Regular readers might remember me having a wobbly time in the garden last year. Life was lifing (as the kids say) and with that came many hiccups and failures. The veg patch had a wanton disregard for my hopes during growing season, which taught me the importance of finding value and beauty in what was growing, instead of lamenting all that was not.
This season, I’ve found myself approaching the veg patch with a more determined attitude. It’s been six years since my partner and I cleared the couch grass and nettles from the parcel of earth at the bottom of our garden, moved a ton or so of compost on to it to create vegetable beds, and grew the first crops in our new home. And now feels like the right time to take a look at our growing space with fresh eyes. It’s not a blank space, of course, but I’ve been asking myself how I’d grow here if I’d just adopted this patch.
First I assessed the perennial area. By taking a step back, I realised that when our new neighbours cut down their massive cherry tree, a previously shady corner became flooded with light and would be a perfect place for a new raspberry patch. After doing the dull but necessary eviction of perennial weeds and then mulching aggressively, I relocated the volunteer raspberry canes that had popped up everywhere. I gave their former home the same treatment and planted tayberries (raspberry/blackberry hybrids) in their place.
With my partner’s woodworking support, we have replaced all the wobbly or rotten infrastructure – the fence posts, chickenwire boundary and support structures – instead of spending another summer fixing breakages and patching up holes. It’s a relief to have everything feeling sturdy again.
I also took a critical look at my seed box and checked-in with my annual urge to grow more plants than I have room for, as well as exciting varieties that don’t work in my space. In a bid to have a more fruitful year, I decided to grow only the plants I know well and have had success with here: lettuce, kale, beetroot, rocket and parsley, alongside tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers, which are all in the ground and now finding their feet. There’s nothing super fancy, just grow-your-own staples that I have space for in my garden and time for in my schedule.
In starting as though it’s all new, I’m trying to stop thinking that because I’ve grown for years things should all go to plan, and then kicking myself when they don’t. Sometimes you just need to go back to basics and keep it simple. So if you’re feeling a bit lost – like I was – why not try giving yourself permission to start from scratch.