Thank you
Hey all, I’m after some help please. I have NO clue on what to do for veg growing but I would really like to start. Our most eaten veggies are lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber, onions (both red and brown), carrots, potatoes, courgettes, green beans and cherry tomatoes. Where do I start on what I buy and when is best to plant etc? I only have a small yarden so hoping I can grow them in pots but I’m open to buying a raised planter. I’m thinking I may need a mini greenhouse too?
I agree with
@50sGirl , it's pretty late but! It will give you a great summer of just observing and learning! Get yourself some plants at the garden centre that are still available as she suggested. I would recommend herbs, too, as they are ready to harvest any time and it's a super lovely feeling to be able to add something to your meal that you have grown yourself.
Make it a summer of "getting to know plants" and not a summer of "I have to bring them to harvest". WatchYouTube or read gardening blogs if you're more of a reader. I do both. If you have someone around you that does garden, myabe they will let you help with pruning, mulching, weeding and other types of stuff? That's pretty great to get a feeling for the work and if you even like it.
You can also observe how different times of the day and different seasons affect your sunlight in your garden, which will give you a great advantage for next year. A lot of plants like full sun, but there are some which will do well in the less sunny parts - spinach is one such example which is just gorgeous in a salad eaten raw. You can map it out. Seed packets and plant cards will tell you what the plant likes the most.
There are plants like courgettes, squashes and cucumbers which you can pull up a trellis to save space. Get your creative juices flowing and have some fun with designing how you want your layout! While you're at it you can look into beneficial neighbouring of plants. This year for example I combined a new climbing rose, garlic and strawberries in a larger pot and all three of them are thriving as they're a perfect combination from a nutrient POV.
As you have a small garden, you could also take a look at square foot or sqare meter gardening.
It's great to learn what types of plants need a lot of nutrients and which ones don't. The aforementioned cucurbits (squash, cucumber, courgettes, melons etc are all part of the same plant family) need a lot of nutrients for example, so if you plan on building a compost heap, you can either plant them on top of it when the compost is mature, i. e. done with being broken down, or you need to fertilize them pretty heftily. Horse manure, compost or leaf mulch are all great fertilizers. There's tons more, like eggshells, rhubarb leaves, nettle leaves which have their specific applications.
Of course you can buy ready made fertilizer in the store but it will a) cost you a pretty penny and b) will in the long run degrade you soil as it contains too much of one or the other nutrient leading to unbalanced soil. Your soil health should be important to you if you plan to grow in beds.
Just be aware, it will never work out as you plan anyway, and the first couple years for me at least were a constant ah- ha moment of realising why something worked or didn't work. (Also, aphids, lots and lots of aphids, and slugs
they're still the bane of my existence). But if you're not getting yourself down it will be super fun and rewarding. Plus, the veg from my own garden is extremely tasty and you can't beat the freshness. The first year, I had a few tomato plants only, and they weren't carrying that many fruit as I didn't know how to treat them yet, but the taste was still out of this world and I was a super proud tomato mum that year
You can also start setting up stuff for next year - maybe call around to friends and family if they have any gardening equipment like pots, a shovel, things like that they don't need / want any more? You don't have to spend a ton to get equipment. I find larger pots to be quite expensive, even the most ugly brown plastic ones, so I'm always glad to get them gifted from someone else. My mum uses those large cement mixing tubs for her tomatoes, so you can be creative if you don't care about the aestetics. You can also turn your milk jugs and any large plastic container into pot for growing or, if transparent, into cloches for protecting you plants from the cold weather or slugs. Just be careful that they didn't contain anything harmful before.
But of course, if you plan on keeping on gardening, investing in beautiful, quality pots, gardening gloves etc is not the worst idea either.
The most important part is definitely to have fun and to try new things!
