all become veggie millionaires on the back of it - lets face it,it has to be more interesting than some of the gardening progs that we have available to us.

[Jaxom]

I can see it now forty Grapes with boots,
tools and sleeping bags all descending for a weekend of organised chaos. At the end, a Rhubarb Shnaps drinking contest with the winner getting free rides on the water wheel.
Jax

[poultrychat]

I can see raspberrys growing too and step over fruit trees between the raised beds

[Amybee]

This is all very exciting but I'm scared!!!

I am only starting out with 1 tiny 4 foot square bed and now all this!

I like the idea of you guys coming to do the work though... heee heee hee! I can provide home made lemonade and sandwiches and enjoy watching you all working away

And the rhubard schnapps drinking contest sounds good!

Thanks for the idea about the grass nick, didn't know what to do with the first lot of stuff I lifted.

Who's going to contact the BBC with the idea??

[nick the grief]

Journey of a 1000 miles starts with booking online (updated chinese proverb )

It can be daunting, but you are in a lucky position in a way. If that were a lottie plot you'd be trying to clear all the grass etc. Cos it's a lawn, you just keep it mown & work on it a bit at a time. Come the end of the year it will be a good way there honest.

As you are making small raised beds as well you can make cold frames that fit on top of them so come the autumn you put the coldframe up and you can carry on growing - winner

I have to say though it does cry out for a greenhouse it will make no end of difference to your gardening.

Keep the foto's coming we all await with baited thingy's

[dni_dave]

I agree with everyone that you have a great place to start from.

Plan what you ultimately want it to look like and contain. We're only in our second year and have already moved the strawbs as they were in the way. But enjoy it, you'll be the envy of the neighbourhood.

Do you think a demi john will do for the schnapps? I'm going to start looking around.

[Amanda1]

My garden looked exactly like that this time last year but minus the tree and plus a swing! I cleared the grass (but failed to stack), put a path in, decking and a greenhouse. I've planted 3 fruit trees, bulbs, climbers down the right hand side fence with the left hand side of the garden being dedicated to vegetables. I've planted rasberries and garlic and have potatoes and onion/shallots waiting to go in. I still have lots of digging to do but I am in a position this year to use all the garden for growing. Its been really hard work but worth it. I wish I had a digital camera to attach a photo as our gardens would look like the 'before' and I would like to say 'after' but its not quite there yet! I haven't used the greenhouse to its full potential as its unheated and missing some glass but next year I'll be ready for it. Good luck with yours, I'd love to see what your garden looks like this time next year!

[nick the grief]

Easy isn't it Amanda

Seriously, it won't tke long to look really different. I've got a before & after somewhere, I 'll try and find it.