Vegie patch help needed

[Pandora]

Whats the quickest and hopefully releateively cheap way to get a vegie patch up and running, and where on my block should I put it? I just want to grow basic stuff - greens, brocolli, zucchini

Our yard is small, and we still want to retain an area for the kids to play, so something small is what we are after.


The front of the house faces east, so the short ends of the yard south/north

Does the vegie patch have to face north? Is there a "best" aspect?

There is enough room for what I'd like between the fence on the south side, bt Im worried as the clothesline sits next to that and im not sure if when full it will block too much of the sunlight?

I have a picture of the block but i cant get the gallery to upload it.

[Bathsheba]

We started one last year. We bought redwood sleepers, metal corners and joiners and had 1.5 cubic meters of compost soil delievered. it was done in a weekend but cost over $100... not including seeds/seedlings. The most successful crop was the potatoes I grew from peelings.

Those vegies you mentioned are actually quite tricky to grow successfully, from my experience and observation (I grew up on farms and we usually had a vegie patch as a kid). Zuccini isn't too bad... but broccoli is nortorious for being aphid infested and they are never anywhere as good as market/shop bought. Root crops are usually easier. If you want greens I highly recommend spinach... the baby spinach leaves are delicious and only take little while from seed to be usuable.... my kids loved them... ate them straight from the garden.

If I wanted to get something going for next to nothing I would get a hold of some old tyres... maybe about 6 (free) and stack them 2 high. I'd fill with soil and pop in some potato peelings that have small sprouts developing. In about 10 weeks you could have the equivalent to a large bag of spuds. No sprays needed. And not too much water... remember that water costs money too. You might be surprized by how much a vegie patch needs.

Alot would depend on the quality of your soil... most people get better results from raised beds... but it costs. We got our sleepers on special for $9 each... they usually retail for over $20. We needed 6 sleepers. Photos are in my FaceBook garden album.

[Bathsheba]

Rememer too that in winter the sun's rays will be falling in a slightly different spot too... maybe large planters on wheels would be the go? Lots of my soft leaved plants got destroyed by the hot direct sun... it would be good to be able to roll them into a shady area on those 35'C + days. Otherwise you might also have to invest in shade cloth. I was in hospital during the last hot spell... totally killed the beetroot Also the carrots were really woody due to lack of watering... but they have gone to seed... remember to always collect the seeds

[Pandora]

Bath, check out my FB pic of the yard - so maybe betweenthe fence and the clothesline may not be so bad afterall?

grrens i was thinking beans, silverbeet, bok choy as Ive done those before.
i tried onions but the never grew. But yep carrots and beetroot sound good. im having trouble getting DH to agree to potatos (or anything) in tyres hes worried about chemicals in the tyres getting in to the food any suggestions to reassure him?

water would be recycled

[Bathsheba]

With the tyres you could line them I guess... with some punctured plastic for drainage... I was just trying to save you the cost of sleepers/metal supports. I know the tyres are not very aesthetically appealing... maybe you could cover them in hessian?

Have you investigated how much popping in a raised bed would cost yet? Good quality compost soil is over $100 per cubic meter alone. Could you use your own soil? Plant directly into the ground?

ETA: also ideally you mulch the garden to retain moisture and keep down weeds... another expense but worth it... we used pea straw mulch.

[Pandora]

we would need to put some mushroom compost or similar in to the soil. we have clay soils so it will also need to be broken up a lot as well. hmm. this is sounding trickier than i though.

re the tyres we dont care what thye look like its more dh being worried about chemical residues i think. I might get his uncle to talk to him he's used them before.