first time gardener

[nellie]

hi i have just moved to the country with my family and i am looking for advice on starting my own fruit and veg plot ive lived in the town and had a busy life style so the move to the country was all about growing our own foods organicly i would really welcome helpful advice on where to start i am a total beginner but raring to go

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine Nellie. You'll get plenty of good advice here. I'll start by saying enjoy your growing, and think about what it is you want to grow and come back with specific questions. You could start with what it is you still have time to grow now for this year. Whichever way, enjoy.

[nellie]

thankyou for replying i would love to know what i need to do to prepare the plot and also what i have time to grow my plot is about 24sq mtrs and has been left to over grow for a number of years

[Alice]

Nellie, you have to start by getting rid of all the weeds. I know you want to be organic, but you could start by spraying it all with weedkiller and go organic from there. Or you can start by digging out all the weeds. You don't have to do it all at once. You could clear a small area and plant something in it. Work on a clear and plant plan. Ground with nothing in it grows weeds so if you have nothing planted cover the ground over with membrane or something to prevent the next lot germinating.

[nellie]

ok thanks i think ill dig rather than weedkiller ive got plenty of organic horse manure at my disposal so was thinking of putting that down first as well or is this not a good idea i want to have raised beds too. i hope to have it all ready by the end of this week

[Nicos]

Hi there nellie.....and welcome to the Vine!!!
It's great to be able to start from scratch isn't it??
Do make sure the beds are no more than 4 ft wide ( unless you have long arms)
What plans do you have at the moment??
I put my muck in the dug over soil just to improve the general condition of the soil, and then built up the raised beds on top , using some of the same soil to infill.( watch out for the root crops though as they need less muck!!)

[nellie]

I DONT SEEM TO HaVE ANY PLANS REALLY IM VERY OPEN TO ALL IDEAS SHOULD I KEEP THE MUCK AWAY FROM THE ROOT VEG ALTOGETHER OR JUST ADD SMALL AMOUNT I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO START PLANTING SOME THINGS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WHAT DO I HAVE TIME FOR AND HOW BEST CAN I PREPARE THE SOIL FOR GOOD RESULTS

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi and welcome to the vine. I am pretty new to growing my own too.

I have recently planted chard, turnips, carrots, kohl rabi, kale and spring cabbage. Some of those are ok to plant now, others will need taking care of if the weather turns nasty.

Enjoy experimenting for now and keep lots of notes. As you go along you learn as much from trial and error as from books. The people on here are ever so friendly and will give lots of helpful advice - including 'leave your seeds in the packet' if you are totally out of season with planting something. A really handy book to help is 'The Vegetable and Herb Expert' by Dr D G Hessayon.

[Rubyred]

Hello there, I'm new to growing my own too! So far we have straberries, carrots, lots of lettuce (different types), radishs, and pumpkins

Really to say I recommend the book shirlthegirl mentioned too! Found it very good for a quick overview on most stuff!

Enjoy

[zazen999]

Hi Nellie
First i would look at what you actually want to grow, and select those that are winter crops.
I suspect that you are wanting to grow carrots and onions for a winer crop; and lettuce and stuff like kale or chard which can stand the winter.

i would clear a smaller section first by digging the weeds, and sow a carrot and onion seed mix - it depends if you like rows or the 'all in' approach, that will get some started. It depends on ho wmany you want to buy but if you do it square metre at a time, you should have plenty to be going on with.
Then clear another metre square and add some manure, and put some lettuce/kale/chard seeds in, or sow the seeds in pots and cover the ground ready for when they need replanting. You can put a cloche/small polytunnel over the lettuce as the winter draws on, but the kale or chard won't need it. I grow the card for greenery mostly in the winter, and for bulk for soups.
You can also grow potatoes for a christmas harvest, look up the no-dig method and add plenty of manure.
You can get various brocolli/cabbage/caulis etc in the ground for a spring harvest, again add loads of manure. Also, put a few swede in, and turnips [these grow really fast so put them around the sides and sow regularly - don't leave them in too long.
Do some searches on this forum of what people are putting now - the above are just my suggestions.
i would look at portioning off your patch into 4 or 5 separate beds and crop rotate, and look into companion planting to keep the bugs at bay. EG I always put coriander with carrots to keep away the carrot fly, and basil with the toms for the green fly.

With the rest of it, chuck in what you think you can get away with for a winter crop and even if you prepare the beds now, cover them if you can or put a green manure down and dig it in before it seeds. Make sure you don't put horse manure into the bed that you want to grow carrots in next year, but everywhere else should be able to cope.

[scarey55]

A really handy book to help is 'The Vegetable and Herb Expert' by Dr D G Hessayon.

Great book and I find any of the Expert books by Dr D G Hessayon are excellent. I have the Flower, Home, House, Garden, House plant and "Fruit one?" but, of course I refer to the vegetable expert most

[Headfry]

Hi Nellie, big welcome to the vine!
Autumn will be a good time to plant fruit bushes and /or trees!
A veg growing book that goes month by month is a good buy! You can see at a glance what you can do each month!
Buy a note book- keep notes on the types you buy also- how many you plant? it has taken me ages to work out that 10 courgette plants for 2 people are way to many. No I keep notes!!
My motto - grow what you eat and eat what you grow.....or give it away or even 'trade' your excess produce!
Have fun, its the most important thing of all!

[nellie]

thanks for all the advice im in the end stages of the plot being prepared and will be reciving my seeeds shortly this is becoming very addictive even before ive grown anything im enjoying the preps for it all the kids are really getting involved which is just wot i wanted xx