Veggie patch project

Hi,

I've moved house recently want to put in a veggie patch in the garden. The area I've chosen needs a little work doing to it though!



It's behind an extension to the garage & unfortunately the previous owners\builders decided it would be a good idea to deposit all the earth from the new foundations & other rubble onto this area. So I need to do a little tidying first.

The ground is rather uneven (I don't think the picture captures this fully) & there is a natural slope of around 8ft top to bottom which I hope to get the ground back to.

I'm planning on hiring a digger to remove the excess earth, which I should be able to deposit around the rest of the garden. I'll get rid of the rubble at the same time.

I have already cut the weeds down, mainly nettles which were up to 6ft, but I guess I should really get the weed roots out prior to digging up & shifting the earth.

I was thinking of forking over the area first to dig out the weeds. Would a rotavator or some other way be more viable (i.e. easier!)?

The plan is to put raised veg beds in the area & ideally use a brick path in between the beds.

Comments\advice welcome!

 

Hello there I think your ideas are sound. We started a veggie patch 2 years ago made up of 4 raised beds, 3 for potatoes and 1 for carrots and beetroot, and a large bed for peas and beans. We dug out around the beds then forked over the soil leaving pathways in between. Unless your beds are going to be ginormous I think a rotivator would be unsuitable. Our beds are roughly 3' x 12' and have kept 6 of us going for several months now. Not a good picture but I hope it gives you an idea of what we did.
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Thanks. I'm planning on having several beds, similar to your photo.

I was thinking of digging or using a rotivator over the whole ground, not just the area for the beds, as it all needs to be de-weeded & flattened out.

 

Hi Kierpw welcome to G.C. I'm sure you will get plenty of good advice and ideas from the lovely people on here.

Celia's layout is a very easy and manageable way to working a veggie plot and it does pay off.

If you don't want to lay a brick pathway you can always use that really good black webbing/weed covering that most garden centres use for a good pathway.

Another member 'PLOTTY' has used this method and if you check out his website below you will see just how well it works out for him...although I must state Plotty does have a remarkable allotment one that some of us can only dream of!

http://www.myallotments.com



I wish you well with your veggie plot, a bit of hard work I know but you have the fruits of your labour to look forward to.
Helen.xxx.