Coming along nicely.

The recent wet and windy weather meant that I had to wait to move the rest of my seedlings outside, so my conservatory was starting to get a bit overrun with plants.

Thankfully the weather has now improved a little and I was able to get some of them transplanted outside.

One of my beds coming along nicely.

Left to right and back to front: Squash, Kale, Kale, Kale, Parsnips, Carrots (just starting to appear) and Kale. The other two squares are still empty for now.

Left to right and back to front: Kale, Kale, Squash, Cabbage, Cabbage, Cabbage, Swede, Swede and some unknown seedlings that I lost the label from. 

I moved some of my corn out with my pumpkins and squash so hopefully they will do OK.

The corn isn't looking too good today.

My strawberry plants are doing well though. 

I was worried about the one in the top right, but appears to be perking up again. 

This one has several flowers so hopefully I will have some fruit soon.

Moving outside.

Well I'm finally starting to see some progress. The seeds I has sown directly outside are starting to grow and most of the seeds I had sown indoors have really flourished. I'm only just starting to transplant them outside now because we've had frost several nights recently.

Peas started inside in egg boxes.

Hardening off my seedlings before planting them outside.

Some of the seeds sown directly outside starting to appear.

Climbing Beans transplanted outside.

Parsnips moved outside.

My strawberry plants. I'm hoping to get a few more to add to this bed.

My pumpkins/Squashes just planted out this evening. 

Starting out.

 For the last few weeks I've been starting my seeds inside on my windowsills in various recycled containers such as egg boxes, coffee cups, toilet roll inserts and yogurt pots.

Hello again!

I started this blog several years ago when I first decided to try and grow my own veg. That particular endeavour didn't work out according to plan so both the blog and the veg growing were abandoned.

Roll on to 2021 and I've decided to have another go at vegetable growing, and I've restarted my blog so I can record my progress.

I'm planning on growing most of my veg in raised beds using the square foot gardening method and I'm also experimenting with straw/hay bale gardening using an old hay bale I found in the shed.

I got himself to make me two raised beds and placed cardboard underneath them as a weed barrier. 

Then I filled both with a mixture of homemade compost, soil & potting compost. 

My beds are approximately 6 foot x 3 foot so I got himself to divide them into 1 foot square sections to make it easier for me to plant using the square foot method. 

Hello Scarecrow!

Today's job was to make a scarecrow, not so much to scare away the birds, but rather because I figured its not a real veg patch without one :) Didn't turn out quite how I had planned, but I guess its not so bad for my first attempt!

Also divided out my beds into segments for planting...they're probably a little wider than they should be as I find it difficult to reach the centre, but I though cutting the planks down to size was a bit too adventurous for me :) So they'll have to do for this year!

Next job is to get planting but there's been frost the past few nights so I'll have to wait till that passes.

Preparing The Ground

Todays Job was to get the beds ready for planting. First thing I did was covered the ground with a layer of thick cardboard, this is supposed to keep the weeds down while allowing air & moisture into the soil & it rots back down into the soil in time.

Next job was to fill the beds with well rotted compost - I used horse manure as I have an unending supply of the stuff.

Next job was to build a compost heap out of pallets & add the left over manure to it. I'll use this to add my kitchen & garden waste to over the next few months.

And my final job of the day was to add a layer of soil on top of the compost and rake it level.



Getting Started

So, today I decided I'd like to grow my own veg. Not quite sure yet if it's one of my better ideas, but thought I better make a start while I still think its a good idea :)
Had a scout around the yard & found a few old scaffolding planks that I thought I could use to make some raised beds....I've been told they're easier managed than the traditional ridges so thought I'd give them a go!
Also got myself a hammer, a saw & some other bits of wood to use to support the scaffolding planks.

And this is what I came up with


Next job will be to add some compost to them and get them ready for planting & we'll see how we go from there!