Hello from near Watford (UK)

[Greenwitch2012]

Huge Hello to everyone.

Is there anyone in the Watford area for support and advice? I have a small garden, 3 kids and 5 cats. Im trying to find away of growing as much of my own food as my little garden will allow without losing the kids play area.

Looking forward to talking

[Greenwitch2012]

Thank you, I'm sure there will be.
Just trying to find my way round.

[Green Aura]

Hi, welcome to Ish.

Have a look at vertical gardening - if your garden is tiny you can pack a lot more in that way.

[Milims]

Hi there and welcome

[Greenwitch2012]

Thank you and thank you I will. Just found a nice verticle pallet planter.

[citizentwiglet]

Hello and welcome!

We have a really tiny garden too, just a 'drying green' really, but we grow quite a lot in pots and sacks. We do have a front lawn too, which doesn't get any sun until about 3pm in the height of summer. I grow kale and PSB in the front. In the back we have done spuds in sacks (more for fun than huge crops), salad leaves, chard, courgettes, climbing beans, dwarf beans, various herbs and carrots, all in pots.
The children love joining in, too.

There are some great books about container gardening - I really like Michael Guerra's book 'The Edible Container Garden', and pots are easy to come by on Freecycle.

Are there any community garden / landshare schemes local to you? If not, maybe you could find some likeminded locals...

[Thomzo]

Hi and welcome

Could you grow anything on your roof? I have a flat-roofed extension on the back of my house and I'm still thinking about what I can put up there. Strawberries are a favourite - by the time the slugs get up there, they'll be too knackered to eat anything. I just need to work out how to stop the pots blowing about in high winds.

Zoe

[Greenwitch2012]

Don't think I'd use my flat roof but made me think of strawberries and hanging baskets for some reason.

[GeorgeSalt]

'Ello!

With a small garden it's a matter of being imaginative and coming up with sometimes less conventional locations for growing. WIth limited space it's also worth considering whether you want to measure your degree of self-sufficiency by volume or value. Potatoes and onions are traditional veg to grow, but take up a lot of space for a lot of time and are comparitively cheap to buy. Soft fruit and salads produce higher value crops that you might eat more of (with greater health benefit) if you grow them yourself rather than buy them.

You don't mention the ages of the children or the type of play area.. the usual kick-about garden features a squarish area "for playing football". A forest/woodland garden with an irregular shape and places to hideaway suits a different style of play, and makes it easier to mix plant productivity with playtime. It's also my preferred style of garedn, one your "in" rather than "on".

[Greenwitch2012]

My Children are 12, 8 and 7. From reading other peoples posts my garden doesnt seem so small now. My main area that I dont know what to plant in is my front garden. It gets very little sun, due to side of the house. Its roughly 6ft by 8ft and at the moment is grass. I am quite new to growing and have success with carrots, kale, beans and courgettes in the back garden. What grows well in shade??

[MuddyWitch]

Welcome to ISH

MW

[Maykal]

Hello and welcome from a ex-Watfordian.