[Ma Lowe]

We joined this site september last year(2009) when we became the proud owners of 4 lovely hybrid chickens. I had read almost every post about chickens for a few months before joining so was somewhat armed with the information needed. We decided within a few weeks of keeping chickens to get a few more but this proved to be a big mistake as we lost them to some illness within the first week.
We were ready to give up as the stress was too much to handle as a newbie chicken keeper but thanks to the fantastic people on this site we carried on with our original 4 chooks and (touches wood) have experienced very few problems. A few weeks ago we became proud owners of a Welsummer, Cream Legbar and Welsumme/legbar cross.
All 7 girls are having the time of their lives and giving us the utmost pleasure.

We have been toying with the idea of growing some veg for a while now as we have a long garden which has naturally been split into 3 sections.
The top of the garden is for the chickens and is the longest section with large coupe and run and grass section.
The middle bit had a small lawn area with a large rockery of some sort, a shed to the side and conifer trees in the middle. This section always looked a mess and we were thinking of turning the rockery area into a vegetable patch.
The bottom section outside the house is mainly patio with another shed to the side  a few trees and bushes  and fence and gate to separate from the rest of the garden.
Hope you get the picture lol.

Anyway the day before yesterday the builders had returned to our neighbours to sort their garden and had brought with them a large petrol rotivator. Whilst chatting to the builder he kindly offered us a loan of the rotivator that afternoon.  Great I thought now to wake hubby from a sleep as he was on a  night shift and see if he wanted to take the offer up.
30 minutes later hubby and I were in the garden frantically moving rocks bricks and plants from the garden in order to get the rotivator working .

At 10.30 Monday morning I had a reasonably tidy garden with a lawn and rockery,  by 5pm the same day the middle section was all chopped up and looked like a farmers field.

So now we have the hard work of weeding the whole section and sorting it into some order ready to plant some vegetables and fruit hence the reason I am now for the first time browsing the Allotment section of this wonderful forum  as well as the chicken section.

So be warned I will be asking lots of question and probably ranting and raving in between.

Off now to read some more :o)

Ma x

[mumofstig]

instant (more or less) veg plot  Lucky you!

[Goosegirl]

Good for you! Whilst it may be too late for some veg, you can always sow or bung in some autumn veg like cabbage, calabrese, leeks, late carrots, psb, caulis, swede etc. What the hell - it's your first year so just try it. Just think of the fun you will have in harvesting and eating your own veg for the first time. You will learn from experience, the weather and seasons will help or hinder some veg, but this brilliant forum will no doubt be such a help as it has been to me. Best of luck.

[hamstergbert]

Whereabouts are you Ma?  Might make a difference as to what people recommend.

[Ma Lowe]

Thank you folks We can't wait to get started.

Whereabouts are you Ma?  Might make a difference as to what people recommend.

hamstergbert we are near Mansfield  Nottinghamshire.

[peanut]

Save your backs - let the chickens do the weeding Mine do!

[viettaclark]

Well your'e lucky then! My chooks ignore weeds. They much prefer the gourmet taste of expensive, carefully nurtured cultivated plants!!!
Oh look! there's another dandelion....

[woodburner]

Well your'e lucky then! My chooks ignore weeds. They much prefer the gourmet taste of expensive, carefully nurtured cultivated plants!!!
Oh look! there's another dandelion....

My chooks love dandelion  . . . or do you mean you cultivate them?

[viettaclark]

Dandelions are my worstest worstest weed. Even as I write there are billions of little fluffy "fairies" (dandelion seeds) gently landing on my grass and colonising the bare patches the chickens have scratched.
Why won't they eat them? I spend all my time with a daisy grubber digging them up but I invariably leave a bit of root and it grows again....very fast in order to flower.
I have a theory that dandelions and ants are going to take over the world......

[joyfull]

good luck Ma and Pa, take a look at Johns books they really are soooooo useful. Just remember that chickens like to eat sweetcorn, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauli plus anything else that you manage to grow so don't even think about keeping any veg for yourself   

[viettaclark]

Take out shares in a chicken wire and bamboo cane company and look forward to sitting in your lovely garden which looks like something out of a prison movie......

[Ma Lowe]

    Oh We already have that sorted as the girls have the top part of the garden all to their selves with a wire fence and gate preventing them getting anywhere near the veg lol.

[digalotty]

welcome to veg growing, as with the chickens dont give up things are slow to start and weeds do take over very quickly.     i would make a cage up say a couple of metres square you can put this over section to let the chooks scratch around and weed it off for you , then just move it allong as your veg comes out and free fertilizer too,   good luck