Veggie patch 2016 - 16/07 progress pics pg 8

[clothmama]

I remember those photos! At least they are a garden - I just have 3 terraces covered in grass / weeds the odd bit of rhubarb. One of them has the greenhouse tunnel on it (but no cover over it). I have cleared the grand size of 1x1m where I have some winter lettuce. The lady told me they would be ready in x weeks which was the week before we went to the UK but they are still tiny so not sure if that is just lack of water as it was so dry in November and December I'm hoping they'll still be edible if they ever decide to grow

I note you have a greenhouse, do you rate it? I'm scared to set mine up as I'm worried everything in it will bake and I’ll have to spend a fortune watering everything.

[clothmama]

Love the new plans - lots of yumminess!

I m thinking of trying the three sisters thing I ve read about, about growing sweet corn, beans and squash in the same bit. Anyone tried it?

I've heard about this too and want to give it a go but nor suer if I'll manage this year!

It's the first time I ve had a greenhouse and due to DH forgetting to even go and look in the greenhouse for 10 days in August when I went away, they all frazzled!
We got some lovely cucumbers and tomatoes. I also grew and watered some random weeds that I thought were plants ... They looked well though!!!!!
It's a heck of a lot hotter over there in the summer though remember, so yours will grow fine outside.
I used the green house to sow and keep all my seeds and seedlings until time to plant them out though. I tried to use the greenhouse to stagger my broccoli so that they wouldn't all be ready at the same time...... Not sure that worked!

Not sure I ll have time or the space either.
Can't decide whether to do carrots or not as, I feel the same as you, it's easy to buy those and I ve not had sucess with them before.
I was just looking at how to grow haricot beans as I think that would be pretty cool to show the kids how we could grow and make our own beans, they kind of know where carrots come from.

@clothmama we need before pics

[clothmama]

You asked for some pics @confusinglady so here they are! Here is the back end of the garden where all the 'working' areas are! I have taken the pics from right to left with the house behind me if that makes sense. There are basically 4 terraces along the back length of the garden.
This one you can see the gate which will open into the chicken run and the concrete base where the hen house will sit (the lowest terrace):

Next layer up is the 'greenhouse' (currently without any sort of cover!). I have winter lettuces (not growing ) in the front left and behind that I've covered a couple of square metres in leaves to try to make it easier to get the grass up to prep the rest of the garden (not sure if this will work but someone suggested it - I'll give it a couple of weeks!).


Next to the left:

Higest level of garden then right at the top of our land is the clothes line then the barn behind (that we wanted to buy but were too slow )

Looking back down from the clothesline:

This is what I got up to yesterday - started the first row of garden - 1.2 metres wide and did about 1.2 metres - quite hard work digging up all the grass! The boys also got some piles of dead knotweed stacked up and ready to burn:

That looks fantastic @clothmama lots of space to grow lots of veg!
You're garden looks soooooo pretty.
Wow I bet it is hard digging up the grass! Do you think it was a bed at one point? It looks like it was set up as working areas like you said.
The highest terrace looks like it could have been fruit originally maybe?
How much time are you realistically going to have to keep on top of it? I m just wondering if you re better off creating a bed half the size of the space available ( that will be hard enough work!) and keeping on top of that, allowing you to mow the grass and weed the rest. It's hard to keep on top of soil and plants especially in the summer when the moment you turn around the plants and weeds have sprouted!
Also you ll have the glut of veg to sort out, the fruit from your tress to sort, the other renovations in your house, the chickens, I imagine a steady stream of house guests, and a small toddler who doesn't want to play with that bit of soil and spade you've decided in your head whilst you weed ( been there!).
Once it's turned to soil it's harder to keep up with and will look messy and will annoy you (been there too) more than a nice patch of mowed grass

Only an idea, and I know you're a determined creature like me but you've only got to not be able to get out there for a week and it's turned into a depressing mess

Can't wait to see how it develops!

[clothmama]

@confusinglady

You're garden looks soooooo pretty.

