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Plug the Gaps Collection
90 Plants
Shipped within 3-5 working days
£16.99
Out of stock
This is just the thing for filling in any spaces that appear in your veg patch in July, whether it’s from harvested crops or slug-munched plants! You can happily pop any of these plants in between other rows, in borders or even in pots. Each plant only needs a 10-20cm area of space to thrive and will grow quite quickly at this time of year so you’ll be able to harvest in no time at all.
Use the leaves as cut and come again by cutting off the outer leaves for baby leaf salads right through the summer months, tuck beetroots, carrots and leeks wherever you have a little space, pop marigolds in amongst tomatoes to help deter aphids (they’re edible too) and grow peas (varieties may differ) up any free vertical space that you can find.
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[post_content] => Starting a brand new veg patch can be a little overwhelming, with all sorts of questions cropping up from "how do I build a raised bed?" to "can I grow cabbages in pots?" This post explains all the basics to get you going.
Choose a suitable site
Ideally an area that gets at least 6 hours sunshine during the day and that is fairly sheltered from strong winds. Some shady spots are ok and actually not a bad idea for leafy veg, so don't worry if you don't have a perfectly sunny spot.
If you're going to be growing in pots and containers:
You can grow a lot of veg in pots and containers and almost anything can be upcycled into a suitable container - an old wheelbarrow, an old bucket, stacks of tyres - so you don't necessarily need to spend a fortune on pots.
Try to get an assorted collection if different sizes, some deeper, some wider, some shallower as this will enable you to grow your crops according to pot shape/size.
Make sure your containers have good drainage with a couple of holes at the base for water to escape. It's always a good idea to put a few medium sized stones or broken crocks at the base before filling with compost as this helps drainage even more.
If you plan to grow in beds:
Whether you are going for raised beds or beds in the ground (they are both perfectly good ways of growing veg) we would advise keeping the width of the bed under 1.5m so that you can easily reach into the centre from both sides without trampling on the soil. Length can be whatever you like, but bear in mind it can be irritating to have to walk all the way around a particularly long bed and you'll be tempted to nip across the middle, thus compacting the soil. Try to keep them to 2-4m long.
Raised beds can be as high as you like - the taller they are, the more soil and compost you'll need to fill them in, but the easier they will be to maintain and keep pest free.
If you plan on growing in rows in a big patch of space:
This is quite a popular method of growing and the key is to use wooden planks as walkways between rows so that you can access your veg and get in to weed and dig without compacting the soil.
How to clear space of weeds
The best and easiest way to clear an area of weed before growing veg is to cover it for a year to starve them of light. If you haven't been able to do this and want to get going this year then we'd recommend putting in a raised bed. First, dig the area over (when the soil is not too dry/hard) and pull up the biggest weeds making sure you get the roots out. Build your raised bed frame and lay a sheet or two of cardboard inside the bed right over the top of the soil before filling the bed up with compost. This will help to prevent the weeds growing back through the compost, and the cardboard will decompose.
What can I grow in pots?
Pretty much anything! In fact, we struggle to think of anything that you CAN'T grow in pots. The only thing is to be aware of the depth and width of the pot and whether it is suitable for the crop you wish to grow. Root veg and tubers need deeper containers, leafier veg will be fine in shallower pots, and space-saving veg like spring onions, beetroot and leeks can be packed in quite closely in wider pots.
Hopefully this gives you the very basics of getting a veg plot on the go. The key is to remember this: As long as there is soil, sunlight and water plants will grow, so don't be afraid to make a veg patch using only grow bags and pots, or to simply dig a small bed in your back garden. Just give it a go and start small...
[post_title] => An easy way to start a new veg patch
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[post_content] => If you are considering one or two of our Veg Plant Collections to get your kitchen garden on the go this year, then this article will help to explain how much space you might need, as well as giving some tips on how to arrange the plants....
[post_title] => Veg Plant Collections - Spacing
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[post_content] => If you are planning to start a veg patch in your garden then you may find a few of these pointers are helpful. We cover a few things, like site choice, raised beds, access, paths etc.
Step 1 - Don't Panic!
It can often be a little overwhelming to start a brand new veg patch completely from scratch, but it needn't be. If you approach it step-by-step it can be surprisingly easy, and incredibly rewarding. Use this cold, wet time of year to read around a bit and decide how big a plot you want to start with. We would really recommend looking into No-Dig Growing as a starting point, as this is very simple and straightforward. And we would also recommend starting out with just a couple of small raised beds (or equivalent) and adding to your plot as time goes on.
Step 2 - Decide where to situate your new veg patch
You want to choose the part of your garden that gets the most sunshine hours, preferably in a nice sheltered spot out of the wind. A south-facing garden is ideal, but don't worry if you don't have this luxury. Just choose the part that gets the most sun and then choose plants to suit your plot - partial shade can offer great growing conditions for lettuces and salad leaves, for example. If you're growing on a slope, we'd recommend terracing using raised beds if you can.
Step 3 - Decide what you will be growing in - pots/beds/traditional plot
This will largely be dictated by your garden - if you have a patio then pots make sense, or you could go for a wooden planter or trug. If you have space for a raised bed (or several!) then this is ideal, or you could simply have a traditional single square(ish) patch of soil that you fill with rows and rows of veg, leaving just enough space for you to walk in between rows to be able to harvest crops.
Step 4 - Measure out your space & layout the garden
If you're going to build raised beds or dig a bed into the ground, you want to measure out your space first. As a general rule of thumb, 4 foot is the ideal width for a bed as you can access it from both sides and still reach the middle.
Try to leave enough space along walkways between beds so that you can easily wheel a wheelbarrow.
It's quite helpful to use string to mark out your beds/walkways or draw it out on a piece of graph paper.
Step 5 - Build your beds
If you're going for raised beds, then these next few winter weekends are the perfect time to build them. Again, we would really recommend reading around the No Dig Growing as this is a very simple way to get started.
Step 6 - Make your pathways
We highly recommend lining pathways with cardboard and covering them with compost or wood chips. But you might prefer a grass path or stepping stones. It's up to you. Here's a useful post about paths to get you started.
Step 7 - Fill your beds
Whether you're growing in pots or beds you want to get plenty of good quality compost or well-rotted manure in there and dig it over really well. You can always line the base of raised beds with cardboard before filling them to keep weeds at bay.
If you start this process nice and early and do little bits over a few weekends, you'll find it much less overwhelming and it's quite a good activity for late winter/early spring. Ideally, you want to have your plot ready for late April/early May so that you can make the most of the growing season, but there is plenty you can plant in summer as well, and even in September/October, so don't worry too much about timings.
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Starting a brand new veg patch can be a little overwhelming, with all sorts of questions cropping up from “how do I build a raised bed?” to “can I grow...
If you are considering one or two of our Veg Plant Collections to get your kitchen garden on the go this year, then this article will help to explain how...
This isn’t a query about this order, but I wanted to thank you for the plants you sent. They are happily settled in, having arrived in good condition. Also, I was most impressed by your packaging, its quality, its recyclable material and the care with which the plants were packed. I look forward to future orders, my first having been excellent. All best wishes.
J.H
“”
Thank you so much for a safe delivery of my climbing French beans. They look lush and healthy and not a bit of plastic in sight. Well done ?. I am enjoying the amazingly helpful booklet too. You have another happy customer!
M.M
“”
Thank you for the magnificent array of plants which arrived safely yesterday. Can’t wait to get them planted (and to eat the end result!) I’m impressed by the excellent condition they arrived in.
