Topic: Enthusiastic newbie with lots of questions!

[veggiepatch]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie and came across this fab site while finding out how to best plant my new patch. You guys seem a friendly knowledgable bunch so thought I'd ask a few questions...

1. My patch is modist 3ft by 6ft on a slope with a clay soil with lots of horrid flints. Any ideas on what I should plant towards the bottom? Something that likes water and a bit of shade?

2. I'm trying to germinate chillis for a container, when they come through should I pop them outside in individual pots or keep them in the warmth?

3. I've planted my spinach and carrot seeds straight outside as the packet suggests, but I'm worrying they won't take. Should I have a back up plan?

Thanks guys!!  ;D

[Lauren S]

1. My patch is modist 3ft by 6ft on a slope with a clay soil with lots of horrid flints. Any ideas on what I should plant towards the bottom? Something that likes water and a bit of shade?

Hi Veggiepatch and welcome to A4A..
Glad you found this site.
Can I suggest, as your plot is 3ft x 6ft, why not built a raised bed and that would get rid of your sloping problems. You might have to pick out as many flints as you possible can. I don't know what you intend to grow, but carrots and parsnips don't care much for stones. It tends to make them *fork* or create rude shapes  :o

I'm only a beginner so your question about chillis will have to be answered by the experts  ;)
Lauren

[5rod]

HI 5ROD HERE  WELCOME
I WOULD KEEP CHILLIS INSDE OR IN HEATED
GREENHOUSE .NOT TO GO OUT TO JUNE,WHERE ARE YOU UK???.
FLINT NOT GOOD FOR CARROTS
RAISE BED BEST FOR YOU.
HOPE THIS HELP

[Magnolia]

Hello!

I'm planning on keeping my chillis in doors until the weather gets really hot - then I'll move some out into my plastic greenhouse.  The rest will be on south facing window sills.


I'm also new to all this and have quite a small plot - 3 raised beds in an area approx 4meters square.

I redesigned mine this morning and I now aim to try square foot gardening in order to cram more veg in.  This way of gardening is apparently very good for small spaces.  If you google 'square foot gardening' you should come up with some info.

Good luck - it's exciting stuff.
J.

[Magnolia]

Have you also considered growing veg in containers - I'm doing a lot of this.  All my spuds are going into containers as they would take up all my plot if I were to plant them all.

[erikaz1]

With regards to your chillis, you'll need to keep them indoors until it's warm enough for them to go outside. I gradually introduce mine by leaving them outdoors on warm days then bring them back in at night. Can I ask what varieties you're growing?

There's a wonderful chilli forum that has all the info you could possibly want about growing chillis!
http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/

As for your sloping patch, I built a tiered raised bed. It's nice and easy to get access to all of it and because of this, it's really easy to do the dreaded weeding. Will try to remember to post a photo later

[saddad]

Welcome Veggiepatch..
Is that proper Spinach or leaf beet / Perpetual Spinach... which is far more tolerant..?
 ;D

[veggiepatch]

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies! A tiered raised bed sounds like my best bet, and I've had a look at the square foot gardening which looks perfect for my little plot. 

Potatoes in containers sounds really interesting Magnolia, how big a container should I get?

5ROD, I'm in North West London so we have clay mud and bits of old brickwork in my soil, think i'll attempt my carrots with the toilet roll tube trick i saw on the boards!

Oh and the Spinach I'm trying out is Medania Spinach (Unwins seeds), is it a good idea to try and germinate some seeds indoors incase the ones outside don't take?

[Magnolia]

The bigger the pot the more potatos - I'm growing mine in a dustbin (60 - 90lt) & rubble sacks (approx 30litre).  Last year I put an empty compost bag in a bucket, filled it up and they came out a treat.

I'm going to put 5 potatoes in the bin and probably 3 to each sack.

[Trevor_D]

1 - Another "yes" for raised beds.

2 - Leave chillies in the warm for as long as possible. Preferably for ever: mine stay in the greenhouse.

3 - It's a bit early to be sowing any seed outside. And carrots are the very devil anyway (unless your soil is just right for them, which my London clay isn't!). Sow some more of both next month. I keep sowing carrots every few weeks until the summer. (Obviously with a fairly small area, that's not possible, but you can't just sow one batch.)

[saddad]

If carrots are a must... make a deep box say a foot deep and  a yard square fill it with cheap compost and sharp sand (usually cheaper than compost) and sow them in there... fleece over the top will keep the carrot fly out..
 ;D

These are a few I grew in an old frame filled with domestic compost..

[veggiepatch]

Thats fantastic thank you!!  ;D