O.T.Does anyone here grow their own veg?

[pistonbroke]

Following our neighbour bombarding us with veg last year when we donated him a bit of redundant land, we've decided to have a go ourselves. We have a strange rectangular depression alongside our house which is bounded by a low dry stone wall and is about 3 metres wide by 12 metres long.
I did some poking around with a pickaxe and found that there's a 50cm layer of decent soil before hitting bedrock. I decided that I'd dig out a strip about a metre wide and 8m long, put a line of wide concrete blocks along the border and refil the hole with some stony soil, then replace the good stuff on top creating a raised bed.
Next step is to dig in some horse manure courtesy of some friends down the road and set about planting. We know tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and courgettes do well here but we're complete novices. Any tips for a successful venture into the Good Life?
P.s I'm already setting up a machine gun emplacement for the rabbits.

[Piemonster]

You got worms? Always a good sign I’ve found. The manure should come with plenty.

Our garden is rubbish for veg, I think tied into the fact we’re perched on top of a volcanic sill.

[lune ranger]

We grow most of our own veg, have pigs chickens and bees... and a gun for the coneys But that’s in Devon, I know nothing about growing in Spain. Get friendly with some local growers.
My guess is you will need tons (literally) of manure/compost/organic matter to get going. You’ll probably need to think about how you will irrigate all of this - drought resistant crops are going to be a must.

[JackT]

Talk to your neighbour, sounds like they're doing well. I've found 'no dig' is much better all round. Less work, more productive. See Charles Dowding's channel on YouTube, lots of great tutorials, from general principles to methods with specific crops.

[lune ranger]

Local know how is key.
I’m not sure how sensible raised beds are in hot/dry climates - soil and plant temperature is increased and so is the need for water.
I would second the recommendation for looking at Charles Dowding and no-dig gardening. I was initially very sceptical but am getting great results from my no dig beds.

[pistonbroke]

I'm hopefully getting a trailer load of kaka next week, the plot is adjacent to where our water supply comes to the house, it's agricultural water so untreated , we only use it for washing and flushing. I must have moved 5 tonnes of soil in the last week and not seen a single worm. Most veg seems ok but thus far we've only managed to harvest figs, apricots and grapes from existing plants as well as almonds and olives which we sell to the co-operative.

[lune ranger]

Sounds cool.
My Mrs was trying to convince me to buy a farm she saw in Asturias, not sure I’m ready for that but it’s mighty tempting