The Simple Life

At the moment I am still going through a time of decision making and change in my life, always though the priority is to stay on our path to a more simple life. Last nights decision was to simplify my Blogging and so from now on there will be only this, my main Blog. Sorry for the followers of the others, but most of you are readers of this first and foremost anyway.

I will, of course, update snippets of information that would normally have appeared on the others on here. I was sometimes torn anyway which Blog to put which information on with this Blog being the one that encompasses most of our lifestyle changes.

Now it is simple, all in one place and quickly updatable (if that is even a word!).

*************

16 squares warming up ready to be filled with salad crops.

Now, onto what I mentioned yesterday about my latest planting idea, it was one I spotted last year on Karons' Blog (call by, she's stuck on her sofa at the moment and would love some company). I don't know if she saw it through but the idea stayed with me and I thought I would give it a go now I have more planting space to play with.

You take a small bed, a raised one is easiest, although any will do, mark it into squares with string, and in each section you plant a different vegetable or salad crop. The idea behind it is that they are planted so closely together there is no room for weeds, so no weeding, they support each other from the ravages of wind and blustery weather and it makes watering your thirsty salad crops easier because they are all in one space. This bed also has the advantage of if you only have a few seeds or a couple of plants left over after planting full rows in the main beds you can allocate them their own little square of the grid.

Now obviously this year I am growing on a much bigger scale, but I thought this would be an ideal way of growing the things we eat on a daily basis close to hand, right outside the back door and if I run out of inspiration for tea I can stroll out and see what's ready to eat all in a bed measuring just 2 metres square.

I marked it out by eye, banged in a few of LH's little silver tacks and marked out the grids with some lavender ribbon (it's my girly veggie bed after all). Today I will sit and ponder on what plants/seeds to sow there while the soil is warming up under its blanket of ripped open compost bags. They are brilliant for this as they are black and made of nice thick polythene, so they will absorb the warmth of any sun we get in the next few days.

It's a great way to have a good mixed veggie bed if you only have a small garden too, as you can have a good assortment of your favourite crops in as small a space as you can fit in. It would also be ideal as a way of introducing children to the joys of vegetable growing.

I'll let you know how I get on with mine. If you like the idea and are thinking of having a go yourself let me know and we can compare progress.

Sue xx