Growing food in a garden

[Scottmac]

Hi all,

In these times self sufficiency is an increasingly good idea. My rear garden is a fair size in a corner shape, SW facing on one side, and West facing on the other.
Roughly in the middle I have a 10' x 10' brick she in my garden which I am getting rid of on Wednesday, and the bricks will be used to make a path in my front, but I have decided to have a go at making a veg patch in the new space.

I am thinking of a raised bed with 4 rows: Potatoes, onions, carrots and a salad.

Then against the fence which is currently hidden by the shed, which will get plenty of sun in the evening, I am going to grow tomatoes and raspberries. I have heard that placing bricks/stones up behind the plants against the fence will act as a heat trap for sun energy that will promote growth.

In another part of my garden I have planted a small orchard of fruit trees: 1 apple, 2 pears, a cherry and a plumb.

Lastly I was thinking of strawberries, but every time I have tried in the past the slugs have got to them. Would hanging baskets be good to avoid snails/slugs?

Any tips/ideas? Who else grows in their garden?

Scott

 

[MTBake]

Sounds like a solid plan.

I have had a large garden in the past. Just doing containers the past coule years as I haven't got around to creating a garden bed just yet.

I have trapped slugs with a shallow dish with beer in it near the base of the plant in the past. They are attracted to the beer, crawl in and drown. Crushed egg shells around the base can also help with slugs. The sharp shell edges can cut into the side of a slug in some cases.

Cabbage worms tend to get my strawberries and several other plants as well. I have had to spray with pyrethrin this year to get rid of the worms. They stripped a rose bush bare in a day.

 

[Scottmac]

I have heard of the beer trap, but haven't heard of the egg shells before, thanks for the tip.

I have two dogs and three young kids, so want to avoid using any chemicals if t all possible, but I am realistic that if I want a decent crop I will need to use some.

The culdesac I live in has 12 houses, and most of the neighbours have cut hedgehog holes in the bottom of the fences (a friendly is eccentric bunch of ppl), so I often get the prickly guys snuffling through my garden at night eating up the slugs :p

 

[fish farmer]

For me when it comes to gardening I try different things and see what works in my space. Depending on how your weather is, hot or cool will dictate what grows the best and of course the amount of sunlight the area receives, also if you are watering frequently or letting nature water for you.

Small spaces get lettuce/salad greens. I never try to grow full supermarket sized heads, just direct plant seeds close together in rows and pick when they are a few inches tall. Once they bolt and start flowering (which is happening on my arugula right now) I pull them and plant some more seed for a fall crop.

Raised beds should keep the rabbits and other ground rodents away.

As for fruit trees, is your apple one variety? You may need another different variety for it to pollinate. I have a few trees that have different types grafted to one trunk that can self pollinate. If there are crab apples or other apple trees nearby that can help with pollination. You'll be able to tell about three weeks after they drop the flowers if they have little apple growing. I've had problems with squirrels eating my small apples before and deer can trim off fresh shoots. I have started to spray my apple trees for bugs/leaf issues in the last few years, but that is weather dependent as well so I usually only spray a couple times a season.