I've got way too excited.. and

[JamesA]

Your other half sounds like a nice helpful chap! Im sure you could find a way to bribe him into doing a spot of digging for you My wife was very sceptical about my growing attempts last year, until i produced a meal for us that was all home grown bar the chicken!

Anyway that looks like a nice spot you have there and with a little work it will be just fine. Im a beginner myself too, but it looks to me like raised beds would be the way to go. Maybe split it into 4 beds with paths between so you dont have to walk on the bed and compact them. Oh and make sure you can reach into the middle from either side.

Whats the size of the plot you have there?

[walshie]

Looking at the photos of your plot it looks very promising. What i would do is order a ton of top soil then you can plant anything you want straight away. A ton of topsoil isnt that expensive neither especailly when you weigh up the cost that you will save from buying expensive and chemically enhanced veg from tescos.

try this link Complete Lawns | Buy Topsoil Online | Call 0845 459 7856 they will deliver it for you too.

[feefeelalabelle]

yay!!! you lot have made me feel a bit more optimistic now.... thanks guys
the plot is just ove 11ft long by about 6ft wide, do you really think id need a ton of soil?

[walshie]

that will give you a good couple of inches of depth, not quite enough for long carrots but you can try the golf ball style carrots (thumbelina)
Carrot Thumbelina - Carrots - Vegetables - Burpee
then you will not get split roots. Then next year the worms should have done their stuff and broken down the soil for you.

[feefeelalabelle]

yay, got you some pictures.... its a complete mystery to me!!!


the last picture is my new batch of seeds.....all organised

[feefeelalabelle]

and these ones have really confused me!



have had a mad few days, planted way too many seeds (i think) !

[Sweepster]

Is that strawberries in the blue bucket? No idea about anything else, but they're growing, so

[womble]

and these ones have really confused me!

Me too!

The first two are maybe a couple of currants?
Haven't got the foggiest idea what the next one is or was.
Blue is strawberries and the last a strawberry leaf by the looks of things.

Not much sign of any seeds coming up anywhere?

[Creemteez]

Feefee, your compost looks a bit on the dry side. Your big plants will be thirsty, give 'em a good drink. Yep, I'd go will strawberries in the blue pots, the other twiggy bushes look like some sort of currant bushes or maybe gooseberry?
As to the seeds, very hard to tell except the ones with the big, fleshy leaves look like the beginnings of cucumbers or possibly courgettes. I think it'll be a while before the rest are identifiable. Wait for thier second leaves and take some more piccies then.

[feefeelalabelle]

just realised.... i havnt even got my cucumber plants yet so that rules them out !
Does anyone else get them silly urges to buy seeds... constantly, everywhere ive been for the past week, its been "oh lets just look at the gardening bit". I nearly took advantage of my daughters innocence earleir, she was bounding up the grdening isle and found a pot whinnie the pooh for the garden , grabbed it and ran to mummy saying "aaahhh". I had to control the urge to buy whinnie and his friends to sit in the veggies!!!
I think other half is a bit baffled as im normally a "shoes" and "bags" kind o gal but if someone where to plonk a pair of jimmy choo's in front of me and packet of seeds.... id grab the seeds and run as fast as my crappiest shoes would take me

ive found out that one of the plants is a sunflower... How did i do this? The seed was still attatched to its head, poor little think, so me being me i tried to help it.Big mistake, he now has no head, do you really think they can feel anything or not

had a few PMs saying id made their day with the cucumbers growing underground thing, you know what the bad thing is, my OH is quite an important man for the fruit and veg distributers so you would have thought a bit of knowledge would have rubbed off, or at least he could ov told me, maybe thats why hes not as giddy as i am!!
anyway ill stop letting all of my excitment off now as you guys are pro's at this and are fed up with me rambling, any help with the seeds is appreciated xxx

[Sweepster]

Does anyone else get them silly urges to buy seeds... xxx

Oh lordy yes! I even start to get a bit twitchy and panicky if I'm in a garden centre and am about to leave without buying a plant or some seeds (bags of manure don't count)

I'm sure your headless sunflower will look very nice. Perhaps, if you grow it tall enough, you can tell people that the flowerhead is just hidden behind a cloud.

[SarzWix]

Everyone has to start somewhere feefee Gardeners never stop learning, from other gardeners and Mother Nature

[running_muttley]

Don't panic, when I took over my plot it hadn't been dug for years. I had to jump up and down on the fork like Zebedee to get it more than 2 inches into the "Soil" which is just like yours, lots of clay. My advice would be plant the potatoes in the bit with the most clay, they do a reasonable job of breaking up the ground. Mulch them with grass clippings and newspaper. Don't bother trying to grow carrots for a few years, the results are just embarrassing. Chuck all the compost, rotted manure, soil improver, comfrey you name whatever you can find at the rest of the plot. Do this for 5 years and you notice a difference ;-) On the plus side I’m told clay soil is full of nutrients. Come the winter try growing green manures which good for clay soil as they will add organic matter when you dig them in, not an easy task. Failing that Google lasagne gardening and give it a try. I did find trench composting really good but you can only do this in the winter really.

[DavidM31]

Feefee, your compost looks a bit on the dry side. Your big plants will be thirsty, give 'em a good drink. Yep, I'd go will strawberries in the blue pots, the other twiggy bushes look like some sort of currant bushes or maybe gooseberry?
As to the seeds, very hard to tell except the ones with the big, fleshy leaves look like the beginnings of cucumbers or possibly courgettes. I think it'll be a while before the rest are identifiable. Wait for thier second leaves and take some more piccies then.

I agree, you need to give them all a good soaking to settle them in, and then wait until the pots look dry again before giving them another soaking.
Apply the water with a watering can with a rose attached so the compost is watered evenly.

[JamesA]

Does anyone else get them silly urges to buy seeds...

Yes i have a real problem, it started when the local garden centre had all their seeds at half price. This just forced my to buy twice as many! Then i found a couple of really good ebay shops which let you buy as much as you like and the P&P is the same, so of course it would be rude not to buy loads. And dont get me started on the Real Seeds web site :P

Have you got any books? I bought a couple which have been handy, i like The Vegetable and Herb Expert as it has plenty of pics! Cant remember the other one, will let you know when i get home.