Fresh start, fresh veg garden...

Sejjie70 · Post by **Sejjie70** » 05 Apr 2014, 08:41

Been away from DTL for a while for various reasons (just life in general) & am now making a fresh start now life is getting back to normal.

Am having to start from scratch (my lovely big allotment-sized veg plot now no longer exists & was incorporated into the feathered menagerie's enclosure) with a small area I have just fenced off. Needs a fair bit of work & clearing, but have the rhubarb patch sorted & have made a start on reclaiming the strawberry bed that still seems to be thriving after a year of neglect & invasion by brambles & goosegrass. Work's going to be slow, but in the last month it's gone from an overgrown bramble & nettle infested patch to just being weedy & untidy, so it's getting there.

Have a few potatoes on the go in bags, have the rhubarb in, some large containers (under glass at the mo) with various salad leaves, etc sown in & various seeds started off in pots & trays or in containers under glass (cucumber, courgette, tomato, sprouts, a few herbs) & have more to sow in various containers. Just need to finish clearing the veg patch & get the beds dug ready to take the various plants as they get big enough for transplanting out into the garden properly. Am hoping to finish the clearing this weekend so I can get the beds done this week - has been hard during school term-time as I've only been able to do little bits here & there between school runs & work. Have been tempted to open the area up to the chooks, duck & geese so they can clear the grass, etc for me but the fencing's not secure enough to keep the dogs away from the feathered beasties (though I'm hoping in time to gradually replace the fencing for something stronger).

That's basically it at the mo. At some point I want to be producing most of the veg (& some of the fruit) we get through, but am more than happy with the thought of producing a little something homegrown for our plates.

Post by **Richard** » 05 Apr 2014, 09:09

Hi Sarah,

Sounds like you're at the start of the 400 meters, just taken your track suit off and limbering up - good for you.

Wishing you well on your return and ............ pace yourself )t'

Richard

albertajune · Post by **albertajune** » 06 Apr 2014, 14:34

It will eventually be worth all the hard work and hard work it is. Our allotments got neglected last year, as OH was waiting for nearly a year for a knee replacement and was in such a lot of pain. All sorted now and able to go.
The fine weather has got us back with gusto, but so many weeds and grass to get rid off.
If doing it on your own, make sure that you don't over do it. One bit at a time and it will come good. )t'

Glad you are back again.

Sejjie70 · Post by **Sejjie70** » 14 Apr 2014, 08:58

Getting there slowly...

Have the undergrowth cleared from most of the veg area, though have left 1 corner wild & weedy to provide cover & food for beneficial creepy crawlies & beasties like toads, etc (have also planted some buddleia & various herbs for the bees & butterflies). Still have a small area to clear where the old greenhouse was (mainly just long grass, nettles & goosegrass, so should be easier to clear than the rest has been).

Have dug a couple of small beds & got some herbs in (thyme, sage, rosemary along with a couple of containers of mint), got a couple more bushes in down the fruit end (gooseberry & black currant) & have a couple of the actual veg beds marked out, but not dug them yet (partly because it's taken so long to get the brambles, etc cleared & partly because I'm dithering about squeezing in a small bed for asparagus). Have also got my mini-greenhouse & cold frame up so all the pots & trays of things I had all over the kitchen, living room & bedroom window sills have now been moved outside & are being gradually hardened off so they're ready to go in the ground as I get the beds done.