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

[Goaty]

What became of the OP? Did Mrs B get her wicked way and is now going in to spring with deluxe veg plot?

 

 

Or is she waiting for you to "Just finish this thing off on Arbtalk"

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

John Innes #2 plus horticultural grit; atleast for herbs. Might be #3 for veg...

[hedgesparrow]

if you want to grow spuds old tyres put a couple down fill with compost put spuds in wait untill starting to shoot put one more on and keep going untill you have about 5 then wait to shoot and flower then take the tyres off and you will have plenty of spuds. carrots grow in drain pipes 4 parts compost one part sharp sand or if you grow in beds put garlic or marigolds around them smell put fly off.same for parsnips. as for soil as other post do not get sifted soil no goodness just need good dug soil and plenty of organic matter, leaves mixed with muck. and let to rot. i have ground horses wee and poo went down onto and we grow fantastic crop of runner beans they love it

[djbobbins]

When we built out, most of the "soil" was fairly heavy clay, a legacy of the house being built on a brownfield site 40 years ago. We used 2 lots of 9 inch boards sat site by side cut about 3 inch below ground level in the bottom. We put about 3 inches of part rotted horse and pig bedding in the bottom, then back-filled the soil. Each year as the soil has bedded down / manure rotted, we've dug some more in to keep the level flush with the top of the boards. We've also put in odds and ends of sand and compost from e.g. Tomato plants as they've finished.

 

Soul now much lighter and seems to grow things pretty well - leeks as a favourite low maintenance crop!

 

 

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

[muttley9050]

Organic is the future, and so are gardeners. All mass non organic farming relies heavily on oil and gas for all fertilisers and pesticides, although it May appear that conventional farming is the best way, when the oil is gone many will starve. Conventional farming even makes the soil completely infertile so oil based products are necessary. Imo forest gardening is the future. The most fertile places in farms are the hedgerows. Watch

Farm for/of the future on you tube. It's very interesting. Forest gardening and permaculture will be the only way when ancient solar energy is gone and we have to rely on current solar energy. Rant over.

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

[teepeeat]

When we built out, most of the "soil" was fairly heavy clay, a legacy of the house being built on a brownfield site 40 years ago. We used 2 lots of 9 inch boards sat site by side cut about 3 inch below ground level in the bottom. We put about 3 inches of part rotted horse and pig bedding in the bottom, then back-filled the soil. Each year as the soil has bedded down / manure rotted, we've dug some more in to keep the level flush with the top of the boards. We've also put in odds and ends of sand and compost from e.g. Tomato plants as they've finished.

 

Soul now much lighter and seems to grow things pretty well - leeks as a favourite low maintenance crop!

 

 

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

 

:lol: some people get right into their veg growing it seems.

SOIL must be good as well

[twistedhicap]

steve, try and find out if you have any small scale aggregate suppliers, i got a load of topsoil for my garden, was "cleanings" from bury beet factory, top stuff!

 

Being close to the beet factory at Bury i would look into this too

Products and Services, TOPSOIL

[twistedhicap]

Surrounded here by fields only cut for hay in summer & run a few sheep over winter.

If they farmed it as I do my veg patch not only would it feed thousands, would employ loads of people & cut food imports.

Something is wrong with this economy.

 

Alot of the grass land in east sussex is grass as thats what its good at growing some of the poorer chalk and clay lands are very good at growing grass and not so good at Arable cropping due to the high amounts of imputs needed ! alot of the marsh land on pevensy and through to Romney marsh are left as grass as there to wet to do anything else with predicably but they grow good grass which feeds and produces good stock ! There is also an abundance of grass due to the diminishing number of Dairy enterprises due to the lack of income due to the milk prices driven so low by the daires and supermarkets loss leaders etc !

[djbobbins]

:lol: some people get right into their veg growing it seems.

SOIL must be good as well

 

Tee hee... Does the soul a bit of good, picking your own veg! Rhubarb wine from plant grown in the garden still fermenting too, so will hopefully be sorted for a bit of food and drink shortly.

 

 

 

 

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

[carlos]

looking forward to some nice veg this year as we are looking after a place with a mega polytunnel,

been busy filling it up with muck all winter.