Creating a new vegetable bed

by Emma Cooper

WHETHER you made a new year’s resolution to cut your carbon footprint, or the credit crunch is putting pressure on your food budget, now is the perfect time to try growing some of your own vegetables. You don't need a lot of space, or expensive kit, to get started, and it doesn't need to take up a lot of time.

Finding a space

Most vegetables and fruit need a sunny spot, so think about which areas of your garden get the most light during Spring and Summer, the peak growing times. Perhaps there is a section of lawn you could dig over, or room on the patio for a raised bed or some containers? Maybe you could grow some vegetables in your flower beds instead of splashing out on bedding plants; there are some varieties that look very ornamental. And don't forget to consider vertical spaces. Runner beans look lovely clambering up a pergola, and fruit bushes can be trained against walls and fences.
Try starting with a small space and think about expanding next year, once you've got the hang of it.

Choosing crops

There are two golden rules when you're starting a new kitchen garden. The first is to only grow things you are going to eat. It doesn't matter what the latest trend in vegetables is, or what exciting new varieties are listed in the seed catalogues; if no-one in your family likes turnips or sprouts, or even carrots, then you are wasting valuable space by growing them. The second rule is not to try to grow everything at once. You need to be realistic about how much space you have. Being self-sufficient in potatoes is a pipedream unless you have an allotment, but it is easy to grow enough herbs and salads to last all summer. A handful of home-grown strawberries will be a treat on summer days, cherry tomatoes do well in containers and hanging baskets, and if you have a sunny spot or a greenhouse, then chilli peppers are fun and very attractive.
Courgettes are easy to grow and can provide huge harvests, even when grown in a container. Don't grow more than one or two plants unless you are planning on feeding the whole street.

Water and compost

The last couple of years have been very wet, but the weather is unpredictable and it is always worth being prepared for a hosepipe ban by installing a water butt or two in the garden. Fixed to the downpipe on the guttering, they collect water when it rains that is great for watering thirsty plants and washing cars. It is something to think about now, before the weather really warms up.
When you start your new vegetable patch, you might need to buy in some topsoil or potting compost, but if you start a compost heap at the same time then next year you will have your own compost, completely free.
You could buy a plastic compost bin from your local council (prices generally rise in April, so order early) or from the garden centre, but if you are handy then you can build your own from wood.
Add garden waste, vegetable kitchen waste, cardboard and newspaper, as and when you have them, and they'll turn into compost over several months. If you only have a patio then investigate wormeries, which turn kitchen waste into compost and don't take up much space.