GIY Ireland, Together We Grow

Get Started

Growing your own is actually pretty straightforward – you sow a seed, it produces food - it’s all the stuff in between that takes time to master.  Learn to accept the odd failure as an inevitable part of the growing year and to love the process of growing food as much as the end result. 

Be gentle with yourself. Celebrate your mistakes.  Thumb your nose at horticultural snootiness.  Don’t bother with Latin names. 

Start with a small patch of ground or a raised bed or two and grow the project from there.  Give your expertise time to catch up with your enthusiasm.  Above all, enjoy the ride.

Questions Questions!

Starting out is daunting but the most important thing is that you do actually make a start.  You will most likely feel a little daunted and have a thousand questions.   Where on earth do I start?  Do I dig up my garden?  Should I use raised beds?  How deep should I sow seeds?  When do I sow them?  What vegetables should I grow? So let’s try and address some of these questions head on.

Growing in Raised Beds

Few of us are blessed with a decent depth of good quality top soil in our gardens – neither are we blessed with lots of time or patience for digging, but that’s another story.  This explains the popularity of raised beds.  A raised bed is a bed (usually made from timber) that is built on top of your soil.  It’s like an ingenious cheat to allow you start growing quickly.  The main benefits of raised beds are:

• The challenge for growers traditionally was working the soil down to a spade’s depth to make sure it was in good nick for growing.  That involved a lot of digging.  Raised beds turn that concept on its head by piling in a load of topsoil on top of your soil, so you effectively create a spade’s depth of soil above the surface. This is particularly important for growing root crops such as carrots which grow down in to the soil.
• You don’t ever stand on the soil which means less soil compaction and better drainage.
• The soil in raised beds warms up earlier than the soil around it.  You can therefore start planting in them earlier in the season.
• They are easy to access and easier on the back – less bending / stooping.
• Maybe it’s only psychological, but a raised bed seems easier to maintain (weed, dig etc) than a large area of open ground.

When to Build

The beauty of raised beds is that you can pretty much start planting in them straight away, so really you can build them at any time of the year.  But if you get them filled with soil in winter and cover them down with cardboard or black plastic for the rest of the winter, they will be bursting with nutrients and ready for planting next spring.

Raised Bed Specifics: Site, Size, Shape, Material:

When thinking about where to put your raised beds, pick an area of your garden that’s sunny (at least 8 hours a day), sheltered and well drained.  You can buy raised beds of course (the GIY website sells a good range) but you can also make them quite easily if you’re any way handy.

It doesn’t really matter what shape you make them as long as you remember that you shouldn’t ever walk on the soil, so you have to be able to reach in to the centre from all sides.  (I went a bit nuts one year building triangular shaped raised beds because I thought they looked cool and I only had enough timber to make three sides, but they were a disaster to work with).  A rectangular bed of 4ft (1.2m) width is ideal.  It can be as long as you want as long as you keep the width to 4ft.

You should aim for a depth of between 8 and 12 inches - the deeper the better. I had two waist-high beds in my veg patch – they were very easy to work at (no stooping etc) but they drained so quickly I couldn’t keep them watered in summer.   I eventually reduced the depth of them to 12 inches.

Salvaged timber or scaffold planks are an ideal material, but try to make sure the timber is untreated.  I have railway sleepers for my raised beds - this is generally frowned upon because of the toxins that leach from them, but I have lined the insides with polythene to prevent this (and I like to live on the wild side).  Some GIYers I know have raised beds made from concrete blocks – these will last a lot longer then timber but can’t be moved if you change your mind on location (which I tend to do frequently!).

Constructing a raised bed is a simple process of measuring out the lengths of wood needed, cutting them to size and nailing them together.  When filled with soil there will be quite a bit of pressure exerted on the sides of the bed, so you will need to support from the inside using wooden pegs, then nail the planks to the pegs for support.

How many Raised Beds Do I Need?:

I think starting small with one or two raised beds is a good idea.  But if you want to follow a simple crop rotation plan you could build 3 beds.  Crop rotation is a process that groups together vegetables which are similar and moves them around each year to prevent build up of pests/disease and to maximise soil fertility.  By doing this you remove the need to use fertilisers, pesticides and other nasty chemicals.

It makes sense to have the same number of raised beds as you have veg groups -  so you can allocate the first group to one bed the first year and then move them on to another bed the following year etc.  

The brassica family includes leafy crops like cabbage, broccoli, turnips, kale, cauliflower and sprouts.  Roots include carrots, parsnips and beetroot.  Legumes include peas and beans.  You could put potatoes in with the roots family and onions, leeks and garlic in with the legumes.

My advice is not to worry too much about crop rotation in your first few years. Concentrate on getting things to grow.  You can worry about crop rotation and the different veg families in a few years time.

Filling Your Bed

Place a layer of wet cardboard or newspaper at the bottom to kill off grass and weeds.  The whole idea of a raised bed is to have good quality soil to grow in – so this is your chance.  You should aim to incorporate a good deal of well rotted compost or farmyard manure at this initial stage – a mix of about 60 per cent topsoil and 40 per cent compost or manure would be ideal.

You can buy topsoil and compost or manure in garden centres but it will be expensive.  Ask at your local GIY group, gardening club, grower’s group or allotment organisation.  Failing that, keep an eye on local papers.  Be careful who you buy soil from and ask to see the soil before it’s delivered – you don’t want it if it’s full of weeds.

What if I don't have space for raised beds?

You’ve still no excuse, I’m afraid because the good news is that most vegetables that we like to eat (including the five suggested below) can be grown quite successfully in containers.   These containers can be kept indoors, in a conservatory or on a balcony.  Check out Kitty Scully’s article on container growing in GROW magazine.

