In the beginning...

I didn't have a back garden when I was growing up so my first gardening experiences came from the tiny roof terrace of our previous rented flat, which was a converted attic right in the eaves of a house in south-east London. West-facing with fantastic sunsets in the summer, looking back it was no wonder I quickly developed a passion for gardening. It was a little private oasis in the middle of noisy London and I loved it.

Our first spring there I think saw the first attempt at germinating seeds in a seed tray on a windowsill indoors. Tomatoes and peppers. The following years, the veggie growing literally grew and last summer our little roof terrace was jam-packed with container-grown tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, carrots and french beans. The difference in flavour when you pick a tomato fresh from the plant and eat it was unbelievable!

We lived there for two and a half years and when we moved, it took a whole transit van to transport all the plants... Not to mention having to carry them all down 4 flights of stairs!

This summer we bought our first flat, also in south-east London, and top of the must-have list when we were househunting was a garden. Its pretty small, and typically victorian with a narrow stretch along one side of the house about a metre or so wide, with a larger area of about 7m x 5m at the back. The back has a raised lawn area which, now that we are in the colder, wetter months is muddy and uninviting. It is a decent size for a mini-allotment style veggie garden and we both love growing fresh organic food... so, you get the picture. First challenge is that there is a fair amount of preparation and planning needed to get it going... so watch this space!

Pic 1 The roof terrace (May 2006)

Pic 2 The first big harvest (Summer 2005)

Pic 3 The new garden! (August 2006)