Beginner Veg Grower Needs Help!

[effilocher]

Hello guys. I recently moved house and my new garden has a spot at the back with nothing on it. I'd like to grow some vegetables there. The soil is very dry and I imagine it will need a lot doing to it. I don't know where to start. Is there a guide for complete beginners that you guys would recommend?

Picture: https://imgur.com/HvJ9QGS

[arpoet]

Hi there.. welcome to the madhouse. If you add your location it will help us answer your questions.
Looking at the picture I would say you need to add some well rotted manure. Lay it on the top and let the worms come up for it.
Get down the library and have a look at the gardening books on veg growing.

[Bigmallly]

If it is the soiled area you are planning on growing in, I would put a raised bed in & go down the square foot route.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_44388.html

[effilocher]

Hi there.. welcome to the madhouse. If you add your location it will help us answer your questions.
Looking at the picture I would say you need to add some well rotted manure. Lay it on the top and let the worms come up for it.
Get down the library and have a look at the gardening books on veg growing.

Thanks, I'll look into that. I'm in Cleethorpes, England.

[Two_Sheds]

I don't know where to start.

buy some veg plants, or sow some seeds. Water them, and see what happens.

Depending on the results, you will be able to tell how good/poor your soil is, what succeeds and what fails.

Make some compost: you need to replace the nutrients that your veggies extract from the soil

[Florence Fennel]

Get yourself a glass of something and browse the threads on the Vine, you'll soon get the idea of how and what to sow/plant. Welcoime to the Vine and happy growing

[Raybon]

For myself, if I could afford it I would buy some multi-purpose compost and dig it into the soil. This should give you a quick-start base for growing veg straight away while you are collecting material to make your own compost.
If the area is not very big, you may not have to pay out for compost ever again!
A good start might be lettuce, chard, beetroot, leeks. If you could run to it, a few plug plants from the local garden centre would not go amiss. Courgettes and a couple of tomato plants would be good.
You can find most things you want to know on this vine, I have learned loads!
Also Google 'how to grow....' And you will find out what will grow in shade, or full sun.
Good luck!

[Potstubsdustbins]

A book I find invaluable is The New Vegetable & Herb Expert by Dr D. G. Hessayon, gives the basics and a little more advanced stuff.

That and the Vine and you won't go far wrong.

[effilocher]

Thanks a lot guys! A fair bit for me to digest here - I figure that the most efficient method for me, with my patch being so small, would be Square Foot. My patch also seems to be full of little chunks of pot and glass, so I'll have to sort that out. I'll then buy some compost and cover it with a layer of that. One question though: if I don't get a composter and make my own in the future (I'm not sure I have room), will I have to keep buying it?

[Raybon]

After you have dug out the rubbish, you can dig in some mp compost then put cardboard down. Wet thoroughly, plant through holes punched in it , then mulch round plants with anything organic - weeds (no seed heads) veg peelings, leaves. Overwinter the soil like this too.
If you want to plant seeds straight into the soil now, cardboard and mulch in the same way later when the season is over. Your soil will be much improved by Spring and if you keep mulching you won't have to buy more compost.
Best to make a space to rot stuff down though.....strong black plastic bag with holes by your back door will do it!

[Chippy Minton]

Don't forget to grow stuff you like to eat

[Bill HH]

If you go onto you tube and search for how to grow veg, or allotments etc you will find hundreds of very informative vids. Sometime watching some one actually do these things sinks in better than reading it. Let us know how you progress.