Thank you it is, and the neighbours are all amazing (puts ours to shame ) and now there are horses on the land at the back - just stunning in the mornings with the sun coming up and fog, I keep running in to get a camera when I see them and the darn things move We love it

Wow I bet it is hard digging up the grass!

It was, that bit probably took over an hour but from what I read all the other options are quite a bit slower although I'm thinking I may take the risk on the weeds / left over grass roots causing problems with the rotorvator as I guess that is why we bought it (got freaked out reading that that could happen!).

The highest terrace looks like it could have been fruit originally maybe?

I'm really not sure it is much less 'grassy' there are some really thick clumps of grass, almost ornamental and some rhubarb did stick its head up at one point (I kept leaving it thinking it wasn't ready then it died ). I mowed half of it before I ran out of petrol so I'll try to get a better pic. i think I'll be leaving that at least for this year. You can get these huge packs of flower seeds to do a flower prarie here so I may even try sprinkling a couple of packets of that to keep off the weeds and look pretty!

How much time are you realistically going to have to keep on top of it? I m just wondering if you re better off creating a bed half the size of the space available ( that will be hard enough work!) and keeping on top of that, allowing you to mow the grass and weed the rest. It's hard to keep on top of soil and plants especially in the summer when the moment you turn around the plants and weeds have sprouted!

Absolutely - very good advice, and that is why I have decided to not even try potatoes etc. I'm thinking of just doing the 1/2 of the greenhouse area that I've started (well 1/3) and then perhaps just the strip I've started on the next level so that would be 2 approximately 12m2 areas so that wouldn't even be half. I don’t' want to freak myself out the first year and we need to get some water sorted as well as it is dear here so need to harvest our own.

Also you ll have the glut of veg to sort out, the fruit from your tress to sort, the other renovations in your house, the chickens, I imagine a steady stream of house guests, and a small toddler who doesn't want to play with that bit of soil and spade you've decided in your head whilst you weed ( been there!).

I know I know (and you forgot my new business as well ) - I can't think about it all or I'll

@clothmama I won't requote but ! Oh yeah I forgot the business!
sounds like a plan. What do your neighbours do about water? Are water butts the French way or do they do something else?

[clothmama]

@clothmama I won't requote but ! Oh yeah I forgot the business!
sounds like a plan. What do your neighbours do about water? Are water butts the French way or do they do something else?

My neighbour on the bottom (chicken) side doesn't bother with veggies because of the water cost. They have lots of fruit trees, truffle trees , rose pigeons and quails and rabbits when they can catch one so are growing other things! The older farmer who is gorgeous and whos family used to own our house has and old septic tank underground so he heaps stored with no ugly tanks around! There are lots of 1000 litre tanks and there is a spot next to the house for them. Am thinking of getting 4 - 2 at the house and 2 at the top end of the gardens and we can fill the garden ones from the houses ones which would allow us 4000 litres at any given time. Just a bit of an investment to get it set up! I think you can find them from about 50 euros second hand and they are about 100 euros new. Plus hoses / pipes of course.

@clothmama I won't requote but ! Oh yeah I forgot the business!
sounds like a plan. What do your neighbours do about water? Are water butts the French way or do they do something else?

My neighbour on the bottom (chicken) side doesn't bother with veggies because of the water cost. They have lots of fruit trees, truffle trees , rose pigeons and quails and rabbits when they can catch one so are growing other things! The older farmer who is gorgeous and whos family used to own our house has and old septic tank underground so he heaps stored with no ugly tanks around! There are lots of 1000 litre tanks and there is a spot next to the house for them. Am thinking of getting 4 - 2 at the house and 2 at the top end of the gardens and we can fill the garden ones from the houses ones which would allow us 4000 litres at any given time. Just a bit of an investment to get it set up! I think you can find them from about 50 euros second hand and they are about 100 euros new. Plus hoses / pipes of course.

Eek I hope the rabbits won't be hoping the fence into yours!!
Yes quite an investment
We have 3 water butts, but we also have poor drainage ( the village is all the same as it was built on fields) so our garden is sodden at the moment. It's squelch squelch squelch on my way to hang out the washing. It's welly wearing just to hang out washing! Both my wellies and rigger boots have holes though