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New to this sort of thing

sharkdiveruk7sharkdiveruk7 Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg

Hello all.

Well I am new to this sort of thing and I have made a couple of raised beds so I can get my 4 year old daughter involved as well but i am not sure where to start.

I have very sandy soil (but thats Kent for you, sand pits all around here) so it drains well. what is good to plant this time of year and is easy to maintain with out the need for outside help.

but there is a couple of things that are almost putting me off! Is there any point me trying to weed the beds! i spent back breaking hours taking them out of a compost heap left by the last owners of the house,  lord only knows what they tried to compost in it, but i have found eggs with a date stamp of 2013!! still in one piece.

I have tried my hands tomatoes but still waiting on them, Spuds yea easy, yea nah.....killed them, pumpkins how difficult could that be.  Two plants at the beginning of June, now only one left and the flowers keep rotting off!!!

So yea winning at life with this one then, anybody got any ideas!?

Cheersimage

Posts

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    What do you need help with? What would you like to grow in the beds? 

    And yes, you do need to keep them weeded regardless of what you want to grow. How big are the beds? 

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,531

    Dear Sharky!  Great that you're trying to involve the young one.  The growing season is well under way now so it's a bit late to start anything new.  Little children like instant results, so why not help her grow some micro salads on a sunny windowsill?  Mustard is quickest, and doesn't need soil, you can grow it on damp kitchen towel.  Next thing would be to choose some spring flowering bulbs, they will be in the shops soon and they are virtually foolproof.  They will start to grow roots as soon as you plant them, and you can tell your daughter they will start to poke through the soil after Christmas.  Also you could buy a hyacinth bulb and a special vase that lets you grow it in water, so you can see the whole process, roots then leaves then the flower.

  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,531

    Sorry, I meant to explain about weeding.  When plants grow in the same space, they compete for light, air,water and nutrients. Weeds are opportunists and can grow fast when resources are available, so they can make life difficult for cultivated plants.  That's why we try to get rid of them or at least keep them under control.

  • sharkdiveruk7sharkdiveruk7 Posts: 2

    HI Hogweed

    So i have two beds 1meter wide by 3meters long and about 500mm high, so i went large from the on set. just looking grow veg, because i like the idea of growing your own and i think it tastes better.

    So any help on what to do and plant will be a great help.

    Hi Josusa47

    thanks for the ideas, we have done the old cress head in an egg, which she liked doing. but the hyacinth bulb sounds like a very good idea thanks.

    cheers.image

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