You gals on the net have been rubbing off on me for years - so this spring (remember, we’re south of the equator down here) I’ve decided it’s high time I plant a garden of some sort.
A couple of months ago a storm blew over the only tree in our backyard - it was a tiny thing, sure, but it was a tree, and now it’s gone, leaving a big ol’ gap. I had considered throwing some vegies in there but two things are holding me back. First, I’d have to seriously overhaul that portion of the garden, improve the soil, raise the beds and so on. That’s not exactly the ’start off small’ mentality I was aiming for. Second, while the space is a nice, manageable-but-not-tiny space, the sunlight aspect is a teensy bit questionable. It’s on the west side of the garden which means it gets a large chunk of sunlight in the morning but then shadows start to creep over. I’ve read vegies need at least 6 hours of full sunlight a day to grow best and better yet if that’s afternoon sun. We may get just that much but no full, bright sun all day long. Seasoned gardeners - will this massively affect the results? I’m not after massive prize winning vegies, just a little project that I can potter with that will hopefully bear ‘fruit’ with reduced grocery spending. I’m home tomorrow so intend marking the time off in that spot to be sure, but it would be a close call on the sun thing. I had considered container gardening but would have to purchase the pots in addition to the seeds/seedlings and the cheaper we can do this, the better. Seems silly to waste a perfectly good, vacant bed. Plus then there’s the issue of moving the pots to follow the sun
The bed has the advantage of being a clearly defined space (edged etc) and it has a sprinkler system running through it but I cannot presently use that for watering due to water restrictions (Australia is in a drought) - so it will all have to be hand-watered. Not an overly large space so that’s not a problem.
I already know I want to grow tomato plants. They’d go against the fence, staked of course. No idea about varieties though, LOL. Any Aussies who want to chime in with suggestions, be my guest. There are a lot of things that I’ve read would grow really well but there’s no point in plant something like watercress or brussel sprouts because we’d never eat them. Our tastes are pretty simple but if I could grow some of the more expensive-to-buy things such as capsicums (peppers), tomatoes and fresh herbs, then yay. The herby stuff might go into a container attached to a wall. Lettuce is another thing that can get quite expensive here. We just buy the iceberg most of the time because the bagged stuff is horrid (and, I hear, covered in e-coli and pesticides). Carrots are rising but I’m not sure the bed would be suitable for them unless we raise it quite a bit higher. Potatoes the same. I can train some beans up a trellis.
Guess the first step would be to accurately guage sunlight and then measure the space. Does anyone know of a site with information for beginner vegetable gardeners on a very basic, almost ‘a child could do this’ level of explanation? LOL. Something that covers everything I’d need to know - from building the bed, to caring for pests, what to plant, how much to plant (we’re a family of two adults and three kids - we’d like plenty but not so much we’re throwing it out)?
Oh - and because the bed is a ’shared’ one with non-edible plants, should I be taking any precautions when sectioning off the spot for the vegies? I already intend building it up high and bordering it off with sleepers, but have no idea how this works with the soil underneath all the good vegie growing stuff - ie, the soil which was already in the bed that the new stuff goes on top of. Do I need to put down some sort of barrier mat before I put in the new soil, just to make sure? This will all make far more sense when you see photos of the section of the garden bed, by the way, LOL.
If you’re a gardener or have some tips, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
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