Preparing half shade/sunny veg plot ?

Hi, I have an area of my garden where I have decided to put a small veg plot, or maybe at 11' x 7' I should call it a veg patch ? With a 1' path running across the width that leaves me with with two 5' x 7' patches. I hope that makes sense ?
Questions :
would 2 crops be the best way forward or would 4 be feasible do you think ?
with a path dividing the middle of the patch, the right hand side is a bit more shadier than the left so are there are particular crops suited for the shadier side ?
as the area is grassed at the moment, is it best to remove the grass and dig the soil over and leave over winter ? Or would it be best to put winter veg in straight away ? In either cast what would be the best way to prepare the soil ?

You might say the best thing for me to do is buy a book but it is nice to chat things over and get different peoples ideas and experiences don't you think.

any help much appreciated.

Gazania.

 

Hi Andy, and thanks for the reply.

The plan is, I get the plot ready and my wife does the planting and upkeep. We have had small veg patches in the past and what we've grown is, spuds, courgettes, celery, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, turnips, onions and a few lettuce. All to some degree of success. We did fail with lettuce though as the leaves were really really bitter, inedible !?

I particularly like cooking Italian food so I am going to grow carrots, celery and onions/shallots in containers. Courgettes might be worth a try in containers too.

I have some old spare builders planks and I was going to raise the beds as you have suggested. I'll keep the turf as you suggest for loam but what can I use that for ?
And I'll dig in plenty of manure and compost after removing as many stones as I can. From what I have seen the soil looks pretty good to me.

Gazania

 

The loam will improve the structure of your soil, help it drain properly whilst holding on to water and nutrients.

If you dig down 2 spade depths you can just put the turf upside-down in the bottom of the trench - it will break down in time.

As for veg in part shade, just experiment. I've grown loads in part shade. Things like toms and chillis probably won't do there, and to be honest I'm not sure courgettes would. But it's all worth a try!

 

Hi everyone, I've now made a start on our veg patch.
I've spaded the turf from the patch and put it to one side. I've tried to dig down 2 spade lengths but I could only manage one spade ! Problem is the planned plot is close to the house and I've hit what I guess is builders rubble in the form of lots of compacted pebbles, big and small. I now plan to raise the sides with planks to get some depth, and take as many stones out of the soil as I can.
Q - do I dig again and this time add manure and compost ? manure and compost at the bottom of the dig, or on top of the soil ?
Q - is bone feed worth adding at this stage ?
Q - the turf is in a pile, will it just rot down into loam ? how long before I can add it back into the patch ?

many thanks, Gazania

 

Yes thanks John, that does help. I am tempted to leave the patch to do it's own thing over winter and then feed and plant up in the spring.
In the meantime I think we will try our hand at growing some veg in containers for now.

thanks again,

Gazania