MASTER PLAN

The main progress we’ve made this week is deciding how we’re going to organise our gardens over the coming year. During this process, it became clear that we wouldn’t buy a full-sized greenhouse but would buy one or two smaller cabinet style greenhouses instead. These will be much easier to accommodate in the space that we have.

The cabinet greenhouses will be sufficient to bring on our seeds in the spring and, since our favourite crops are typically brassicas, we don’t need a large greenhouse for growing lots of sun-loving crops. In fact, we actually prefer to end the year with plenty of green tomatoes because they’re a principal ingredient in one of our chutney recipes. Growing them outside ensures we have a sufficient supply.

We’d also prefer to have fresh eggs on our doorstep instead of lots of red tomatoes or peppers or other crops not entirely suited to the UK climate.

The sketch posted below gives you an idea of what we’re planning to create. By using the front garden we gain three large beds and also room for growing herbs. Ideally, we’d mix salad crops and root vegetables with flowers in the front garden, but it’s likely that a few brassicas will have to go there too.

The front garden also faces south, so it’s the best place for the crops we’ll grow over winter. There are still a lot of decisions to make regarding what will go where, but at least the cabinet greenhouse, chickens, compost bins and water butts have a home. Everything else will slot into place now that the snow has finally melted and we can start to make progress.