In the beginning there was just earth, earth and more earth...along with glass, bricks and all kinds of unwanted stuff! Having got rid of most of the above I am about to embark on the all garden makeover, having never planted a thing in my life I am somewhat excited/apprehensive about this. I have divided my 60ft garden into three spaces (all in my head) the first section is complete that being a dining area and rally track for bikes and prams! The two remaining sections will be a lawned jurasic planted area for little monsters, leading onto a vegetable patch (all organic with your help hopefully!!). What is the best way to cleanse the vegetable patch before I begin planting (which will probably not be until spring as I still have to lay a path grid type thing yet).
Hi,sash from London. Maybe I need to look at your avatar a bit later this evening after a few drinks and it will be clearer to me! As I don't have a veggie plot, I'll not venture into that arena! Enjoy the site and look forward to hearing about your progress!
Hi Sash, exciting times <gg>. Is there any reason why you think the bit for vegetables need cleaning?. Me, unless there was a previous problem, I would just double dig it adding lots of organic or compost matter - you don't need a fine surface now - unless you going to plant in the autumn, cos the frosts will brake up any lumps.
Hi Sash & welcome. Going by what you say you've already done quite a bit of digging so I'm going to disagree with Fran regarding double digging. The current "wisdom" suggests that most of the nutrients essential to plants and in a large part formed from decayed plant matter lie in the top couple of inches of soil. Burying the stuff is a waste. The 'no-dig' veg patch is the in thing! However if your garden is more or less virgin soil that has been turned up and then compacted in the course of building work, double digging and adding decayed veg material in the bottom layer might be worthwhile. Hard to tell without knowing more about your soil. The simple solution is as Fran suggests to dig and leave the frosts and rain to break down the soil over winter and also freeze and drown some of the bugs. You might also either get out with a hoe or hand weed or use weed killer to keep down any weeds that pop up during late summer. Whatever you do it will be great fun creating a garden from scratch and as well as the invitable frustrations you'll get a lot of satisfaction. Enjoy!
Hi sash, I agree with what the others have said, but it also might be worthwhile thinking about what you want to grow and planning how and where you are going to plant. Take a look at the allotment blogs for ideas. Look in the edible gardening section on here to find plotty's blog - It's great. If you have kids, it's great to involve them with making seed trays up and helping them transplant and watching things grow. (I always label mine with plant/month/name of who has sown it). Since doing this, the kids have tried veg that they would never have tried if I had bought it. Veg that I started with is potatoes/peas/cabbage/cauliflower/tomatoes... It has gone from there. Good Luck and have fun.
