After much thought I have decided to do away with the lawn next year and grow more veggies. This means that I can get rid of the lawnmower and the extra gardening tools and use the shed space in a more useful way. I don't know why we ever needed four spades, two forks, three sets of secateurs etc. There is a local charity that will take them and send them to developing countries.
Any flowers planted in the veg garden will be edible as well as beautiful and I am busy putting together some ideas for a layout. I reckon I can pretty much supply most of the veg we will eat through the year with the exception of potatoes. These we will buy at the farm up the road. I'll be able to make up seasonal veg boxes for Alexander and Beckah too so it will be a great way to share the produce. We try to eat seasonally now and it will be applied a lot more rigidly next year. I won't be buying tomatoes in the middle of winter as I intend to freeze/bottle/dry any surplus that we don't use. The plan is to only plant things that will crop for a long season and use successional planting techniques...there's loads of videos that show how to do this on you tube. I don't have space to grow much in the way of fruit but I can pick a wide variety from the local hedgerows and roadsides. It's fun planning what to grow and it will be interesting to keep a note of how well I get on.
This is so exciting. I think you will make a go of this and look forward to watching your progress.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
I'm looking forward to making a start after Christmas. My seed box is organised seasonally and I am amazed at how much I can sow next month.
DeleteOur front garden is fairly large and gets a fair bit of sun, so this year we decided to turn half of it into a kitchen garden ~ and also thereby cutting (if you'll excuse the pun!) out one section of lawn. We've put in raised beds to help my back and have made a mini orchard with three vertical cordon fruit trees. It all started out as a "simple" lockdown project but over the course of the year we've gone further with it than we ever expected to LOL I'm looking forward to growing at least some of our own fruit and veg next year :)
ReplyDeleteOur front garden though small is lovely and sheltered. It's a proper little suntrap most of the day too. I have my eye on several areas in the front garden for growing heat loving plants.
DeleteWe loved having a bash at growing stuff this year but I'd say that only 50% of the crops were successful.Its certainly not from all the love and attention we spent on our plot either, I blame the dreadful summer, the lack of sunshine and all our trees. You must have better growing conditions up north!xxx
ReplyDeleteWe have just enjoyed a wonderfully sunny summer. Keeping on top of watering everything was a bit of a battle and I was glad of the times that it rained. I think we have our own micro climate here as the rotten weather on the whole does miss us.
DeleteAh, we had our first snowfall (dusting) here in Chicago-land, so gardening really is done until May here. Planning will begin in January--but now we are enjoying the winter off...! Joy is we canned so many things this year, and froze a few that we have garden nummies all winter! It's always interesting to see what people do with gardening over the globe. Sandi a Midwest Gardening poster.
ReplyDeleteThis year I learned how to make sauerkraut and discovered that we love it. I'm hoping to grow my own cabbage next year for turning into sauerkraut
DeleteThat's exciting. Good for you. I just harvested seven or eight chili peppers that were hiding in my front potager garden. They are so hot and spicy! I have enough room to grow lots of fruit, and it's been a Godsend recently. I would like to grow more vegetables, but they are more time consuming, so I buy mine through the co-op and help the local farmers.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the pests that eat the veggies that are more troublesome. I don't mind sharing with birds but every little bug and crawly thing wants to eat the veg.
DeleteAmbitious and exciting.
ReplyDeletexx
Sounds like a great plan, exciting times.
ReplyDelete