This really is a first for me and I suspect several other people too, in these weeks of staying at home. 

I’ve grown potatoes for a couple of years, because they seemed reasonably easy and not too time consuming. But this year is something different and I felt inspired to blog my diary of failures and successes as I find my way with growing fruit and veg. Also decided to not get too adventurous, so more chance of some success!

As a professional photographer, I also thought it would  be an interesting exercise to record the diary completely on my phone and not using my pro camera… so here goes.

First off, this is what the veg patch looked like before I started… I was trying to capture our resident squirrel and is the only shot I have of a ‘pre-prepared’ veg bed:

Before we started…

So I dug the bed over, removed all the weeds, added some extra soil and compost and levelled it all out. However, here came the first challenge… how to keep off not only the birds, but one of our cats!

The first efforts of criss crossing string really didn’t work (sorry I don’t have an image)… ever seen a cat negotiating such a puzzle, it was like watching Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible!

So next effort nailed it! A roll of wire mesh cut into strips and made into a series of hoops to cover the bed in sections:

Keeping the cat off!

As I had another large wooden tray and an old cloche, decided to add a separate mini green house that would be for lettuce and salads leaves only:

A little lettuce house…

In the hope you will follow my journey (and learning curve) I’ll finish this diary entry here, but would add that the preparation all happened last month and lots more progress has been made since then. Not only will there be a selection of vegetables, there is also some fruit plants… and… the naming of the veg patch!

All that will come in the next diary blog… so do join me on this journey and I will include comments of the photography as we go along.