We're just about to embark on our first-ever veggie patch and I wondered
if anyone might have some tips for us? The reason we haven't started
before is that our block is boggy and spongy when the winter rains come,
yet arid and awful in the heat of summer. It finally dawned on me that a
raised (about 60cm or more) bed might be the answer! So, that's what
we'd like to do: build up a well-raised bed and then see if we can
reduce the grocery bill by growing some veggies.

I've read lots of material about permaculture and no-dig gardens (they
come with a recipe for layering that seems pretty impossible - I mean, I
don't know any sheep, so I won't be getting sheep-poo any time soon...)
My thoughts were to lay something drainy ('aggregate'? chitter? etc?)
and then pile on some organic mix soil (purchased at Great Cost from a
local bloke who sells it). We've got some recycled planks to make the
walls of the garden and a few years' worth of rotted grass clippings for
mulching.

Is there anything else I should know? What can I plant nowish (within,
say, the next month)? And is there anything mentioned above that sounds
wrong? I'd be *really* grateful for any feedback you can offer and hope
this might prompt a bit of a discussion on the ways in which others have
started their gardens.


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Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia