A Waste of Space

As I start to think about what to grow next year, I am aware of how little space I have available to grow in, and how important it is to get it right, so as not to waste any resources.

When I say I have seven raised beds available, you might think that’s quite a lot. But when you consider that each on is only wide enough to house one short row of something like a cabbage, or possibly two rows of something as small as a spring onion, you might see where my problem lies.

For reference, here are the measurements for each of my raised beds:

Bed 1 = 118cm x 35cm

Bed 2 = 69cm x 35cm

Bed 3 = 168cm x 35cm

Bed 4 = 154cm x 30cm

Bed 5 = 140cm x 32cm

Bed 6 = 120cm x 35cm

Bed 7 = 120cm x 35cm

So you see, I really have to make the most of that little bit of space. I do however have enough patio space to house quite a few large pots, which I plan to take full advantage of. I was quite successful in growing things like carrots, potatoes, spring onions, and herbs in pots last year, so I will be increasing the number of pots I have to use this time to grow more.

There were several things that I grew last year which took up far too much space, and so I will not be growing again. I gave one whole bed up to three rather large sunflowers, partly because my daughter wanted them, and partly because I thought it would be a good way to attract bees. For the same reasons, I planted half a bed of borage, which looked beautiful, but was quite useless (I know you can eat these, but I didn’t). On the veg front, I had a few things which were unsuccessful and wasted a lot of space which could have been put to better use. These were my courgettes, which didn’t grow very well, and spread over too large an area. The few we did harvest didn’t get eaten. They will not be grown again.

Also, due to my perhaps hap hazardous approach, I wasted a lot of space by letting crops fail because I didn’t adequately protect them. I binned beetroot, lettuce, cabbage, and broccoli all because I let them fall victim to pests. And worse still, I have no means of composting my veg waste.

So this time around, I’m turning geek. I’m planning everything out on a spreadsheet, and will also be recording my successes and failures the same way. Notes will be made. Plans will be drawn. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

If you would like to join me in my journey, please follow along, and take a moment to say hello if you are taking a similar one. All support and advice gratefully received!