Hello from another novice!

[shelbylou]

Hello everyone, I have recently 'seen the light' and have decided to start my own vegetable garden. I'm increasingly excited on discovering what fruit and veg we can grow ourselves and I want to reap the benefits of a much healthier lifestyle!
I do have a question - I have a large lawn which I will be using as my vegetable garden. I intend to have raised beds, as recommended, but I'd like to know when is the best time to start? (Daft question, but I'm new to all this!). Also, what is the best compost to use for a new plot and when should I add it?
Thanks,
Shelbylou

[malcolmx]

carefully mark out beds and remove the turf and stack face down to rot down
water the cleared area with a chemical to remove leather jackets etc that live under turf dig soil over add grit and spent mushroom compost then put up raised beds
add fresh topsoil to raised beds
cover with ground protection material until you are ready to plant any autumn seeds etc
the size of the raised bed is determined by your reach if you do not wish to walk on the beds if you wish you can bury seep hose before top soil place hose in an s shape an fix a hose attatchment before you put sides down

what material are you useing for your beds
what size will they be
hope this helps

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Shelbylou and welcome to our forum!

As compost and topsoil can be quite expensive to buy I would buy a compost bin now and start making your own compost. The black plastic bins heat up really well and are far quicker to break down the compost than a wire mesh bin. You could also collect leaves this autumn and make leaf mould to dig in to your raised beds. Simply collect the leaves after it has been raining, put them in a black bin bag, knot the top and pierce some holes in the bottom.

Here is a link to a topsoil and compost site. This will give you an idea of prices.

Topsoil, Compost and Manure | Dandys Topsoil