new to gardening

[veggiechicken]

Hi Suzan and welcome from me! Not all of the bugs are after you, or your veggies: lots of them are there to help - either by pollinating the flowers on your beans and tomatoes so that you get fruit to eat, or, like the ladybirds, eating some of the baddies (greenfly). Cherish them all and you'll soon learn which are your friends. There are very very few that might hurt you (bees and wasps if you scare them, can't think of anything else!) so go out and grow!!

[suzan]

lol, i know they are part of nature and i also know i dont like any of them, even flutterbys, they remind me of moths which i am most petrified of.

I have read that if you plant french marigolds close to carrots, they mask the aroma so carrot flys dont eat them, is this correct?

I am going to plant some veg in the garden if the rain ever stops long enough to allow me to do this.

[Two_Sheds]

if you plant french marigolds close to carrots, they mask the aroma so carrot flys dont eat them, is this correct?

No, it's wishful thinking ~ the only thing to keep root fly off is enviromesh or voile curtains

[suzan]

right, will have to buy some enviromesh tomorrow then.

[Two_Sheds]

voile is cheaper

I got 2m x 2m today for £6 (I could have got him down to a fiver, but couldn't be bothered)

[veggiechicken]

lol, i know they are part of nature and i also know i dont like any of them, even flutterbys, they remind me of moths which i am most petrified of.

I can't help you with this but I'm sure you'll find that the more you get out there and up close to nature the less scary it becomes.
I used to be afraid of slow worms until I had to handle them and show them to visitors to a nature reserve where I volunteer. Now, I think they are fantastic creatures, curling around my fingers, I could handle them all day. You'll get there

[Farmer_Gyles]

right, will have to buy some enviromesh tomorrow then.

no need to buy it yet .... wait till the veggies have started growing!

[pagan dreams]

hiya newish here too,we have not long ago moved into a council house and the property was empty for 2 years and the garden altho kept in trim by the council was very full of weeds however once removed the soil was the best seen so i been told.i didnt need a rotovator as the soil was so easy to dig and fork over.have been told tho if the soil was used to grow veggies before then it may be exhausted and will need fertilising again.

[Farmer_Gyles]

have been told tho if the soil was used to grow veggies before then it may be exhausted and will need fertilising again.

if the ground was good enough for weeds, it's good enough for veggies ....
there's no real *need* to fertilise the soil, veggies will grow there .... although once you get started, you should dig some compost in to the bed you will plant the salad crops / legumes in as part of your normal crop rotation ....