new gardener

[annettecourgette]

Thanks for all your advice! Ive written it all down in my notebook and I'll probably be referring to it as I go along.

I never knew that I could grow rasberries in my shady patch and probably wouldn't have thought of it either! So I find that prospect exciting. My Nana always used to have rhubarb in her back back garden and would make the most delicious rhubarb pies, so I think I'll have to grow some of that too as a tribute.

Since I last posted I've ordered a greenhouse! It'll be arriving in around two weeks. I didn't buy a base for it as it was quite a bit of extra money, so would flags be ok?

I think I'll be using Wilkinson for most of my purchases as there is one 10 minutes down the road from my house and they seem to have a good variety of stock. However I have looked on www.seedsofitaly.com and www.alanromans.co.uk and may buy from there as well. I've also registered for Aldi and Netto emails.

I've ordered a 'dalek' from my council and am looking into getting a water butt as I have a water metre (boo!) and I think it will be a good investment.

I don't think I'll bother with carrots, potatoes and onions just yet as I'm satisfied with the quality at my local Sainsbury and I want to get used to my garden before diving in with them. I'm going to try doing some beans on wigwams though as I think they look lovely.

Thanks again to everyone who offered advice, I'm of to the library now to read up on soil! Yay!

[oldherbaceous]

Good afternoon Annettecourgette, well i thankyou for thanking all of us.
I think growing the rhubarb as a tribute too your Nana, is really quite touching.
Getting on too your new greenhouse, [what i must say it will make some of the fellow K.Ger's quite jealous,] depending on what make it is, if you don't buy the base you have too put it on a couple of courses of bricks or a wooden base, as the greenhouse might have a little lip at the bottom, a proper base will also gives you that little bit of extra headroom. It might pay just to check with the company you are buying it from, theres nothing worse than getting something and can't put it up straight away.
Good luck with everything this season, and don't forget to keep us updated.

[annettecourgette]

Thanks oldherbaceous, I've now emailed the company asking what I will need to do to accomodate. If it's going to be difficult I may just opt for a smaller greenhouse with a base. If they'll let me that is!

Just on a sidenote, where can I get a soil testing kit from? Or do I even need to do one?

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Annettecourgette, It does help to test your soil, especially when starting a new garden, but i must admit i've not tested mine for years and years now, i just add some lime every three years and things seem to grow just fine.
You should be able to buy a kit at any garden center or the big D.I.Y stores that have a garden section.
If not just stick it in google.
I can see you getting better at this gardening game than me in a very short time, and then i'll be asking you the questions.

[alan refail]

Hi Annette Courgette
Good to have your thanks to everyone - hope you were not too showered with advice.
My line on advice has always been Ask as many people as possible for advice, then do what you think is best for you.
I'm sure you will manage your S Yorks weather just fine. When I gardened on allotments in Leeds we often wished to be 30 miles further south (i.e. in Sheffield).
Do keep coming back to the forum and keep us up to date on how things are going. And the very best of luck.
Alan

[Alison]

On the question of buying seeds, I wondered if you might be interested in going to a Seed Swap Day, if there is one near you. I haven't been to one! but other Forum people have, and it struck me that it might be a nice way also of talking to other gardeners.
Can anyone say if there is a Seed Swap day somewhere near Sheffield for Annettecourgette?! And also, for my own info, how does it work? Do you have to take along your own seeds in order to take part? Are seeds priced and sold by each owner? Do they have to be in the original packet?
Alison.

[annettecourgette]

Hi everyone who contributed to this thread. Im really excited about getting my garden up and running and I've decided to keep a blog of how everything pans out. I'll probably be adding the link to my signature in a couple of days for everyone who asked me to keep them posted.

The greenhouse got delivered and I'm just waiting for some help to start laying the foundations. Unfortunately university work has bogged me down for a couple of weeks but I've still got the same enthusiasm for it.

Good look to everyone with their growing season this year.

Annette

[oldherbaceous]

Good morning Annette, glad to see you have still got plenty of enthusiasm.
Your blog sounds very interesting, and it will be nice to see how you are getting on.
Hope everything goes well with the greenhouse.
Don't forget, if you need any advice with anything don't be afraid to ask.

[peter]

Annette, please add your blog url to your signature, I'd love to take a look now and then.

[annettecourgette]

Ok, finally got the blog set up. It's at http://rawgarden.blogspot.com/

I think this thread has run it's course now so I'll just post on other threads from now on.

Thanks again.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Annettecourgette, can't wait till the spring to see how you transform your garden.