Veggie patch on the cheap?

[neverquitesure]

My children will be 2 and 3 1/2 years old this spring and I'd love to start a little veggie patch/flower bed that they can grow a few simple veggies in plus the odd sunflower etc. Just a few tiny problems stand in our way:

• All setup work/digging/DIY will need to be carried out by me with 2 small and inquisitive (but not necessarily very helpful) children snapping at my heels
• I'm not hugely green fingered. Actually the most we've grown to date is cress...
• There are a couple of suitable spots but all are quite shady and the soil is terrible
• Our existing gardening supplies extend to one large spade, one large gardening fork and one large hoe. We have no hand tools/children's tools so will need to buy these. We also have no spare wood, extra topsoil etc
• We have next to no funds to achieve this

Any suggestions on what I'd need and how much it might cost and indeed whether it's even feasible given my time, inexperience and lack of funds? I have this twee little image of the children standing round a raised bed happily harvesting carrots etc but suspect I might be living in la la land...

Poundland you say? I actually love Poundland and shall be driving by one tomorrow when I collect my car. I'm always going in and buying packs of superglue and batteries and torches and the like then boring friends and family to tears with "you'll never guess where I got this?! POUNDLAND! It was a POUND!" and so on. I also rather enjoy taking the children in, giving them a pound each and telling them they can choose ANYTHING THEY LIKE in the WHOLE SHOP (although this did rather fall flat the time before last when DS decided he would buy a multipack of Wagon Wheels )

I shall let you know how I get on...

Re watering, if you are going to be away then water well before you go (and water well normally) and then look to cover the soil round the base of the plant with something to keep the moisture in. You could try splitting a carrier bag and using that. Just make sure that you weigh it down all round so any wind doesnt get under the edge.

To find allotments in your area use google earth - you are looking for pieces of land which look like medieval strip cultivation! Allotments are great places to learn the true meaning of growing fruit and vegetables on a shoestring:

• yoghurt pots and toilet roll inners make great free pots
• you can use soft drink/squash bottles cut in two to make little cloches to encourage individual seedlings when the air is chill
• when you are out and about watch out for 'garden gate' deals for tomato plant seedlings

One way to make cheap compost into expensive seed compost is to sieve it. Chuck the lumpy bits into the ground and use the fine sieved compost for growing your seeds in.

Happy gardening!

Hi girls, I am a complete novice here also but i spend a fortune buying pots of Basil each year and packets of salad leaves. How can i sow my own, is now the time to plant the seelds. ie with basil so i just sow one seed in each litlle pot in a tray or can i put a few in a pot. Also which salad leaves are easy to grow. any help apppreciated.

You need to sew salad leaves in succession - trial and error to see which leaves you like best. So sew a pot every week. I think basil is on of those stupid plants that you either can or cant grow - but you cant put them out unless it is quite warm - it is a Mediterranean plant after all.

Rocket is dead easy, also sorrel and landcress (tastes same as watercress) and lamb's lettuce.

I have had a lot of trouble with slugs with lettuce - the only ones that have survived in my garden are crinkly ones and Red Salad Bowl which the slugs don't like so much.

Thanks but how do i start off, do i sow indlvidual seeds first and then re pot thme . Rocket is my favourtite. Do i need a big pot or could i put in some of those long window boxs.

I don't tend to repot salad leaves, I just plant them either in the soil or a big pot, a window box would do too. Right now I would probably be planting them in a pot because we're not past the last frost risk yet and it means you can move them somewhere warm more easily if there's a bad weather forecast.

Hello, forgive my absence but I'm back to post my long overdue update. Here's what I've been up to:

• I have managed to scavenge 3 industrial strength bottom-less wooden crates from DH which I'm hoping to use as strange sorts of planters-come-raised-beds. They are 74cm x 54cm and 19cm deep.

• I have located a corner of the garden that gets sun most of the day. Unfortunately it does require a little bit of a tidy up but DH has pledged some of his time at the weekend to help.

• I have also located some pretty decent topsoil in another area of the garden. I estimate in the region of 140-160 litres of it (I will need around 70 litres of soil/compost per makeshift planter).

• I have invested the princely sum of £7 in the local discount stores and now own; a very cheap hand trowel & fork, a bag of 8 (well chitted!) seed potatoes, a raspberry plant, a bag of 7 strawberry runners (Korona - mid crop), a sunflower growing kit (seeds, compost & starter pots) and 5m of weed control fabric (for possible use under the crates..?) We shall be planting our sunflower seeds next week and already have the potatoes sitting out on the windowsill.

