We seem to get a lot of searches for raised beds on the blog, so i thought i’d do an update. It’s too wet to go into the garden with the camera, so the pic above was taken about the 5th of May.
I like the way we’ve set our garden up, and it works. We have the grass space and patio for sitting…and the veg at the back. I built the wall higher to create a step up to the veg part, giving us 3 distinct areas.
The cold frame on the right-handside was built from an old Argos wardrobe that i no longer had need for. It houses peas in guttering ready for planting out, and some seedlings, at the start of March. The shelving unit greenhouse thing at the back was free via ‘freecycle.’ It is invaluable when growing seedlings that need higher temperatures, and for things like potting on.
Also at the back are three potato pots - 2 earlies that have been harvested, and 1 maincrop. There is also a compost bin at the back that is nice and compact, and takes all compostable kitchen waste. The tomato plants on the left are in growbags. Everything is being eaten by slugs as a general rule!
The beds work on a 4-year rotation. The bed on the left, closest to the grass, houses cucurbits (pumpkins, courgettes) - although they have yet to go in, the bed currently houses last years Japanese Onions and the rest of the Early Potatoes that are almost ready to come out. The bed behind that is Roots (carrots, onions, parsnips, leeks) - this is the one that gets filled quickest! Behind that is the current Brassica bed (cauliflower, cabbage, brussels) - this is the messiest of beds, no matter how hard i try to keep it tidy. The slugs love that particularly. I’ve built a frame to keep it covered this year, to avoid the horrid attack of butterfly and caterpillar! They destroyed one massive broccoli plant last year. Finally, on the right, the Legumes (peas,beans) bed which seems to house a variety of oriental greens at the moment.
The planting plans are at the top which explain the above in a lot more depth…i pretty much have them memorised, but change them constantly anyhow!
The soil is compost, with added manure and sand - to help drainage - i also add blood, fish and bone to increase the amount of nutrients that the soil needs. The rotation from legumes, to cucurbits, to roots to brassicas enables each veg to help the next over the years. The beds themselves are made of wood that i bought, and spent a weekend screwing together with coach bolts and an old knackered drill.
It’s simple and it works. If we were to have children, cats, chickens etc…it might not, but at the moment, it does.
Tags: 4 year rotation, creating raised beds, how raised beds work, practical raised beds
May 28th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
An excellent explanation of raised beds. Glad you had a good harvest of new pots, just had our first harvest of broad beans tonight and they were great!
May 29th, 2008 at 2:01 am
I like raised beds — much easier to keep the weeds and other maintenance down. Your first potatoes must have been delicious! The first crop of anything always seems to taste so good.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Good post. I am just growing my first every vegetable garden and I had raised beds built. They are working out nicely. We are eating green beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes from it now. Sounds like you have it figured out for your back yard. What do you do about the slugs?
Meems @ Hoe&Shovel
May 29th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Good to see someone explaining their system like this. I’m trying to work something similar on my plot but have never been sure how important it is for one thing to follow another. Legumes, Curcurbits, Roots, Brassicas - very handy. I take it salad leaves can go anywhere?
Cheers, Gareth
May 29th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Hi - discovered your site the other day and think it’s great. I’m a complete novice at this just starting up with two raised beds which look similar in size to yours.This morning I noticed tiny little white/cream insects crawling over the soil around my carrot seedlings. Any idea what they may be and if I should do anything about them? Live in Edinburgh so got going much later than you - can’t wait ’til we can actually harvest and eat something! Thanks for all the advice I’ve already gleaned from your site. Sarah
May 29th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Came over for some education…I don’t take rotation seriously enough, and as this is now my third year, I may get bitten by something….very informative though. Thanks. Cat x
May 29th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I’m being rather thick about this.
I understand the rotation and the cold frame and things - but I still don’t understand why you have raised beds. (And I realise lots of people have them so there’s clearly a good reason!)
But, until I saw your photo, I was thinking raised beds were useful on slopes (ie where some form of terracing is needed) or when they are very high (so the gardener doesn’t have to bend down so far). Neither of these apply here - - - - - so, um - do you think you would mind explaining a bit more?
(Um - sorry!)
Esther Montgomery
ESTHER IN THE GARDEN
May 31st, 2008 at 11:12 am
Excuse the bulk replies - i try to get back to everyone, but that would mean 7 separate comments!
Glosterwomble - thanks! What’s next on your harvesting list?
Nancy - yeah they were very tasty - we still have some left, i want to save them , but i also want to eat them!
Meems - Sounds great! I do like the space…just wish it was 3 x that size so i could start growing fruit trees, bushes and things like asparagus and rhubarb… Slug post coming soon…
Gareth - this is the way i do it. I haven’t gone into huge depth about how i treat the soil after the season. Some 3 year systems become 4 year, by leaving a bed fallow. I want it ALL to produce! Touchwood, i’ve had good veg so far using this.
Sarah - thanks very much. It’s always nice to hear that, sometimes i think i’m just rambling at myself! As for your beasties, it sounds like carrot root fly maggots. Black flies lay eggs, which turn into yellow maggots which tunnel into your carrots and eat the crap out of them - you’ll see what i mean when you pull them up. I’ve never had it, but have seen it. You might still be able to do something about it. I could be wrong though!
Cat - lol - it’s only really a problem if you get a disease!
Esther - see recent post! Hope it’s useful.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Totally agree with everything re raised beds. Thanks for reply re beasties - they don’t look like maggots. I have raised carrots from seed which I’ve kept almost permanently covered with mesh to avoid carrot fly which I had read about elsewhere - so am praying it’s not that! They are like little mites. They don’t appear to be doing any obvious damage - perhaps I’ll just have to wait ’til harvest time to find out. Harvested our first crop - a few handfuls of spinach which went into a salad yesterday! Delicious - even the kids were keen to sample the fruits of their labours - I love this veg growing lark!
Sarah