[Gardener Girl]

I have an area of my garden that used to house chickens and lots of rats. I now want to grow vegtables here. What do you think would be best to put in here this year?

GG 

[arugula]

Hi GG,

We replaced our chicken area with a polytunnel. As it went in mid-season last year, just to use the thing we grew salads and LOADS of french beans in it. This year it will house the tomatoes and peppers/chillis.

[Ivor Backache]

Really depends on the quality of your soil. If it hasn't grown anything for a while, I would dig it over add compost plant early potatoes and follow with winter greens: Sprouts ,PSB, Cabbages etc. Start them off in pots and they can follow the potatoes as you dig them up.

[JayG]

I would agree that it depends on the quality of your soil, but also how big the plot is, how much sun some or all of it gets, and possibly above all, what you like to eat (no point growing stuff you don't like!)

Loads of info all over this site about growing different fruit and veg, but of course you can always ask here if you can't find the info you need (be warned: you often get more answers than you bargained for!) 

[Trillium]

As well as knowing your soil, another key factor is to plant only things you know you'll eat. Its nice to experiment with other veg but until you've got the knack of what's most important for you, save experiments until you're more sure of things. Variety can quickly get out of hand and veg you really want will suffer.