Start

The garden as it was initially

This is a blog for recording my progress in turning a long-neglected garden into a vegetable plot.

The part which receives the most sunlight is shown in its original state, as it was when I moved in. The area is very uneven, due to the presence of many red ants who have made ant hills everywhere, and the vegetation is mostly couch grass, which is notoriously hard to get rid of.
The soil is very light in texture, that is to say that the particles are large (mostly sand, not silt or clay). This makes it easy to dig, but rain sinks through it very quickly and leaches out nutrients. The pH is 7.0, so it is neither acid nor alkaline, which should suit most vegetables.

Post-strimming, with two beds dug.

I got someone in to strim the area, and cut back the large Buddleia bushes and brambles in the soon-to-be-vegetable plot. It made the area look enormous. Gulp!

Before winter sets in, I hope to dig eight 6' by 6' beds, in two strips of four - there is a noticeable change in ground level where the apple tree is, so I will have an upper area and a lower one.

Here are the first two dug, and a third area also marked out with string. Notice the large ant-hill in the un-dug third bed. There were only a few ants in the nearest bed, but I saw a lot more digging the second.