[bastonjock]

Hi Guys

I now find that i have the time to start my own vegetable garden,i have grown veg in the past with mixed sucess but i now find my self looking to plan a plot from start.

I have plenty of space now that ive got the wife and my daughters down to one horse and one small pony,the area where i intend to break the gound has some trees down one side and the other three sides will be open,there are no houses close by to block the light.There is also a water source close at hand and if needed i can run an electrical supply there too.

Im wanting to plant fruit canes,rasberrys,blueberrys and blackcurrants,have a strawberry bed,a greenhouse and an area for the veg.

so what size of plot should i be looking at? how many meters? I have one other area earmarked for a small orchard.

[Yorkie]

A standard size allotment is 300 sq yards but I think that you could do with more than that, given the amount of permanent planting / greenhouse you want.  The strawberries will probably need to be moved every 3-4 years or so, which you will need to bear in mind.

For the veg area, consider what sort of veg you are likely to want to grow, and which plant families they fit into - for crop rotation issues.  I'd suggest one bed per veg family, assuming you'll want to grow a similar quantity of each family / the plants which don't fit into specific rotation groups.

Have a look at the Growing Help pages on the main website (link just below the main banner at the top of the page).  There are articles on there about clearing, planning and rotating your veg plot.

I'd also suggest getting a book on veg growing which gives you a brief idea as regards the yield to expect for each crop.  Dr Hessayon's Veg Expert book does this; I'm sure there are others too.

[Jome]

I followed the plan set out in a book called 'Your Organic Allotment' you can find it on Amazon. The structure is very simple and explains plot rotation on a basic level to get started with. I adapted it to suit what I wanted to grow. I've also used John Seymours Self Sufficiency book a lot for guidance, maybe that will help?

[grendel]

you could do like we have with our allotment, which is to plan in intricate detail, then as you get a bit dug you plant whatever needs planting next.
Grendel

[gardengnome]

When I planned mine I tried to pick vegatables and fruit that came up at different times during the year, so that I would, in theory, have a continuous supply with at least something all year round. 

You might want to think about planting similar types of crops together, so that you can rotate them year on year and replace the nutrients in the soil. 

Lucky you having so much space to play around with!  Good luck!

[Kristen]

Not sure one horse and one pony is enough manure for a decent sized veg plot

We feed our family of four from a plot that is 560 sq.m. / 680 sq. yards

We have beds 4' wide and 15 yards long (two either side of a central path, so the plot is square, about 30 yards on each side). The beds run North-South.

We have beds for :

2 x Raspberries (from first early in July to last Autumn varieties in October)

2 x Blackberry / currrant / etc.

1 x Asparagus (that's 60 crowns, which is a lot, you may not want that much, you get about 1 spear per plant per week for 7 weeks I think)

1 x Strawberry

4 x main veg rotation (Sprouts/Cabbage, Parsnips/Carrots, Leeks / Onions, Peas/Beans)

4 x other veg - 2 x Potatoes rotates with 1 x Sweetcorn and 1 x Others (Swede, Catch crops, Leaf beet etc)

1 x permanent Courgettes / Squash

1 x permanent Artichokes (Globe & Jerusalem), Rhubarb

1 x Comfrey

2 x Cut flowers - Dahlias, Gladiolli, Sweet peas

1 x Nursery bed

2 beds contain the greenhouses - including paths etc. They grow Tomatoes, Peppers (Chilli and Sweet), Cucumbers, Aubergines and Melons, and over winter salad crops, and early Sweetcorn crops

[compostqueen]

A good book from the library which sets out various scenarios is in the Joy Larkcom Veg Growing Handbook available from the library. It is very detailed but easily understood 

[bastonjock]

Thank you for the replys,ive been trying out growing your own with a bout 10 grow bags,ive planted lettuce,tommatos,chillies, pepers,sugar snap peas and ordinary peas.

Im reading a couple of books right now and trying to work out how much space for everything,there will be mainly two of us,but im hoping to provide veg and fruit for all year.

Im looking into planting a small orchard .My property used to be an orchard at some point in its exsistence.

What do you use comfrey for?? its almost achieving weed status in my Paddock,its everywhere.

[grendel]

my parents swear by comfrey for compost, every time it grows to the height of the compost bin they cut it down to ground and compost it.
Grendel

[Kristen]

What do you use comfrey for?? its almost achieving weed status in my Paddock,its everywhere.

yeah, it does that! There is a variety called Bocking 14 which has sterile flowers, do it doesn't set seed and spread everywhere ... but if you have it nearby cut it down just as it starts to flower and put on compost heap, or as a lining for planting trenches for Tomatoes / Beans etc., or put the leaves in a large bucket and dilute the (very stinky!) liquid that comes out to "tea colour" and use as a liquid fertilizer.

[bastonjock]

Thanks for all the replys ,they have been a great help.I have been doing some planning and i may even plant an orchard,i have a small spinney wood and  the trees look to be diseased,so ill get advice on them but im thinking of cutting them down as some of them look to be quite dangerous.I have gone out and bought some growbags and put tomatos,aubergine,pepers,chillies and lettuce into them,i have also put peas and brussels into some old feed troughs,so im looking forward to having a few veggies to eat,my chickens are being a bit of a pain,they have dug up some plants and have annialited two gerraniums.

I need to finnish a diy project on the house first then ill start sinking the fence posts.

[potatogrower]

it would depend how much you want to grow. if we had more space we'd grow more of everything and try to be dependant on it than going to the shops in the car but we now do it as a past time to enjoy growing stuff and having tasty food and try new things. there are general guides to use when growing stuff like distance apart each plant when growing (info freely available from good websites) and from that you can work out what you want to grow, how much area it will take up and how much space you have left over for other veggies. you can at times get away with growing them a bit closer.  positioning plants based on where the sun will be if they need more sun than some and taller plants, if they grow and put certain plants in the shade and positioning them so they don't. quite an enjoyable process.

other thing is maintaining it, bigger it is more time to maintain but down to how much spare time you all have.

Aubergines, chilli's, peppers, okra will all grow better in the green house. it will need more heat than too much direct sunlight

hope this helps.  

PG