How big is your veg patch?

[Cosmosis]

I'm currently planning my garden (is just lawn atm) and just wondering how big all your veg patches are?

The whole garden is 26 wide x 37ft long.

I'm thinking of 6ft x 16ft - is that too small? Too big?

Have never done veg before so am a bit of a novice.

I have 9 raised beds, they are 120cm X 280cm each plus a small greenhouse

They are not all full to bursting as I started late and am a novice. There are 4 of us.

Am currently being inundated with courgettes (4 plants was a mistake!) but didn't plant enough sugar snaps to grow enough for a meal - well I might if the DC left them alone!

I am learning as I go. Only plant what you really like to eat. Rember crop rotation to avoid pests and help preserve nutrients in the soil.

There are only two of us, so I don't think I need anything massive. Good point about only planting what you really like to eat!

Mine is about 10ft x 5ft I think. It is very small, but actually the perfect manageable size - very easy and quick to weed and keep on top of. I currently have all sorts of things growing in pots arounf the garden - herbs, tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkins, and peas.

Next year I'm going to start using drainpipes for sowing my seeds as they are easier to transfer.

Most of my stuff is planted elsewhere and transplanted when I know its actually going to survive.

a standard allotment size is 250sq m

That's good to hear WriggleJiggle, most of the people I know irl have much bigger plots and I was worrying that i wouldn't have enough room. I'll be growing my herbs & toms in pots so the plot will just be for other veg.

I started with 3 6ft x 3ft beds, which you can grow a surprizing amount on, but if you 'get the bug' you will want more.

For you, I'd divide your 6ft x 16 ft into 4 6x3 beds with paths between. You can grow more on raised beds as you never tread on them & can plant things a bit closer. This would be a good size for a beginner imo.

What do you like to grow?

I'd be tempted to grow something like...

bed 1) legumes - either all runner beans (or half runners, half french or broad beans or peas).
bed 2) salad (lettuce/tomatoes/radish/chard/beetroot) using square foot system.
bed 3) onions/carrots and or courgettes (you will only get two courgette plants in a bed that size - I would probably have one plant on half and onions/carrots on the other half.
bed 4) brassicas - PSB/cauli/cabbage/sprouts - but these take a lot of space, so you won't get many.

And rotate around each year. If you don't like brassicas, put this bed to soft fruit - strawberries/rasberries & just rotate the other three.

Agree with Snorkle - don't have a single veg patch that big, it'll be a nightmare with weeding etc.
Build smaller raised beds.
We have 3 at the mo about 3ft deep and about 6ft wide. We have potatoes, lettuce, leeks, beans, beetroot, spring onions, radish, rocket, loads of different types of herbs, triffids courgettes (just 2 plants and there are about 8 teeny courgettes coming through right now); strawberries and cucumber in pots outside; tomatoes, chillies and peppers in the greenhouse; onions, carrots and rhubarb in large pots at the bottom of the garden.
It's our first year too and am pleasantly surprised how it's all gone.
When everything's been eaten by slugs or birds harvested we're planning on binning the 2 (non-herb beds) beds and building 3 deeper ones ready for next year.
Apparently, you can grow more in the deeper beds because the veg has room to grow down rather than across so you can get more in.

Oh, thanks for that advice snorkle, that sounds v sensible. I hadn't really thought about getting in to weed etc so 4 smaller plots sounds like a really good idea.

I won't be doing any legumes though as DH doesn't like any [hmmm] so would be a waste for just me. So I'll maybe do the soft fruit in 1 and rotate the other 3.

It's so exciting!

I would definitely repeat the advice to start small - you can always make more beds if you feel the need. Much better to have a couple of small beds under control than loads of space that you are struggling with.

If you don't want to make raised beds then you can have ground level beds with paths in between made from weed control fabric. I prefer these myself as you can pull up the paths from time to time if you want to rearrange things, or if the edges of the beds are getting weedy. Also of course it means that you don't need to make the beds, nor come up with extra topsoil to fill them.

I have loads and loads of plants, all sorts of varieties, and some grow better than others. All my vegetables seemed to be crammed in on top of each other, but I do try and remember to put quick growing things (like lettuce) in amongst the slower growing things (beetroot, carrots) so I can fit more in.

The huge advantage of having things in pots is that I can move them around as I learn more about their likes and dislikes - sun, water, shade etc. I am very much a beginner.

thanks for the tip about putting the faster growing things amongst the slower ones! good idea. I suppose it stops the beds looking too bare as well

yes, it does, I have a crammed little slot of about 4ft by 5 ft and lots of containers, I've had so many crops this year what with great weather sun and rain...I've saved a fortune off my shopping bill each week too.

If you want to hear more and some expert advice from another mum:

Have a look here:

Http://www.mumsgrowyourownorganicvegetables.com

It's great resource and ongoing support.

It's a raised bed near the house roughly 12 feet by 5 feet.

This year I have grown/am growing

salad leaves
French beans - doing well
Parsley and chives
beetroot
carrots
Butternut squash

Last year I grew purple sprouting broccoli but it took up lots of space. Ditto courgettes nad I got fed up with them.

The squash plants are taking over- Ihave 4- but they are spreading where other crops have finished.

I have 3 beds of 6x6 at the moment and loads of peppers, chillis , tomatoes and a melon in pots dotted around the place.

I'm going to redo them though as have just got a greenhouse that's going up and I'm going to make them 4 feet wide so I don't need to walk on them.