Sowing Seeds

At the risk of upsetting the purists I am going to suggest that you sow all your seeds indoors in trays for your first couple of years (with the exception of carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic which are sown direct in the soil).  Once the little plants get established you then plant them out in the raised bed (a month or so later).  It’s a little more work, but you will quite simply have more success if you do it this way.

Buy yourself a few good quality seed trays (the ones with little ‘modules’ or compartments are best) and some potting compost.  Sieve the compost (with a garden sieve) or else break it up well with your fingers before putting it in the trays.  Bang the tray against the table a few times to help the compost to settle down in to the container.  I always water the tray well at this stage and allow it to drain.

Generally you sow one seed per module.  Smaller seed (like lettuce) is usually left on top of the compost, while larger seeds (like peas) are pushed down in to the soil with your finger.  It will tell you how deep to sow on the instructions on the seed packet.  Leave the tray on a sunny windowsill – seeds need heat and light to germinate. It will take between 2 days and 2 weeks for the seed to germinate depending on the vegetable.  Always keep the compost moist – don’t let it dry out.  Ever.

Jargon Buster - What is 'Hardening Off'?

If you take a seedling that’s been grown indoors on a nice sunny windowsill and move it outside all of a sudden it will die of the shock.  You have to acclimatize it to the outdoor temperatures - bring the seedlings outside in the tray for a few hours and then bring them in again.  Gradually extend the amount of time you are leaving them outside over a period of two weeks.  It’s a little like having a pet.

Jargon Buster - What is 'Transplanting'?

Transplanting is where you move seedlings to their final growing position. In general you want to do this before the seedling outgrows the pot/tray it was germinated in. If the roots are starting to appear through the holes in the base of the module tray, it generally means the seedlings are ready to be transplanted.

Water the seedlings really well a few hours before transplanting – this will make it easier to remove the seedling from the tray without disturbing the root.  Pop the seedling out carefully from beneath with your finger.  Make a hole where you are going to grow the plant (slightly larger than the plant) and then pop the seedling in carefully.  Fill in with soil and firm in gently. Water well.

What to Grow?

In your first year, pick five vegetables that you like to eat and that are relatively easy to grow and start with them.  Perhaps throw in one other vegetable as an experiment – something you don’t know much about growing or eating and that you won’t particularly miss if it doesn’t work.  Whatever you do, don’t leave it until next year to get started.  This is your year!  As soon as you sow a seed, you’re a GIYer!

Michael Kelly's Top 5 Vegetables to Get Started

Lettuce:

Sow: one seed per module in a tray from April to August.  Needs light to germinate so don’t cover the seeds with compost.

Grow: Seeds are ready to plant out in to your raised beds when they have 4 or 5 leaves.  Harden off before planting out.  You need to leave about 20-30cm between lettuce plants.  Plant the seedling well down in the soil and firm in well.  Water well in dry weather.

GIY Recommended Varieties: Marvel of 4 Seasons, Little Gem, Red and Green Batavia Mixed, Saladin, Catalogna Cerbiatta

GIY Tip: Sow just ten seeds or so every couple of weeks for a consistent supply.

Peas:

Sow: one seed per module in a tray, 4cm deep from March to June.

Grow: Plant out when the seedlings are about 10cm tall. Harden off well before planting out.  You need to leave just 5cm between plants.  The plants grow tall and need a support to climb up - either bamboo, wire netting or a trellis. Water well in dry weather and when they start flowering.  They will be ready 3-4 months after sowing. Harvest regularly to encourage the plant to produce more.

GIY Recommended Varieties: Delikett, Greenshaft, Garnet

GIY Tip: Do a sowing of peas in late March and another in late May.

Garlic:

Sow:  Garlic is not grown from seed.  Instead sow a clove of garlic direct in the soil between October and December.  Sow each clove so that the tip is just below the surface, leaving 10cm between each one.  Each clove will become a bulb.  Hurrah!

Grow: Keep the bed weed free.  Water occasionally in dry weather.  Harvest in early summer when about half the leaves are yellow. Lift carefully and dry out on a rack in the sun for two weeks.

GIY Recommended Varieties:  Dukat, Thermidrome, Vallelado.

GIY Tip: Sow garlic before the shortest day of the year and harvest before the longest.

Early Potatoes:

Sow:  Potatoes are not grown from seed – they are grown from small potatoes known as ‘seed potatoes’.  Buy seed potatoes in January and ‘chit’ them – this simply means laying them out in a shallow tray somewhere bright and cool (indoors) – they will develop green sprouts which gives them a head start.

Grow: In April, sow the spuds in your raised beds about 15cm deep, 25cm apart with 45cm between rows.  As the stems grow, use a hoe to bring loose soil from around the plant up against the stem.  This will increase your yield.   They will be ready 14 weeks after sowing.

GIY Recommended Varieties: Orla and Homeguard

GIY Tip: If there is a risk of frost after you have planted the spuds, cover the plants with fleece.

Tomatoes:

Sow:  In March indoors – one seed per module in a module tray.  When they have developed three leaves, transplant each one carefully to a 3 inch pot.

Grow: You can buy varieties that suit outdoor growing, but in my opinion they do better grown indoors or under cover.  A small plastic greenhouse is a cheap solution, or you could even keep them indoors in containers (as long as the container is deep).  You can buy specially designed grow bags for tomatoes in garden centres.  Plant the seedlings to their final growing position in May.  They are hungry, thirsty plants and will appreciate consistent regular watering and a bi-weekly liquid feed (once they start to produce fruit).  They will need a tall cane to grow up.

GIY Recommended Varieties: Beefsteak, Sungold F1, Tigerella.

GIY Tip: a tomato plant needs about 11 litres of water a week.

To Purchase any of the varieties mentioned above, please visit the GIY Shop