Vegetable patch

I've thought about doing that too! But I live in the US, in NC. I don't think I could garden though... I'm terrified of bugs xp

Me and my family grow stuff allll the time. We have a lot of land so we use to have two gardens. In one we just grew corn, but the damn deer at all of it one year. But what we usually do is make a row then plant. So on and so on. If you plant tomatoes, wrap the soil that it came in in newspaper, but don't cover the bottom, just wrap it around. And make sure everything is evenly spaced. Cause you don't want everything growing in a big mess. Also obviously make sure they are well watered. We usually put sticks down to mark where we are going to put a row. And we use this little push plow thingy to make the rows. And it has this seed discs. That has little cups to put the seeds in as you go along. It drops them evenly so if you get one of those you don't have to worry.

I think that's all I can think of right now. I hope this helps!

I don't know if tomatoes grow where you are, but those topsy turvy things really do work amazing! I was surprised at how many tomatoes it produces and how easy they were to care for. Unlike the conventional way of growing tomatoes, the gravity keeps mold from invading and we didn't have any problems with bugs or anything.
The only thing is you need to plant a seedling with a larger stalk.
I want to try the strawberry one this year.

Wow felicity that looks ace!! My grandad used to grow tomatoes so i know they're do-able over here Be especially good as we have a few cats who like to break in to our garden

Veronies: Thanks! i'll look in to the seed plow thingy, and get saving my lolly sticks! ;)

I use those to grow fushia's for our hummingbirds.

I loved growing crops in England.We had a foot square patch.

http://timssquarefootgarden.com/beginnersguide.htm

This is a US version but I like his beginner's guide

have a go find someone to trade seedlings with.In our old town there was a group that did this and you gained lots of local knowledge.

We have a balcony and have grown tomatoes and potatoes in terracotta pots, they work fine in the UK. Courgettes also do well in the UK, as do green beans!

I got tips from my local library, small-container/space gardening is quite trendy so there are lots of books out there.

Gardeners World website is good too

Planted first salad crops this weekend.Rocket and Parsley.Focusing on developing our nectar bar with Sweet Peas,Cornflours,Poppies and Penstemons.All on our balcony

check out Square Foot Gardening too... apparently you can grow things in 6 inches of soil. I'm giving it a go this year. But container gardens are fab. You can move them around to get the best sun and put them up out of harm's way. For easy I'd definitely recommend tomatoes. A pizza garden (peppers, tomatoes, basil, oregano) is pretty easy and totally yum.

LOL, I've just seen my typo !
Cornflowers are doing well have transplanted then into hanging baskets still in sheltered position.
I'd go for salad's in containers next.

If you want, I've got a few old gardening books that feature alot of veg and stuff, that I don't use anymore (read them all) that I could maybe post you, unless I've already given them away, but they're quite heavy and postage ain't too cheap :/ I'd be happy to send them you in a sort of mini swap thing though

Aside from that, visit your local/nearest RHS (royal horticultural society) garden, as they usually have vegetable patches, and will always give out free gardening advice Their website might help too.
If you haven't grown much before, I'd suggest growing root veg, herbs, such as chives, mint, basil etc. tomatoes, and raspberries, which have all grown well with out too much extra care in my experience (I too live in the UK).

Last summer I tried that topsy turvy thing and failed.... this year I tried a bunch of stuff and .... everything is dead. since its early I'm going to give it another shot. My mom had never been able to grow anything but my grandparents just have to walk by it and it comes to life. Grrrrr!!

I started my plants indoors about a month ago. We have "FOF" fear of frost until the first week of june. I have a bit to go before I plant out of doors.

Claire, I would think you could plant a great garden in the UK. If you aren't in northern Scotland...you should be golden. Even then, didn't the Findhorn people grow monster gardens in northern UK. England and Wales are known for their gardens. Borrow a book from the library and try:

http://www.ukgardening.co.uk/

also thanks to everyone who chimed in on that upside down tomato planter. my husband wants one.

I live in the UK too, I havent really planted much this year cos I just moved house, but good things to start with are tomatoes, potatoes(i grow mine in bags you can get potatoe grow bags in garden centres or just put a few holes in the bottom of a bag for life) carrots (they take a while to grow but still they grow), beetroot (i recomend buying plug plant versions as seeds tend to be hit and miss), spring onions, cabbage, cauliflower, salad leaves, courgettes and radish. Oh and I know it isn't really considered a veg but still it is edible ( well the seeds are anyway) sunflowers.