Planning our Vegetable Patch

One of the reasons we bought our home was because there was the perfect space at the end of the garden to put in a vegetable patch. Once we had removed the old patio stones and mixed in some compost (there was sand under the loose patio stones which was a bonus!) we went to town on planting every vegetable we could get our hands on; tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, courgettes, squash, radish, onions, beans, corn, beets, kale, peppers, swede… literally everything. And we learned a lot.

Here are a couple of pointers we have picked up over the years, that we wish we had known sooner:

1. Only plant what you are going to eat. Now, this might sound obvious, but we naively thought we would eat all of the above, and it turns out that we really aren’t fussed about radishes or beans and a lot of these things went to waste.
2. Plant the amount you and your family will eat (if possible). We like kale, but 15 plants is a bit much. Actually, it’s a lot much. We do overseed because of slugs (little gits) so if we end up with more than we need we now offer the produce to family and friends.
3. Plant what grows. Simple right? Yet it took me three years to give up on broccoli, it just doesn’t survive in our garden. Our slugs are broccoli munching specialists and it doesn’t matter how much I shout at them like a crazy lady, I never get broccoli.
4. Look at what grows well where. The bottom, righthand quarter of our vegetable patch gets a lot of shade so we plant things like kale, swedes, and Brussel sprouts (I don’t eat them but everyone else does) there as they don’t mind the shade. The tomatoes, however, love all the sun and attention so they get planted across the back wall.
5. We don’t plant things we cannot grow enough of. To grow enough onions for our family would require eight times more space than we have, so we chose not to plant any and buy them loose, from the grocers when we can. This gives space over to other vegetables and isn’t a costly decision as onions are not expensive.
6. Plant fruit trees and plants where you can. By far the place we have saved the most money is with our fruit harvest. We have strawberries running through every flower bed which is amazing, they look after themselves and produce loads of fruit, especially when they are searched daily by little fingers – I had to sneak out at naptime last year to try and get one! We also have raspberry canes, gooseberry bushes, and a blackcurrant bush. These all take up little space, involve little effort, and give big rewards. If you have a bit more space then you could opt for bigger trees like cherry, apple, or plum. We have one of each and their beautiful blossoms are a true spring delight.

I’d love to know what you have learnt in the process of growing your own?

Livvy and Summer