Advice for a newcomer

[-AbFab-Vincent]

Hi, I've just found this forum and figured I'd jump straight in.
I own a 13 acre smallholding and in recent years all my effort has been put into making the house habitable which it now is and quite a bit of drainage and general tidying up .
So, finally I can make a start on the growing side of things. As of tomorrow I'll have a tractor and plough and intend to start off with an area of around a quarter of an acre to turn over.
Then what....

Any advice as to what is the best to plant at this stage. Absolutely all advice appreciated.

Regards
Alex

[pjh75]

Wow lucky you... all that space. I'm not experienced enough to give advice but just wanted to say welcome to the vine and I look forward to hearing how you get on.

[carlseawolf]

Hello and welcome to the vine, 13 acres i wish i had that much land to play with because i would be like a kid in a sweet shop.

With all that space you could have veg patch , fruit orchard , live stock and a few polytunnels or greenhouses .

Sorry can't help you with planning on that scale as only got 80' by 25' myself but sewer rat should be able to advice you as he farms much larger space than most of us.

With space at least you will be able to sow what you like instead of what space you have avalible to grow in.

[Pootle]

(Green with envy )

Not sure where you should begin - depends on how self sufficient you want to be! The John Seymour book of Self Sufficiency has advice on what you can expect to grow on different amounts of land, or you could try asking on the itsnoteasybeinggreen forum if you don't get any help here (which is very unlikely!)

Good luck!

[SarzWix]

I suppose the scale of it makes no difference as to what you can start growing at this point in the year?!
Currently I'm sowing beans, sweetcorn, winter brassicas (cabbages, swedes, kale etc), squashes & courgettes, carrots, beetroot & salads. I guess it makes a difference which part of the country you're in, and whether you're sowing direct or starting things off in cell trays?

[Two_Sheds]

I don't know what your gardening philosophy is, but if you sway towards organic ... this is a great book: Amazon.co.uk: Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-scale Permaculture: John Todd: Books

absolutely stuffed with information, tips and tricks for turning even barren soil into a productive garden.

[mrs dog]

Well you are certainly not too late to plant beans and peas and you may get away with potatoes and onions. Leeks, salads etc. Good luck and welcome. You could always cover with a green maure to feed the soil once you've turned it and give yourself time to seed your winter veg if you prefer.

[-AbFab-Vincent]

Sorry about the delayed response, thanks for the replies. I'll certainly look into those books and let you know how I get on.


Regards
Alex

[Mrs Dobby]

Jealous here too! Welcome to the vine, it sounds like you've already got our dream, you wouldnt want to swap it for a 3 bed semi and a couple of allotments, no animals and 2 full time jobs would you?