In the interests of living a life as unlike London-life as possible in our increasingly homogenous culture, this year we have a veg patch. Well, four, to be precise. They are raised and I had the budget to buy compost for 3 of them, so we'll have to wait until next year before going into full production. I set them out on the lawn, Graham readjusted them into a more aesthetically pleasing pattern, dug the grass up and built the greencottage on the side of the house, I wheelbarrowed away the turves and put the compost bags in, so full credit to me, naturally...
The green-cottage (not quite big enough for a greenhouse) is full of tomatoes. Perhaps a little too full, but hey, green tomato chutney is lovely. There are not such a thing as growbags here, so the tomatoes are in compost filled buckets, five of them all different colours.
The diamond shaped beds are 2x1.5m-ish. One has broccoli and some sort of cabbage, one has sugar peas and french beans and the other has spinach and parsnips. The last has weeds, I suppose I could use the sorrel and say it's my salad bed, but...
Learning experiences so far -
1) planting distances on seed packets are not guidelines, but should be taken seriously (whoops....sorry beans)
2) Learn what the cabbage should do/be used for/what it is exactly before you plant, so you won't have to go around all your friends waving a cabbage leaf and asking what to do with it.
3) Frames for things to climb/hang on, yeeessss, hummmm. A new skill that I feel I need to learn better...(sorry peas, tomatoes and anything else over 10cm tall.)
4) every garden really does need access to a wasps' nest. If you have one near, you will have no problems with catepillars making lace of your cabbage leaves and scalping your sedums. You will not have to stand over plants scraping off and squashing green wiggly things. Wasps are lovely, intelligent and can be taught, hurrah for wasps.
Now, how do I buy a wasps' nest?
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