And for those who are still reading, I could really use some advice on the following:

• What mix of compost/top soil should I be aiming for? Our local Wilkinson sells 15 litre bags of it's cheapie compost at under £1 per bag. I'm presuming this is good enough? Or should I be mixing something else in? The topsoil we have looks really very good; fairly dark and not too sandy or sticky, hardly any stones and weeds. It will be a bugger to move though

• The area I want to put the (bottomless) planters on is currently mostly grassy. Do I need to dig up the grass or can I cheat and just lay the weed control fabric under them?

• What would you suggest we put in each planter?

Thank you

Have come across a soil 'recipe' for raised beds on grass. I'm liking it as there's no digging down. I'm lazy like that!

1. Lay cardboard over grass
2. Lay a few layers of wet newspaper over the cardboard
3. Chuck some old mulchy grass clippings on the top
4. Pile on topsoil, mixing in handfuls of compost as you go

Would this actually work? Looks almost too good to be true...

what i did was, for the first year I put a load of very cheapy grow bags over the area I wanted my veggie patch. After the summer crops had finished the grass under had died, I tipped the grow bags out. I edged it with a load of logs salvaged from when the council chopped down some local trees, and put a bit more fresh compost on top. I've now got onions, garlic, leeks, radishes growing, and have jsut added a load of seeds for the next batch.

I grow my potatoes in boot liners from poundland - they are HUGE and strong enough to grow spuds in.

I'm trying carrots, but have planted them right next to my onions - hopefully that will keep them safe!

Oh another money saving tip - I save 2 litre pop bottles - cut the top off and place over young plants to protect them. Like a little mini greenhouse!

I grow all my herbs on the patio in various pots.

Its a fab hobby. Last summer I was going round the garden grabbing bits of everything and chucking it straight into a pan on the BBQ for stir fries.

Thanks chops, I'm loving the growbag suggestion. There is a very narrow and overgrown flowerbed running alongside the fence in the corner I shall be using. I had planned to dig it all out and put some veggies in when I could be bothered next year. I shall now rip the worst of the weeds up and lay growbags over it. Ooooo I could even pop some (poundland) trellis up and grow tomatoes maybe..

I had no idea you could get bootliners from poundland too. Marvellous shop

I have already asked family to save bottles for me and have been squirrelling away all sorts of other junk useful bits and bobs. I also came across a tiny low wooden bench which might work well with a few potted herbs on. Would have to add some sort of rim on to stop them toppling off in the wind though.

Well the sun is shining today so DC and I will be pulling digging up weeds this afternoon.

I promise to post photos when it's all looking presentable.

I've got the poundland trellis for my toms too! Tho last year, I just used canes and wrapped string around them.

Save all the twisty metal things that come in toy packets - handy for fixing toms to canes or trellises.

I put a few broken bricks and stones in the bottom of pots - helps weigh them down and improves drainage.

Fortunately I'm a natural hoarder so we already have boxes upon boxes of neatly arranged crap salvaged materials which I'm sure are going to come in very handy (see DH, I told you they would. See? SEE!?!) Plus the DC have a bizarre stick fetish so we have a burgeoning collection of large sticks that I think I could possibly repurpose as plant supports.

DH also casually mentioned today that there are plenty more of these crates at work that are destined to be skipped I have offered to rehome another 3 in order to make 3 x double height planters (they stack). This means I haven't got to bother digging down for the potatoes which is simply excellent news

I have uploaded photos of our soon-to-be veggie corner and bizarre planters if anyone is remotely interested.

At the moment, Aldi have grobags for £1.29 and sacks of seed/potting compost for £1.49 & packs of veggie & herb seeds for 39p! Worth a try at that price.

The planters look fab! You aren't anywhere near Ascot are you? I'd love some of those!

I will have to uplaod a pic of my patch when I get a chance.

oh and thanks mumdebump, will have to get some growbags for my toms, once they are ready to go out.

Go go Never the new gardener! One more thing I suggest for the raised beds: do you know any friendly horses? . Preferably some that would give you poo for free ? Preferably well rotted? A few bucketloads of that'd go nicely in your beds.

Lidl do very cheap seeds and compost.

I second (third) the idea of salad leaves - the satisfaction you get when you look at the lovely (easy) leaves you've grown, and tot up how much they'd cost in one of those poncy gas-flushed bags at the supermarket is immense. Plant some coriander seeds at the same time- lovely!

Do beware slugs & snails with the sunflowers - they love them. Lots of policing needed.

Re: toddlers and gardening;- I have kept a full size allotment going on my own since DS was one. It hasn't been easy, but now he's 2 it's getting much easier - he's really starting to enjoy it. They do love it! Although, you do have to watch them - I spent quite a lot of time picking stones out of the bed the other day, only to find him later tenderly burying them, saying "Bye bye stone".

Haven't time to read whole thread so apologies if repeat but...

