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Old 05-06-2008, 01:34 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Sally Thompson[_3_] Sally Thompson[_3_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2008
Posts: 74
Default Advice for complete (Well, almost complete) newbies.

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:27:59 +0100, Brian Robertson wrote
(in article ):

Hi all. We are Brian and Sue, just moved into a new house with a
large(ish) garden. We want to turn a big portion of it into a vegetable
patch (Initially about 20ft x 20ft with lots of other space for pots and
grow gags, possibly double that in time) and would be interested to know
what people think we should start with. We want to put the emphasis on
actually being able to fill our bellies rather than growing stuff that
flavours our food and isn't an essential. So things like potatoes and
carrots and cucumbers come to mind, rather than garlic and chives, etc.
It's a south facing garden and a real sun trap.

We can think about crop rotation, etc, later on, but for the minute,
what would people recommend us to go at as a happy balance between
learning about gardening and eating lots of organic food?


To get you started, I would suggest growing something easy and quick and,
more importantly, only grow what you like. Courgettes and runner beans are
more or less fool proof and there are plenty of young plants around to buy
since it's getting a little late to sow seeds. When you post on this
particular newsgroup, it's also very helpful (and relevant) to give your
location because what grows well in Devon might not be so happy in Scotland!
Also, I would suggest that if you have a more or less blank canvas, think
ahead about where you might put a greenhouse in time, and where you will put
your compost bins. Speaking from back-breaking experience g it is also
important to have a water supply near your veg beds.



--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through the usenet newsgroup uk.rec.gardening