The Garden Plan

The Current Garden
Below is a picture of my current garden - from the summerhouse roof. This was three separate photos kindly "stitched" together by my husband using Microsoft Image Composite Editor to gain the full view - pretty cool!

Proposed Plan (rough sketch!)
This is my ambitious plan of de-turfing the lawn to make way for more veggie beds (as you can see I'm not an artist - but you get the general idea :-) )
The circle and paths will remain as grass to separate the veg, fruit and herb beds. I did have a quite a few herbs but as with many of my plants this winter they have been killed off in the severe cold and frosts, so I will have to restock.
I'm also into herbal remedies so shall be looking to grow a wide selection. I have a great recipe for lavender and poppy seed cake which will be great to make again, so I shall plant more lavender; also good for pot pourri and decoration. I love the smell!
If I can get garden canes long enough I will construct a wigwam around the grass circle to grow runner beans to provide an interesting entrance to the bottom of the garden.

The beginning...

Last night I watched a film Julie and Julia (recommended viewing) which inspired me to equally commit myself to a project in a an area I have been dabbling with for a number of years. I am not a “green” nut, just a person wanting to save, economise, some like to call me scrooge, I like to think of as being thrifty (my Scottish roots showing through!).  To date I grow veggies, make jam, have a wood burner which has saved money but I want to do more, save more. My ideal is to be totally self-sufficient living off-grid, but considering where I live, I need to think of the practicalities and so will work towards my ideal and become MORE self-sufficient.  Growing veggies is a great reward and I have been doing so for the past five years after moving to my current house. My veggie plot which started out as a small bed of a few metres square has grown over the years producing a decent haul of potatoes, onions and beans. I grow tomatoes, courgette, chilli, herbs, various types of fruit, but my first task on the road to greater sufficiency is an even bigger veggie plot. It is time to take over the bottom of the garden – Nooooo I hear my husband cry as he knows it is de-turfing time!

I had great intentions to start de-turfing today, however as usual the MET Office got the forecast wrong and instead of a sunny morning – it rained all day! So my progress is very small as I took photos of the garden to plan the plots from the top of my shed; not so much fun when you are scared of heights!