Newbie - any advice appreciated

[mary24]

Hello

I hope I've put this in the right place so sorry if I've got it wrong.

I've recently developed a love for gardening now that I have more time to spend in it! I have a small poly tunnel a greenhouse a raise bed and a flower bed with plenty of grass for the toddler, husband and dogs to enjoy.

I can grow some basic veg and fruit such as tomatoes, runner beans etc but i never seem to get a bumper crop from them (although my beans are in the flower bed this ear and are going mad!) i really want to learn and become a bit more self sufficient and eat fruit and veg which taste as they're meant to not water.

If anyone can advise me or give me any tips i would be really grateful my aim is to have a lovely cottage garden with traditional flowers to attract bees etc to the garden with my veggies growing too.

Thanks very much.

Mary

[nickdub]

Hi,
the main thing is to enjoy it - you seem to have made a good start on that.

Next concentrate on things you like to eat fresh eg lettuce.

Then decide if you want to grow more permanent plants, like soft fruit or trees, etc .

Finally growing really top quality vegetables is a lot about getting the soil conditions right - this is a lot of work but a start can be made through making your own compost, collecting leaves, sowing green manure crops over winter, making friends with someone who keeps horses or whatever.

Personally I'm lazy, so I don't bother with most of this, but I do enjoy my garden and so does the local wildlife.

All the best, Nick

[Nannysally99]

Hello Mary,
Have a great big look at this forum, ask as many questions as you like.
It's full of lovely people who will give you advice on anything.
As Nick says above, grow what you like. We do and it's lovely nipping outside to pick something for dinner
NannySally

[Jungle Jane]

Hi Mary,now you've grown tomatoes & beans you can grow anything you want. Make a list of what you want to grow (whatever you buy in the shops) buy seeds,there's usually a sale at the end of summer. I usually try a couple of different varieties of each veg to see which one I like best,one might also fail to germinate so it's good to see some germination somewhere. If you're not getting bumper crops multiply the amount you grow

[Penellype]

Hi Mary, welcome to the vine.

As others have said, the important thing is to grow what you like to eat. Having decided what that is, try different varieties of the same thing. For example there are huge numbers of different varieties of tomatoes, some with very different tastes. In general the cherry types will give you far more fruit than the big beefsteak varieties. Keep a note of which ones you have tried and whether you liked them, and don't be afraid to experiment. There is loads of information on here, and people are very helpful if you ask questions.

You don't say where you are, and this can also make a big difference to how well some things grow, so adding your approximate location to your profile is a good idea.

[ESBkevin]

Hello Mary and welcome.

Nick has pretty much nailed the nub of it. If you feed the soil and the 'soil food web' of living organisms then the soil will be better able to sustain the plants you decide to grow.
There are a few things that gardeners have found to work reasonably consistently.
Rotation: over a 3 (or 4 if you have fallow) year sequence the soil gets heavily mucked with animal manure year one and certain crops maximise this. In year two these are followed by another family of crops. In year three there are the third group which tend to be rood crops that don't like all the attention manure provides. There are a ton of books and online resources on this, just don't get too hung upo because you can break the rules especially if you want celary for example which loves lots of manure.
Composting: This is a whole book in itself, buy compost all the waste you can and dig it in or use a mulch. Again don't get too wrapped up in detail, you can put in effort to speed up compost especilly in these warmer months, but once you are in production it happens with far less effort given time. Also gather all your autmn leaves, and the neighbors and from the church yard or school fields or wherever. Black bag them and store for 1-2 years and they make wonderful rich fertile potting compost when mixed with other regular compost, or just feed it to the soil or mulch it.
Mulch: The idea is to cover the soil surface so that 1) weeds don't get much of a hold and won't come through. 2) The soil temp remains far more consistent which the plants like. 3) The sun and wind can't dry out the moisture so watering is hardly ever required. 4) The worms and other soil wildlife will break down the mulch ad feed/fertilise the soil. Possible inclusion of a membrane underneath the mulch is a bonus for weed supression, brown corrugated cardboard being my favourite.
You can get as involved as you want or go simple and not too stressful. Look at the 'no dig' methods by youtubers like auther Charles Dowding.
Remember it's not soil or compost that the plants thrive on so much as the living organisms within and feeding off them that provide the strong growth.

Ask away if you have questions but there is a ton of information on line to get you started.