Home grown food - where to start

[CynicalSurvival]

hi, happy new year!

i want to get growing this year. I have a decent-sized garden that is mostly planted up with useless crap/lawn including a useless deck area. There is a knavkered greenhouse with broken/missing panes.

Ideally i'd like to grow potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, peppers, cabbage and broc for starters. I'm not a total noob I have grown some veg before in a previous garden but i'm no expert either.

i have plenty of tools but lack other essentials like compost, irrigation. Oh, and i live in west of scotland, oastal, quite mild and wet.

I have about £100-150 to spend

Any suggestions where to start. I was thinking of buying a couple of large composters (compost the usess crap that i cut out), raised beds, containers to grow toms in greenhouse, stuff to fix up greenhouse, seeds, a big sack of compost, etc but i can't afford all of that. Oh and thinking of ripping up the deck, could i use that wood for raised beds do you think?

Thanks!!

ps potatoes are probably number 1 priority - we can live off then in an emergency and they grow well here.

[Devonian]

Where to start??

Mark out the areas you want to use and get them dug over/weeded NOW so that the winter frosts can get into the soil and then you will be better placed to strat planting in February/March/April....

[poppypiesdad]

Local councils were doing cheap
Composters








http://www.letswasteless.com/cms/composting.aspx

[poppypiesdad]

I would fix the green house up as well , for the Tom's and softer stuff and for getting seedlings going

[poppypiesdad]

Compost can you not use seaweed ?
Maybe not but if your coastal.

J

[preppingsu]

Which direction does the sun face into your garden? The area that gets the most sun should be the area to plant most of your veg.

Get a soil sample kit and test your soil. Plan what veg to grow according to your soil type.

Lift your turf, turn it upside down and cover with cardboard. This will kill off the roots of the grass/weeds and will become a mulch as well. In the spring you can cut through the cardboard and plant straight into the soil.

It's not too late to plant some dwarf root stock fruit trees, as well as soft fruit bushes.

Consider some hardy perennial veg (artichokes etc)

Start composting. This can be grass cuttings, veg peelings, paper, card, stuff from your Hoover etc. you will need at least 2 bins. One to be adding too and one left to break down. You won't have compost to use on the garden until the end of the year.

Collect pots - great for your cut and come again salad leaves, toms, etc.

Any other questions just ask.

[preppingsu]

Forgot to say by non hybrid seeds so you can collect seeds ready for the following growing year.

Have a look here

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/

[featherstick]

Prepping Su has covered most of it. When I go off to a new household for the Master Gardener programme I do a site analysis - where is the sun, where is the frost pocket, is there a rain shadow from sheds or the house, can you water easily? Do a soil analysis - pH, soil type (I'm on chalky silt, and it is challenging), how much organic matter there is. If it's lawn, chances are it'll be quite fertile for the first year which will give you a chance to build up compost and find a source of manure.

Have a think about what you want to grow - potatoes are great for prepping but in normal circumstances they are very cheap and on limited space you can grow more interesting things - nutrition-rich root crops, or delicious exotics. Squash are great - fun and easy and some varieties will keep over winter. I'd grow squash instead of potatoes if I had to choose. If you have space, then soft fruit such as raspberries or blackberries can be great - easy and very rewarding.

You can use the decking boards for raised beds, and you don't need to buy composters - 3 pallets in an open square shape will do just as well, if not as pretty. You might get lucky on freecycle.

If you have a local library, now is a good time to check out their "grow-your-own" section. I have a range of books and can recommend John Harrison's "Veg Growing Month by Month" (no connection) - tested and sensible advice.

Your season in Scotland will be shorter than other parts of the UK so in your position I'd get the greenhouse sorted as a priority as it will be very useful in starting things off, growing them for longer, and growing delicates. I think real seeds are great but initially I'd buy seedlings until you get confident as it takes a lot of faff out of the start of the growing season with less risk of losing a crop, or ending up with dozens of plants that you can't, literally, give away.

Enjoy!

[ForgeCorvus]

Re: Greenhouse, my local glazier sells pre-cut green house panes for a couple of quid each for the larger 2x2..... Cheaper then garden centres or DIY places.

[Decaff]

Don't forget growing in containers on the fences, mind gone blank on what its called though