[joyboy]

I'm looking for some tips.

I want to make a veg patch in my small garden this year.
I was thinking of making a raised bed of about 3 feet by 12 feet.
I would like to grow Carrots, potatoes, lettuce the usual stuff.

So Im looking for a few tips on where to start.  Ive listed my questions below.
I would be very greatfull for any tips you may have.

how deep should my bed be.
what type of soil should I have.
What are the best things to grow for a beginner.

And any other tips that might be useful

Thanks In advance


 

[first timer]

Hey Joyboy,

I'm exactly the same as you.  Have a laid to lawn garden but really want to grow my own veg etc.

My son who is 13 thinks everything comes from the supermarket and has shown an interest in the whole veg growing / gardening side of live and of course I dont want to put him off.

Only problem is I've no idea where to start either.  I have three dogs, wild rabbits and foxes. The dogs trample everything, the rabbits eat everything and the foxes well you can imagine what they do.

I'd love to grow potatoes, ideally in bags on the patio, but would like to grow all the norm along with beetroot, jerusalum artichokes, cauliflowers etc in the ground.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

First timer   

[Yorkie]

Welcome, both, to the forums

You might want to pop over to the Welcome forum and introduce yourselves properly at some point

There's a wealth of information on the 'Information' part of this site, including about clearing a plot / planning / what to do when / manuring or fertilising etc etc.  If you look immediately under the forum banner at the top of the screen, there's a button called Information - click there and have a browse.

JB, it might be worth considering whether you actually need a raised bed or can simply grow in a border - saves you the difficulty of importing soil or building a frame.  If you need depth, I think probably at least 12" if you're growing things like spuds or carrots etc.  Mind you, in one bed that size you'll not grow much of anything like spuds as they take quite a bit of room.

The different types of soil have different benefits - clay is generally more fertile as long as it's not too heavy, but sandy can be very free-draining (needing lots of watering). 

Difficult to answer more without knowing more.  And just choose what you like to grow, read up about it on this site (or get John's book etc) and have a go!

FT, there are a lot of recent posts about spuds in bags, certainly a possibility.  You'll need to decide an anti-rabbit / fox strategy or you'll lose most things in the ground.  Take note that Artichokes are rampant!

[GreenOwl]

Welcome both of you.

JB, I would grow a few spuds in a dustbin or other suitable container, cause that bed won't be big enough for anything else if you grow spuds in it.

Easy crops for a beginner:
NOT carrots (at least I think they're difficult)
potatoes
courgettes
beans - french and/or runner are really easy.
Salad leaves - lettuce, rocket, landcress whatever you like.
outdoor tomatoes (easy to grow but sadly a bit weather dependent)

Top tip:  don't grow stuff you don't like.  Obvious I know, but worth stating because its easy to get carried away by seed packets.

[woodburner]

Carrots may be difficult and I have to admit that the boys rebel when I ask them to peel mine, (on account of the odd shapes and the carrot fly damage,) but I have no trouble at all getting them to eat them despite the irregular shapes because the flavour is so much better than the shop ones! They are actually turning their noses up at the shop/market ones now!

Hopefully next year I will be able to keep the beasties away with fleece and sowing little and often so we are only eating young carrots, at least until winter.

Most things only need about 12" of topsoil, but even if you only have a couple of inches before you hit concrete, subsoil or builders waste, you can still grow stuff, but you will have to increse teh depth of soil in the bed first. Digging out the topsoil from where the paths will be will help reduce the amount of soil/compost that you need to bring in. HTH

[Stripey_cat]

Is the soil underneath bad, or do you want the beds raised for looks and ease of access?  In either case, any extra topsoil will help (we have some beds raised up one course of bricks over very heavy clayish loam, and they are so much warmer in the spring than the regular beds); your limiting factors may well be cost and time to build and fill.  Ideally, you'd fill with a mixture of good quality topsoil and well-rotted manure.  In practice, any soil is better than none unless it's actually contaminated with heavy metals or perennial weeds!


Easy vegetables for beginners:

Beans (runners and climbing french sorts)
Courgettes
Tomatoes (if it's sunny)
These three need to be started indoors, and planted out in early summer once there's no risk of frost!

Radishes
Spinach
Lettuces, especially the loose-leaf sorts
Short-rooting sorts of carrots, especially if you plant them so you avoid the worst carrot fly populations (ie sow very early or very late)
Swiss chard
Rocket! (mine is still going fine despite the snow, and has been self-seeding steadily since the summer)
These are all hardy, so you can sow them straight into the soil as soon as it's warm enough for you to work it comfortably (basically, if it isn't penance to stick your hand into the soil, it's warm and dry enough to start to sow).

[Christine]

I reckon that you should start simple and get a copy of Be Your Own Vegetable Expert by DG Hessayon which is a brilliant book for the real beginner. It has simple details and starts you off with basic information on different crops.

That way you can make an informed choice based on what you like to eat and whether it will grow where you are.  :happy:

It's a bit more comprehensive and a bit less biased than we can be sometimes (we all have things we find easy to grow that may not be easy for you  )

[SalJ1980]

And don't forget John's book! Here: http://www.allotment-garden.org/book/index.php (Haven't worked out how to do proper links on the new sit yet!)

Welcome both!