The official dig has begun!

Of course, before spade met earth, we measured out our edges and tried to get them as straight as possible. I tried to be flexible with the planned measurements so that we could maximise arable space in the plot. One of the things that complicated the dig was the tree roots from the nearby Chinese Pistachio tree- but the mattock made short work of the roots!

It was great to get the edging dug out so that there was a real visual of what the finished plot would look like. Once the edging was done, the back-breaking work of digging up the grass started. I could have made my life easier by killing off the grass using newspaper, cardboard or something else to block the light. In the end, I thought about going to the newsagent to ask for old newspapers pretty much every week for 5 weeks and did nothing about it.

Once the grass had been dug up, I started to add ingredients to improve the soil. The first addition was a large pile of autumn leaves- I put these in an old washing basket and stomped on them to break them into smaller, easy-to-decompose bits. I layered this onto the beds with store-bought pea straw mulch, blood-and-bone, organic compost and cow manure. This mix is designed to add air, structure and microorganisms to the soil, helping to create a rich growing environment for the plants.

The next task was to dig through all the materials and ensure an even distribution. The idea is to do this about 2 weeks in advance so that the soil and the fertilisers have time to “settle” before planting out seeds or seedlings. Because I didn’t kill off the grass prior to digging, the settling period can also be used to turn the soil every week or so in order to ensure all the grass and freshly sprouting weeds and seeds gets killed off by lack of sunlight.

The newest addition to The Backyard Farm is the extended, self contained vegetable plot that sits happily in the middle of what was once our family cricket pitch. I have been frustrated by a lack of space in the side fence vegetable patch – particularly since I have commandeered most of the space for nectarine and peach trees. The new large vegetable plot existed in my mind for at least 12 months before the ground was broken.

The ideal version of the plot was a vegetable parterre, formal in design with a circular bed, gravel pathways and, of course, a bird bath in the centre. I must admit that this may have been influenced by my most recent visit to the Luxembourg Gardens, but hey if you are going to dream, dream big right? In any case the first, formal design was impractical for my space for several reasons:

• It needed to be a semi-permanent design that could be returned to lawn if I moved house
• It needed to maximise planting space for vegetables
• I wanted to be able to easily reach all parts of the garden for planting and weeding without walking on the beds
• I needed to be able to fence it off to keep the lovely Buster (our dog) from “helping” with digging up the plot

And chicken wire just doesn’t seem to match formal garden design… so, the end design is more of an “English” kitchen garden style, with turf paths rather than gravel, and regularly spaced, practical beds to work with.

Aesthetics is another element of design that concerned me, as you can see the vegetable plot from the back deck and kitchen window. This is half the reason for the 30cm flower border around the plot. The other half is, of course, to do with encouraging plant biodiversity and attracting bees and other friendly insects. The screening flower of choice for the view from the house is Cosmos Psyche White, which can get quite tall and will, hopefully, somehow make the chicken wire appear more attractive!