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Posted by Ceeci on February 25, 2010, 11:23 am
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Hi All
I'm new to vegetable growing but are keen to get my children interested
so we
have decided to install some raised beds in our garden. We will
have two beds
and each bed will be 2.4m x 1.2m and are 30cm high. They
are on the way in
transit as I'm writing this...
Now, my questions are:
1) The beds will be placed on a lawn area. What do I do with the lawn?
2) What do I fill the beds with? I was thinking of filling at least half
with
good quality topsoiled (delivered to my door) and the rest with veg
compost,
compost made myself in my garden and some manure. Not sure if
this is correct?
3) Any suggestions as to what to grow in each bed and what goes nicely
together?
We are thinking of growing lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, patty
pan squash,
cauliflower, spring onions, raddish, onions/garlic, dwarf
french beans, chard...
4) In terms of crop rotation I have little knowledge, but I assume
whatever we
grow in a bed this year, should not be in the same bed the
next?
We will also grow some carrots in a large container, as I know they
don't like
many types of soil, and tomatoes and cucumber in
growbags...what about
courgettes, where would they be best off?
Thanks for any advice!
Kind Regards,
Cecilie
--
Ceeci
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Posted by Bill who putters on February 25, 2010, 5:00 pm
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Cecilie your breaking my heart Song from past
Make a few mistakes.
Bill
--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA
http://www.sheep.com/sounds/baasheep1.wav
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Posted by Suzanne D. on February 26, 2010, 2:36 am
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> 1) The beds will be placed on a lawn area. What do I do with the lawn?
This is what I do, and have been 99% weed-free. Wet the area thoroughly.
Lay down a couple of layers of paper (any paper will do; I use old phone
books and newspapers), or a single layer of cardboard. Wet that really well
too. Sprinkle a little cow poo over it to get the earthworms excited. Then
fill it with your dirt and organic stuff. The grass will die and rot under
the paper and make the earth richer. You may also want to keep a layer of
paper AROUND the beds, covered with decorative mulch, just to avoid grass
creeping back in, but I admit I don't do this and rarely have any problems
with it.
> 2) What do I fill the beds with? I was thinking of filling at least half
> with good quality topsoiled (delivered to my door) and the rest with veg
> compost, compost made myself in my garden and some manure. Not sure if
> this is correct?
You don't really have to spend a lot on dirt. If you are doing transplants,
you can fill the beds with rough stuff like clippings and dead leaves (it
could help to mow them to chop them up a little first), and you'll do fine
just setting the plants in there, maybe with a handful of dirt or compost in
with them. Even if you want to plant small seeds, you can dig a little
trough in the rough stuff and put some commercial dirt or compost in the
trough to plant a row with small seeds. In a few years of refilling with
rough stuff you'll have some good, crumbly dirt and you'll only have to top
it with dead leaves and clippings every year. (It took me about a year to
see a few inches of real soil below the mulch.) I placed ads on Craigslist
asking people for their bagged dead leaves and got TONS of them!
> 3) Any suggestions as to what to grow in each bed and what goes nicely
> together? We are thinking of growing lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, patty
> pan squash, cauliflower, spring onions, raddish, onions/garlic, dwarf
> french beans, chard...
You can find lists of companion planting suggestions online. I cram my
plants in there pretty good. I space them at least half as far as the seed
packets say to space them. With raised beds you really can get a lot in
there. I'd suggest planting different things is each bed...herbs under
tomatoes, onions among lettuce, beans and corn together with a pumpkin or
two among them... It confuses the critters!
> 4) In terms of crop rotation I have little knowledge, but I assume
> whatever we grow in a bed this year, should not be in the same bed the
> next?
Right. Also, when you plan to have a high feeder growing next year, be sure
to plant a legume the previous year. So if you know where you want to plant
corn next year, grow beans there this year. Look up crop rotations online
to find some good info on cycling the types of vegetables you grow.
--S.
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Posted by gardenlen on February 26, 2010, 12:25 pm
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g'day cecilie,
cover the lawn with a good cover of newspaper overlapped, see our
presentations for some ideas.
http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm
best to plant whatever is in season.
wrote:
snipped
--
len
With peace and brightest of blessings,
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."
http://www.lensgarden.com.au/
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Posted by LindaMac on February 27, 2010, 2:51 am
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Ceeci;878414 Wrote:
> Hi All
>
> I'm new to vegetable growing but are keen to get my children interested
> so
we have decided to install some raised beds in our garden. We will
> have two
beds and each bed will be 2.4m x 1.2m and are 30cm high. They
> are on the way
in transit as I'm writing this...
>
> Now, my questions a
>
> 1) The beds will be placed on a lawn area. What do I do with the lawn?
>
> 2) What do I fill the beds with? I was thinking of filling at least half
>
with good quality topsoiled (delivered to my door) and the rest with veg
>
compost, compost made myself in my garden and some manure. Not sure if
> this is
correct?
>
> 3) Any suggestions as to what to grow in each bed and what goes nicely
>
together? We are thinking of growing lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, patty
> pan
squash, cauliflower, spring onions, raddish, onions/garlic, dwarf
> french
beans, chard...
>
> 4) In terms of crop rotation I have little knowledge, but I assume
> whatever
we grow in a bed this year, should not be in the same bed the
> next?
>
> We will also grow some carrots in a large container, as I know they
> don't
like many types of soil, and tomatoes and cucumber in
> growbags...what about
courgettes, where would they be best off?
>
> Thanks for any advice!
>
> Kind Regards,
> Cecilie
Hi
I bought some raised beds too from Harrod Horticulture and their guy
there
(Martin I think his name was) was very helpful and gave me great
tips on soil
types, planting, rotating etc depending on what veggies you
want to grow...and
some common pest problems...deffo worth dropping him
an email...you can find his
contact details on the Harrod Horticultural
website.
Good Luck!
--
LindaMac
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