How wild are you?

[francesbean]

I'm trying square foot gardening for the first time this year using four 4ft square beds. Part of the reason for the reorganisation is to be more organised. I'm hoping that with such intensive planting the weeds will have to fight for their lives and in turn I'll be more inclined to pull out the self seeders and weeds as ITS NOT PART OF THE PLAN.

I love the look of a well tended plot with lots of variety.

francesbean

[Jelliebabe]

I have only just taken over my plot and its a REAL Mess! I have more dandilions and bindweed growing than veg! I feel like I'm letting down the site - but there is only one of me. They all do say its going to take a few years to get under control and to do what I can - so I am. Its more of a gentle reigning in than domination! I can't see me feasably ever having a neater than neat site - but its better top work with nature than against... she always wins in the end!

[Gardenwitch]

I got my plot last year and I try to keep things well under control; especially the weeds with fabric matting covers until I'm ready to plant. Otherwise I get grief from our "allotment council" and I dont want them to threaten to take the plot back. I also plant what my family can eat, as I dont believe its right to plant so much food you know the person just sells it, even though are huge waiting lists.

Last year was a lot of clearing, not to much edible growing! This year is still some tiding, we already built a new shed, tore down teh fallen down shed, covered plot fully, tilled etc.

I pretty much dream about my gardening through winter and the try to grow what I can from seed, if that fails I fill in gaps with gardenstore plants.

Last year I planted on one side, and now this year its laying to rest under cover, while I plant on the other side of the plot. This autumn I want to plant in some green manure to help condition the whole plot for next years planting. Now that I ahve figured out what my soil type is. Thats the plan at the moment anyway

[Holly]

Does anyone use fruit and vegetables to create ornamental (and edible) gardens? Are there any potager gardeners out there?


p.s. I hope you've all had some of this weather- what a weekend!!

[planetologist]

Friends came over the other day who know that I grow 12 months of fruit and vegetables, and she said that the garden looked worse than she had expected. Mind you, this was the beginning of April and I could have fed at least 30 people with vegetables, so though this says that to some extent I let things grow where they want to, and I'm happy for plants to grow where they have self seeded, I do keep to a rotation, and I mulch and weed to suppress competition with the vegetables, not in order to get rid of the biodiversity.

[salilah]

I try to follow a plan roughly - but I also tend to sow seeds when the weather suits, and when I have space in the (3) heated propagators!! So - the plan is there, things just sort of adapt afterwards if I have a tray of salad leaves to go in somewhere...

I also find I need to react a lot - so for example this year, while most tomatoes are up and going (too much!) 3 varieties are not yet showing, so I hope to sow again this week. Similarly I planned to put lettuce leaves (cut & come again) in one bed, but found I had spinach and endives ready to go out, but not many lettuces, so the spinach and endives are happily sitting under a PPP (mini-polytunnel on a raised bed) and the lettuce leaves will have to go somewhere else...

My worst challenge with sticking to the plan is to pull up veg that is still providing food when I need the space for the next thing - that really hurts! The greenhouse bed is still full of very productive kale, cabbage, lambs lettuce, asian greens, winter lettuce and a very short row of peas - but I know I will have to clear it in time for the tomatoes to go in (another 4 weeks or so?) and it will be difficult...

cheers
Salilah

[EddieJ]

I'm afraid that I see veg growing as work rather than pleasure and as such, the veg plot is kept immaculate. You won't find a single weed on it.
It was drummed into me when I left school that you weed before you can see them. I even use a dinner/eating fork to pick between any veg that are closely spaced.



I do have a wild area though which I'm in the process of creating.

The logstack will create a habitat for insects etc, and the area/beds to the front have been sown with wild flower seed.

[Two_Sheds]

Eddie, very neat work. My plot would give you shudders!


I received a high compliment yesterday. My neighbour had been to an organic gardening talk, and came back saying that I was the only person 'doing it properly', ie not hoeing off every weed as it appears, and instead using weeds as a form of green manure (but off course taking them out before they go to seed)

Weed flowers feed the early bees, bare soil doesn't.

I like my untidy plot, it's humming with wildlife

[Mrs Twigg]

amazing

Wow! that log pile is amazing..........it will be wonderful for the wildlife as it settles/ages.

Do u have any photos of the beds during summertime?

[EddieJ]

Eddie, very neat work. My plot would give you shudders!

Thanks.

Your plot wouldn't give me shudders.

That is the odd thing, I wouldn't see it as being untidy at all, and would in fact be in some respect envious. I'm only critical of what I do or achieve, and never judge others.

Also, being neat and tidy doesn't make the veg taste any better.

[SunnyD]

My beds were all neatly divided up, but then we dug up the whole garden to 'landscape' it, so the new ones are being planned to coincide with my seedlings However, my idea of neat is just 'not completely mixed up'

[mothhawk]

Wow! Eddie J!

My back garden would fit into your veg patch 4 times over! How fabulous to have so much space to work with. How did you come up with the design of that brilliant logpile? It's got to be a competion winner!

[AmyG]

I like to run a 4 year rotation so that I know where and when to manure or lime and which area to leave firm for brassicas or making light and stone free for root crops. I have a cage for the fruit the birds enjoy to eat and a cage for the brassicas to keep the butterflies and pigeons off. I like to grow as much as possible and resent buying veg from a shop.

[TallGirl]

Not sure if this thread is about wildlife-friendliness or plot-orderliness, so here goes with both.

Flowers are free-range. Feverfew and marigolds all over the place; celandine, forget-me-nots, phacelia and viper's bugloss following suit (I hope), trying to let selected foxgloves, comfrey and evening primroses survive if they're not going to shade out veg.

Veg in a fairly strict rotation, or at least it will be when it's properly up and running.

At the back by the hedge there's the start of a dead wood heap (nothing like as impressive as Eddie's!), and a patch where I'm moving the weeds that were too annoying in the veg beds but which are all good for biodiversity. Unfortunately I don't know what most of them are called. Got some cowslips, thyme, foxgloves and a self-seeded teasel by the shed as well (the teasel could be bad news), and some British bluebells by the water butts (very well away from the veg beds).