New Garden

I have a garden 12m x 18m that faces South. When we moved here it was overgrown with trees, weeds and shrubs. I have cleared the lot of it except for one apple tree and built four raised planters to which I added 6 ton of good topsoil. The ground is solid rocky clay then blue clay and doesn,t drain very well so I raised the planters higher than you normally would and filled the bottems with good draining material. I have also restored an old 8' x 6' greenhous and reserved a space for a few hens. There's also plenty fences to grow climbing plants too.

The groundworks, greenhouse foundation and planters were easy because I'm in the building trade but I now have a problem: I dont know what to do with it all What to plant where and when is the biggest headache. There seems so much choice! There's only two of us in the household with the occasional visitor so more interested in good quality edibles than quantity.

I'll be spending winter making paths between the planters and sorting the hen house etc but I'd like to be ready for next spring with a plan for the whole season and would very much appreciate any input from the forums members

 

What to grow is a big question but you hit on an interesting criterion - Quality
With some things there is a big difference in quality betwen home-grown and shop bought, either through freshness, variety or growing method. With other things there is little or no difference so for example I do not bother growing main crop potatoes when I can buy a bag for £5.00

What I do think are really worth growing are:--

Carrots - if you can avoid carrot root fly. There is an extra flavour with fresh carrots never present in shop bought
Purple sprouting broccoli
SWeetcorn - straight from plot to pot!
Salad leaves- fresh all year round and not sprayed
Autumn Raspberries - wonderful flavour and still picking now
Squash - so easy and wonderful varieties to try
Tomatoes - so many varieties to choose and you'll taste the difference

As you go on you may want to try something different each year - purple carrots, green caulis, kohl rabi, land cress etc etc

Now is a good time for planning - good excuse to sit by the fire with a pile of seed catalogues

 

One option for a small, south facing garden (although I haven't tried it yet) is to make use of the vertical plane, put some trellis or other climbing support up the back wall of the house and grow beans or peas on it. I've read of Tumbling Tom (tomatoes) that do well in a hanging basket, which could be secured to the back wall, or what about strawberries in hanging baskets?

 

Get a good quality seed catalogue like Thompson and Morgan and pick out what you want to grow, then buy the Vegatable and Herb expert gardening book by Dr. Heyssan you are now well on your way to becoming a good food producer. Oh! and build into your raised beds the means to protect your produce from birds and insects.

 

I've got that book. I too can recommend it. For someone with little experience like me, it is great, as it is so clearly laid out. I reckon it is probably equally good for the more experienced grower too, as it covers lots of useful info in a very clear and concise way without blinding the reader with horticultural science terms.

Another good resource I'd recommend, is the Organic Gardening Catalogue (http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/). They have sections for fast growing veg and unusual veg. All clearly laid out.