Hi, I recently bought my first house which has a large garden. Its always been my dream to have a garden full of veg. So started de-weeding/loosening the soil of a large patch in the garden…never knew it was such back breaking & exhausting work! Afterwards, I chose afew veg to try out,chitted potatos, carrots seeds,beetroot seeds,cauliflower seeds,transferring my indoor pumpkin plants to outdoors…currently,only the potatoes & beetroots are doing ok,the rest didn't even bother to pop out of the ground,& my pumpkin plants have turned into all colours of the rainbow before finally dying. My colleague then leant me this book on gardening,which said I had to properly prepare the soil with manure/compost/ fertilisers/air out the soil,& to start from autumn,throughout winter,before planting in spring! Is this really necessary?? Or is it just bad luck that everything I plant ends up dead? & are some veg just more demanding than others & should only be left to the experts? Thanks.
if you want my advice i would suggest you forget about the book for the first year.
the soil preparation will take a number of years to get right
you have done one of the hardest jobs in starting to clear the ground
you say you have potatoes looking okay continue with a few batches of potatoes. these are the best plant to use in virgin soil as they will help you to clear the ground when you come to gather your crop
when you gather your first potatoes get some manure or fertiliser and add it to the ground as you fork it over to tidy up after the crop has been collected.
lettuce is another plant that will not demand a lot of work keep the plants watered. you could try a few cabbage plants and see what joy you have
when you clear an area of ground from potatoes look to dig it over and weed it well and you can look to put some brussel plants in there and you will then have some to gather towards the end of the year, later crops of potatoes can be replaced with some broad beans in october to grow over winter and be ready for picking early june nextr year
the book will give you lots of ideas, keep consulting for ideas but not to work to as garden preparation cannot be done in 12 months unless you have a team of gardeners and a lot of money.
my garden was a wilderness when i bought the house in 2005 (i have been gardening for about 45 years now ) and i estimate it will take me another year at least before i have the garden as i want it
good luck stick at it you will be delighted with the results in time.
one last tip: do the gardening in stages dont rush at it like a demon you will only end up hurting your back and putting you of gardening for ever.