New to Veg!

[mellongoose]

Hello,

We are about to dig up a patch of garden to use as a veg patch. I am a complete novice!

Please could someone recommend a "what to do month by month" book or app to help keep me on track?

Not sure what to grow yet so recommendations are most welcome! We live in a fairly sheltered place. South east facing where wind is usually south west. Next to the sea so salty air. Also I have a 2 year old so something they can help with would be brill! There are also slugsand snails a plenty!!!!

Thanks in advance for your wisdom xx

[mellongoose]

Bumping for help!

[shovetheholly]

Come and join us on the allotment thread! (You don't need to read the whole thing, just leap in). It's not just for allotmenteers but also for people with veg plots in the garden (which is the same thing, only more convenient).

The RHS Grow Your Own Fruit & Veg Year Planner is quite good.

I think the problem a lot of beginners find, though, is that they want a kind of timetable saying what to do when and they find the books say more vague things like "in late spring do this" or "in early autumn". It can be REALLY frustrating at the start! But there is reason behind it - when those fall changes year on year. Many of us had a dreadful start to the growing year because it was cold for so long that planting at the 'normal' times just resulted in low levels of germination.

How about starting off with some green manure to dig into the beds next spring? It's perhaps not the most exciting of 'crops', but it is VERY useful!

[Sadik]

Grow Your Own Vegetables by Joy Larkcom, absolutely definitely. No pretty pictures, but it's the ideal beginner guide.

There's a general 'things you need to know' section at the start, then a crop-by-crop guide, then a 'what to sow when' / what you could be harvesting when guide.

And re the 'late spring' / 'early autumn' thing, she gives you a chart explaining what that means depending on where you are (north different to south, east to west) and depending on how the season's going.

[Qwebec]

My tip is to start with easy high yeld plants. Also seedlings have been hit and miss in my garden. Getting already healthy plants from the garden center for the first years helped me build my confidence and be at peace with the usuccessful years. Not in the UK so not sure what works well where you are, but zucchinis produce loads (1 plant per mouth to feed is plenty).