green-fingered

In the last few months I've developed a bit of an interest in gardening - inspired by a few people, including, of course, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage garden!

One day I'd love to have my own beautiful garden, complete with a vegetable patch, lush lawn, red brick walls and huge slightly wild flowers. Until then I've contented myself with a small vegetable patch in our small suburban garden. Like Hugh, I always want to be as self-sufficient as I can.
Back in the autumn I pulled up a giant ghastly red hot poker plant and an oversized rosemary bush to make way for a raised bed, which my dad had built out of old scraps of wood. I prepared the ground by adding extra soil and fertiliser. Then there was nothing else to do but wait until spring (and pilfer my mum's gardening handbook for a bit of light bedtime reading).
Yesterday I went outside to investigate the effects of winter on my vegetable patch so far. With spring only a couple of months around the corner, I need to start planning what fruit & veg yums to plant..

 

 

A lot of weeding definitely needs to be done...
What fruit and veg do you think I should grow? I'm currently thinking courgettes and tomatoes...what else?
I will probably keep documenting the progress of my vegetable patch on this blog, so you can watch it change through the seasons and see how much of a success (or failure) the crop turns out to be.

There was also a small sign that spring is on the way...

Today the weather was sunny and gorgeous, adding to that spring feeling. Sunny days feel so rare in winter, so of course I just had to take my camera for a walk this afternoon. I wore my mum's red gilet (a bargain thrift from charity shopping earlier in the week!)