Cheap/free potatoes. If you are like me and sometimes forget to eat potatoes for so long that they start to sprout, don't chuck them out: plant them! I tried it randomly last year and grew loads of spuds in a pot.

"Bye bye stone"

Not near Ascot sadly Chops. I have asked DH to rescue as many as he can though for our budding veggie empire. Would love to see a pic of your patch so I can steal ideas get inspired.

I'm ashamed to admit that I live fairly close to an Aldi and despite keep hearing wonderful things have yet to get round to actually visiting it. We already have a little makeshift windowsill propagator with our sunflower seeds in (which the children have been checking hourly for shoots) so more seeds would be good. I am so pleased I have found a hobby to finally make good use of all the clear plastic packaging and tubs that I knew would come in useful one day.

I don't know any horses but we seem to drive past them all the time and you can't go down any of the back roads without seeing piles of black sacks and handpainted signs proclaiming 'horse manure 40p per bag' or such. Was never quite sure what one would do with a big bag of horse poo but now I know. I'm presuming it is fairly, uh, fresh (and will leave a distinctive aroma in the car). How long would it take to rot down enough and exactly how stinky would it be?

I almost used our old potatoes Lio, but ended up buying some cheap seed potatoes from poundland. I'm still mighty curious as to whether ours would grow though and have actually put 2 already half chitted old potatoes on our utility room windowsill with the plan to shove them in a bucket with any left over compost and see what happens.

I'm hoping against hope for half decent weather on Sunday so DH can give me a hand removing the rest of the tree (came down in last year's storms) from the corner.

We've planted out some seed potatoes we did them in rows neverquitesure and about 30 cms apart about a spades depth down ( a spit I think?) we are new to it too. I've got a kitchen fireplace full of plant pots with seeds in that the DD and I did yesterday, courgette pepper and sweetcorn. Which if they work we will plant out. We have broad beans in too. My DD is 4 and is really interested in growing things so your little ones are a great age i think for it.

How exciting! Sounds like Spring fever has infected everyone on here - me too!

Neverquitesure - I am expecting in June (first one) and hope I can do all the stuff you're doing with yours - you're painting a very idyllic picture! :)

Re horse manure: if you can get cow manure for your spuds/runner beans/courgettes, all the better. Your spuds will grow quicker and easier in cow sht than horse, but ideally it would be from a shed ie mixed in with straw, not neat! Courgettes will grow in neat cow sht (haven't tried it with horse) without any soil added.

Re salad leaves: I grew rocket from seed (straight into finely raked soil in the garden, see packet for depth/spacing etc) and despite the weeds' best efforts and going to seed at the end of summer (long shoots sprouting up and flowering) it's survived the winter! I weeded around it about a week ago, and now I have loads of fresh strong green leaves!

Also Lidl do a cut-and-come-again box of living salad leaves for 99p, but if you leave the tray outside for a week or so (bring indoors if frost is forecast) to harden off (get stronger before being planted outside in colder conditions) then you can plant the individual lettuces and they'll grow to full size. There's about 50 plants in a tray ;) At that price you can afford to buy a tray and plant out every 3 wks say...

Another really easy thing to grow is parsley and chives - both can handle frosts and grow like stink! Chives are also brill next to carrots to deter carrot fly and look v pretty when they flower.

Good luck and keep us all updated! xxxx

Quick update as promised!

I have uploaded a photo of the work to date. Doesn't look much but it took a while to get rid of the branches from the corner. The good news is that when I started to clear the side bed (in order to flatten it enough to chuck growbags on top of it) I discovered that the soil underneath was in pretty good condition and has even been used to grow carrots in the past (judging by the mummified specimens I found). So I decided to get stuck in and dig it out properly I have also completely overhauled our largest flower bed and a couple of other problem areas. I'm not sure what's come over me.

MrsNotPrincessKate - our house now also has an assortment of plants that we've started off indoors to counter our tardiness outdoors. A kitchen fireplace you say?

Congratulations rhihaf! I am planning a trip to Lidl in search of those salad leaves - they sound great. Herbs would be lovely, although would have to site them closer to the kitchen as I know I would not be bothered to trudge all the way across the garden to pick them for cooking otherwise.

I shall continue to keep you all updated

I would also love to see photos of everyone else's endeavours if anyone is brave enough to post them?!

Those crates are great. Might be worth putting some sort of wood preserver on them so they last longer.

I'm uploading some pics of mine.

Unfortunately my leeks are being eaten by the rabbits! They don't seem bothered by the peas yet, but I'll be lucky if I can keep them away from the carrots! I will have to mesh it again.

They also love my herbs. I have some in pots, and some growing along a little stepped bit behind their hutches. I have to keep shooing one bunny away from the thyme and oregano. I did get a fab thing from the IDHS that hangs four pots, so I might have to start growing bunny favourites in that rather than the beds.