Raised beds, growing veggies, tomatoes, carrots etc etc blah blah

[Steve Bullman]

I've been asked by the missus to make her a raised bed as she wants to start growing some bits and bobs. I've looked around online and have a plan for constructing the actual raised bed, but just interested in what to fill it with. Our soil is shockingly bad here so I will need to buy something in addition the the compost to fill it with. Would you just buy a load of top soil and mix it with bought in compost?? at what ratio if so???

 

Interested in any other pearls of wisdom also.

 

Discuss

[Le Sanglier]

I've been asked by the missus to make her a raised bed as she wants to start growing some bits and bobs. I've looked around online and have a plan for constructing the actual raised bed, but just interested in what to fill it with. Our soil is shockingly bad here so I will need to buy something in addition the the compost to fill it with. Would you just buy a load of top soil and mix it with bought in compost?? at what ratio if so???

 

Interested in any other pearls of wisdom also.

 

Discuss

I used to buy good quality top soil from turf suppliers; That should be good enough, Light loamy and fertile.

[treequip]

Make sure you buy "top soil as dug"

 

I bought some "screened top soil" from a supplier and what I got was the shite that had fallen out of the screener, it looked fine till the rain got to it and it showed brick dust and all sorts

[Kennedy]

Missus reckons fill with topsoil then add a layer of about 2" of compost on top then mix first 4" together, the goodness of the compost will wash down the rest with the weather.

[agg221]

You want plenty of organic matter in them (compost) as they need to hold the water near the roots without waterlogging.

 

It's also worth putting down a path round it while you're at it - whereas with a conventional veg patch you walk on it between the rows and then dig it over, with raised beds you don't stand on them and you don't dig them over. That means you're always accessing them from the sides so it gets trodden down and weeds tend to grow against the sides unless you do something about it. Dig off the turf, put down some Teram and cover with chippings would be my suggestion.

 

Alec

[slack ma girdle]

Are you put the bed on excisting grass, if so line the bottom with cardboard. This will kill off the weeds, and rot out by the crop roots get to it.

Good soil takes years to build up. Some crops particularly carrots and onions prefer poor soil.

Start small and get bigger each year, otherwise it can daunting.

Well rotted dung, seaweed are great soil improvers and generally free or very cheap.

 

Sent from my Galaxy arse using tupping talk.

[NI Tree]

keep the beds narrow so you can easly reach in the middle

[gensetsteve]

Some years we do some. Some years dont bother. as slack said dont over do it straight away as if it gets away from you can be a pain. I tend to plant stuff that we like and costs alot to buy. spring onions, courgette, toms, carrots cos you cant beat the taste. Potatoes same reason. We cant grow brassicas round here. Always in raised beds dug with bobcat . Raised beds are easy to weed on the back and keep the rabbits out. Keep the carrots high keeps carrot fly out especially if you grow with spring onion. Ask local growers what does well in your area and stick with that. My veg garden always looks overgrown with weeds low budget but always produces large amounts of fantastic tasteing veg

[Tonythetree]

Hi Steve I fill mine with composted chippings and topsoil we always have a few ton left over in the yard, after a year or so it looks like the stuff you buy in bags

 

Tony

[burrell_]

steve tomatoes airpots and levingtons tomato grow bags

and any levingtons product is good for growning veg