My Garden
On one hot summer evening back in 2009, I was sat outside with a cold beer, and for the first time in many years I noticed the garden. It looked quite bare and lacked plants and colour. A cat had seen to the fish we had in the raised pond, so as you can imagine, there wasn’t a lot of reason to go and sit out in the garden. It was then I decided it was about time to bring some life into the garden, with not only some good planting, but also to try to attract more wildlife into the garden.
The following picture shows how the garden looked initially.
The following picture shows how the garden looked initially.
The Raised Vegetable Plot
One of the first things to go, was the pond. This was transformed into a small raised vegetable plot. But what do I grow? I decided to grow vegetables which we buy from the supermarket on a regular basis, to see if there was any difference in the taste of the item and to see how easy it was to grow, in relation to time and money. As the plot is located in the centre of the garden, I decided not to grow tall or climbing plants, as not to block the view of the back of the garden.
One of the first things to go, was the pond. This was transformed into a small raised vegetable plot. But what do I grow? I decided to grow vegetables which we buy from the supermarket on a regular basis, to see if there was any difference in the taste of the item and to see how easy it was to grow, in relation to time and money. As the plot is located in the centre of the garden, I decided not to grow tall or climbing plants, as not to block the view of the back of the garden.
So in went some Dwarf French beans, Lettuce, Carrots, Radish, Cabbage, and Parsnips.
The dwarf beans grew at an outstanding rate, and we were picking them after about 8 weeks, right upto up to the first frosts. Even though I had only allocated a small portion of the plot to these, they produced an amazing amount of crop, which we parcelled some up for the freezer, and had them over Christmas. The taste was noticeable different to the shop bought ones, and as they were trouble free, and only needed a regular drink, and a quick feed every so often, this was definitely one to grow again.
The lettuce, also grew well, and very quickly. Again, the taste was far superior to the supermarket varieties, so this one was a definite to grow again. The only mistake I made, if you can class it as a mistake, was to sew the whole section all together. This in essence meant that, all the lettuce came together. However, we did spot this, so we started harvesting the baby lettuce as soon as it was ready, allowing more space for the other to grow. A few neighbours also benefited from some spare produce, to which they commented a few days after how tasty and crispy it was. So the tip was only sow just about more than you need, but keep sowing every week or so, and then you have a constant crop.
As the plot was over 60cm off the ground, I put in some normal carrot seed, and also some carrot fly resistant seed, to see if there was an issue with these pests, and also to see if one was better than the other. I didn’t have any problem with the carrot fly, but the resistant variety came out best in terms of crunchiness and texture. So ‘resistafly’ it was for next year.
Radish. These things grow at an outstanding rate. From seed to plate in about 3 weeks. I grew so many, we actually grew tired of them, so I now grow them sporadically in a grow pot.
The cabbage grew well, but then the garden appeared to fill with Cabbage White Butterflies in no time once the cabbages got to a certain size. The plot was netted against any intruders, but on closer inspection, they were squeezing through the gaps to lay their eggs, knowing they would not be able to get out. The difficulty here was, if I put too fine a net on, this would also stop the beneficial insects such as bee’s, which would have an impact on pollination. So due to the amount of space they took up, and the risk of loosing another crop, together with the fact that we only ate this once a week, we decided to allocate the space to something else the following year.
The parsnips took about 8 months to grow, and didn’t appear to do too well. Due to the time they took to grow, and the limited space available, the space would be allocated to something else the following year.
As the vegetables and salads grew, they looked good. A large green tuft in the centre of the garden. However, when they were harvested, the raised plot did not look much different to when I started, so once it was cleared, the plot was redesigned, so that the front part of the bed was given over to a small alpine rockery, to give it an all round appeal.
The dwarf beans grew at an outstanding rate, and we were picking them after about 8 weeks, right upto up to the first frosts. Even though I had only allocated a small portion of the plot to these, they produced an amazing amount of crop, which we parcelled some up for the freezer, and had them over Christmas. The taste was noticeable different to the shop bought ones, and as they were trouble free, and only needed a regular drink, and a quick feed every so often, this was definitely one to grow again.
The lettuce, also grew well, and very quickly. Again, the taste was far superior to the supermarket varieties, so this one was a definite to grow again. The only mistake I made, if you can class it as a mistake, was to sew the whole section all together. This in essence meant that, all the lettuce came together. However, we did spot this, so we started harvesting the baby lettuce as soon as it was ready, allowing more space for the other to grow. A few neighbours also benefited from some spare produce, to which they commented a few days after how tasty and crispy it was. So the tip was only sow just about more than you need, but keep sowing every week or so, and then you have a constant crop.
As the plot was over 60cm off the ground, I put in some normal carrot seed, and also some carrot fly resistant seed, to see if there was an issue with these pests, and also to see if one was better than the other. I didn’t have any problem with the carrot fly, but the resistant variety came out best in terms of crunchiness and texture. So ‘resistafly’ it was for next year.
Radish. These things grow at an outstanding rate. From seed to plate in about 3 weeks. I grew so many, we actually grew tired of them, so I now grow them sporadically in a grow pot.
The cabbage grew well, but then the garden appeared to fill with Cabbage White Butterflies in no time once the cabbages got to a certain size. The plot was netted against any intruders, but on closer inspection, they were squeezing through the gaps to lay their eggs, knowing they would not be able to get out. The difficulty here was, if I put too fine a net on, this would also stop the beneficial insects such as bee’s, which would have an impact on pollination. So due to the amount of space they took up, and the risk of loosing another crop, together with the fact that we only ate this once a week, we decided to allocate the space to something else the following year.
The parsnips took about 8 months to grow, and didn’t appear to do too well. Due to the time they took to grow, and the limited space available, the space would be allocated to something else the following year.
As the vegetables and salads grew, they looked good. A large green tuft in the centre of the garden. However, when they were harvested, the raised plot did not look much different to when I started, so once it was cleared, the plot was redesigned, so that the front part of the bed was given over to a small alpine rockery, to give it an all round appeal.
Gardening is no exact science. Plant 3 plants along the same border, and some will do better than others. Most gardening techniques are borne out of basic trial and error. When watching a BBC gardening programme, the presenters say, that ‘should’ do well there. Even with their years of knowledge and expertise, they cannot guarantee that any plant they introduce to a garden will do as well as they think, but on the other hand, it may do better. When I started to grow plants and flowers from seed, or buy them from the local garden centre, I would have ones that would do well on their own, and others that needed far more attention. I often thought, it must be my lack of knowledge, but after watching the BBC garden programme for a while, it did seem to be a case of try it out, if it works fine, but if not, just plant something else.
The following pictures show the changes I have made so far, and I hope that you agree, that a little time and effort, can make a huge difference.
We have also benefited from wildlife in the garden. Some quite common, but still, all add to the bio-diversity of the small patch of land we call a garden.
The following pictures show the changes I have made so far, and I hope that you agree, that a little time and effort, can make a huge difference.
We have also benefited from wildlife in the garden. Some quite common, but still, all add to the bio-diversity of the small patch of land we call a garden.
Garden Photo's from 2009
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Garden Photo's from 2016
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