Sooo, I'm quite late to be starting a plot off, but I've left it until next year for the past 5 years. Now is the time!
This is what I have to work with. It's a fenced-off part of the horses field and is approx 30m x 9m. Soil is clay but has had quite a lot of well-rotted manure dug in over the years. It was totally dug over 2 years ago. I've got two large (3.5 x 1.5m) raised beds, a pallet strawberry planter, two rhubarb plants already in and a sizeable muck heap; the rest is up for grabs. The wire to the right is a hen run, not a fruit cage.
I'm quite keen to go the no-dig approach as I have an iffy shoulder and an awful lot of well rotted (2+ years) manure that needs moving. The weeds are not as bad as they look - a lot are long grasses that are laying about like cut hay. I do have some ground sheet down which is killing off weeds, but I assume with no dig that i could do the same with composted manure if the beds are raised enough. I've got a load of pallets which I'm going to try and take apart to make 1m square raised beds. I want the space to be as wildlife friendly as possible, minus rabbits and pigeons, so there'll be a lot of companion planting, herbs and wildflowers going in. As a long-time lurker of this forum, Munty's runner bean frame is on my wish-list!
I have an old marquee I'm planning on fixing up and shoving in the top left corner (not visible) to use as a makeshift polytunnel. Panels are beyond redemption I think so if anyone has suggestions for how I might fix new sides... most welcome. I've got a water source set up which collects rainwater from the stables roof.
I'd love some more suggestions as to what else I can do, on the (very) cheap? I'm open to any and all thoughts. What would you do differently on your plots if you could start again?
Thanks!
Kerry