Your top tips for a veg patch please

[WannabeNigella]

Hello,

We are about to put a vegetable patch in our garden, not a huge one, about 15ft by 10ft.

Just wondered if you could give me your top tips as we've never done anything like this before.

We're a bit unsure about staggering the crops so they're not all ready at once, that type of thing. What do you grow that grows easily for a first attempt? Anything you think it's best to avoid?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

The most obvious step is to dig and dig again, removing all weeds, roots and anything but the smallest of stones. Do not skimp on this stage! Incorporate compost at the end of this process and turn it all over. Invest in a good garden sieve, or even better, borrow them. Decide what you like to eat and how patient you are. Be realistic. Perhaps dividing the patch into quarters would help. I understand what you mean by staggering the crops, you don't want a glut. I recommend Dr. Hessayon's The Vegetable & Herb Expert, it's a really userfriendly illustrated guide. Later on in the spring, if you have a little shade then i would grow salad leaves, the pick and come again variety. I buy the growing salad punnets from Lidl but they are everywhere (which are lots and lots of young plants all crammed together) tease them apart and transplant into the garden. The result is amazing and within a short time you will be picking a salad bowl of mixed leaves. I repeat this process a couple of times and am never without salad. Rocket is good and often survives the winter. The point is, grow what is expensive to buy. Don't bother with tomatoes outside. Leeks are good and can stay in the ground until you use them. Purple sprouting broccali is a real treat if you like it. Consider, will you grow from seed or buy established plants. The latter is what I would recommend unless you have space and protection for pots and trays and the cost needn't be that much weighed against time and effort, depending on your circumstances. Car boot sales, WI stalls are all a great source for young veg plants. If your aim is to engage and amaze children with the whole experience then try potatoes, they plant the individual spud enjoy earthing up the plants as they grow and digging them up is fun "what all that, from one potato! Alternatively you might consider growing one luxury crop ie raspberries or asparagus and celebrate the joy of that one crop in season. Sooo exciting

And the current issue of Gardener's World magazine has a plan that will help you.

We just made some sides out of some decking planks, fixed them into a rectangle and made raised beds

We were lucky to have 6 compost bins worth of compost to chuck in there - but a very easy way of doing things.

Thank you so much all! Great info.

Post Script - Runner beans are lovely and give and give but take up quite a bit of room, so I was thinking, if you sink a couple of poles or even 4 for the corners of your plot you could grow french beans that climb up the pole (with the help of wire) A luxury crop with a good yield spread over a few months.