[coolaboola]

Hiya everyone!

V. glad to have found this site.

Earlier this summer I visited a friend of mine in Dundee. She and her husband have created a lovely little veggie patch at the end of their garden. It has completely inspired me to try my hand at 'growing my own'.

Alas, I have a teensy-weensy garden (6 m x 11 m at its biggest) here in Kimmage. Whats more, its mostly paved except for two beds and two large raised beds, one of which houses my pond (which in turn houses my fishies) and the other is a bit sad looking, with a lovely Acer Palmatum 'Sango Kaku' (spelling?) in the middle, a 'Dublin Bay' climbing rose in the back but little else.

The garden is also home to my two small mutts, not-so-affectionately referred to as Podge and Rodge. They pee, poo and generally trample on anything I plant which means only the boldest and strongest plants survive. Not a garden for delicate little flowers in any sense!

Anyhoo, I'm now an aspiring Barbara Good. However, given the constraints I've described above, I think I will have to restrict my veggie patch to containers (the only way I can think to doggie-proof them) But I'm willing to be imaginative about the containers and am quite taken by the idea of using a bath as my main container! I've also rescued a skip bag that I might press into service if I can't find me a bath. Am also looking for other ideas for containers, favouring anything recycled to save money and be more environmentally friendly.

Of course, I've been bitten by this bug a bit too late to do much this year, so I'm diverting my energies into planning for next Spring. Crops I hope to try my hand at include garlic, leeks, tomatoes, peas, courgette, chilli peppers, spuds (new and maincrop if I can manage to find the space) and strawberries.

In the meantime, to satisfy my cravings for getting my hands dirty I've planted three raspberry bushes (two Autumn Bliss in my back garden bed - its a bit shaded so I hope they survive - and one Mailing Promise in my sunnier front garden) and a rhubarb (Timperley Early) which has already produced new leaves and stalks. I also planted rosemary, sage and oregano to supplement my chives, parsely, chamomille, thyme and two bay standards all of which are in containers. And today I planted some Thomson and Morgan All Seasons salad leaves in a grow bag that I bought in Lidl for the princely sum of €1.49. 25 days to harvest my first salad crop (though sadly not my first attempt to grow same! ) And I've just ordered €15 worth of salad, herb and radish seeds online. I'm losing the run of myself...

[markbld]

hello and welcome
same as yourself i'm new and have loads to learn, it's a fantastic site and helpfull i'm reading my way through it so so much to learn and my memory is full already

enjoy

[inishindie]

Hi and welcome.

Gardening in a limited space is fun and if you think of the garden as a three dimensional shape that goes up as well as across then the sky is the limit. There are loads of plants that require height so you can be inventive.

Spuds can be grown well in containers too.

Here are a couple of ideas from John and Mary Reilly from Culdaff in Inishowen.

The first is to grow two spuds in a bag. Only fill the bag up to about a quarter initially. As the potatoes grow, pile up good quality soil and rotted kitchen waste around the plant. As time goes by the bag will be full of both soil and up to 100 potatoes.



Their second idea is to build sections and build them up over time. The posts in the corners only go half way down the plank so they fit securely together. Their yeild is amazing and it take up very little room. It would keep the dogs off too as it got higher.



Cheers

Ian

[coolaboola]

Thanks for that Ian! Great to see pics of the spuds too. I like the bag idea. I suppose I could try different varieties in different bags. And they should be dog proof too (apart from the odd cocking of a leg against it maybe!) When should I be planting spuds in a bag?

Hi markbid. Looking forward to learning along with you

[Sundew]

Welcome to the forum . I enjoy this site a lot.
Hope you are enjoying the wonderful weather in Dublin

Good luck with the veg growing.

[markbld]

[birdie]

[coolaboola]

Thanks for that link Birdie!