Beginning to Garden

To have a garden and not to use it is a bit of a crime, and one which I have been guilty of. The problem is that to use a garden invariably involves a higher level of 'gardening' than just periodically ripping weeds out. So, putting aside the fact that I'm not very good at it, and the fact that I don't particularly enjoy gardening (I am hoping it will be like running but with less effort - not actually as bad as you think its going to be, and slightly enjoyable after a while), I decided to grow something this year. I thought this would:

(a) get me into the garden.
(b) (more importantly) help me attack my weeds and keep them under control.

I wanted to start small and not give myself too much to do, but what to plant?

For me there are 3 types of plants (excluding weeds):

1. Plants you can stick in the ground and forget about, whilst they grow on their own without taking over the garden - we have several of these including a huge buddleia and some rhododendrons. I really like this kind of plant, especially when they can contribute to keeping weeds at bay!
   
2. Plants with a purpose i.e. vegetables. We grow them with the aim of getting something back from them (food). For me flowers do not fall into this category.
3. The rest: flowers are fine (especially the ones that grow every year - see above) but they don't actually do anything, except provide a bit of colour; and those plants that only last one year - why were they even invented?
   

So with this in mind, the obvious answer seemed to be to grow vegetables. I went out and bought a growbag (if I put it on my newly weeded earth it'll stop the weeds beneath it - right? Well actually it doesn't, but it was worth a try).

I stuck a couple of tomato plants in it, saw some brussel sprouts in the sale and shoved them into the ground. And I also bought some marigolds, as I read on the internet that they keep whitefly away. Do marigolds only last one year? Maybe this is why such plants were invented!

I have looked after my new charges well so far: I have tended them; watered them; fed them; weeded (continually it seems); and started a battle with slugs and snails that I didn't even know we had in the garden. Funnily enough the marigolds are what the slugs go straight for. Conclusion: not even slugs like sprouts ...

To my surprise, the sprouts are actually doing quite well so far. I bought a pack of 12 for fifty pence and reasoned that some would die, but now it looks like we'll be eating sprouts all winter (good job we like them).

The tomatoes are a different story - one small plant doesn't really seem to be doing much, but I'm hopeful for the other one - just starting to flower. As they say ... time will tell.