vegetable plotters

[Mr Celine]

Onions best ever, apple (var Katy) best ever, radishes excellent, runner beans excellent, potatoes 5 varieties good, 1 poor, rhubarb good, french beans average, garlic average, red and black currants average, beetroot poor (rabbits), lettuce poor (slugs), pears poor, apple (var James Grieve) very poor, spinach disastrous (rabbits), shallots disastrous (all bolted).
Parsnips, leeks and brussel sprouts untried, but the sprout leaves are being massacred by caterpillars.
Rabbit crop poor (cold weather makes their fur too thick or they have developed an immunity to lead).

 

[Chris James]

Good: early cabbages (before an influx of cabbage whites), brussels, parsnips (not eaten yet but look excellent), blackcurrants, red currants, autumn raspberries, new pots, garlic

Okay: Red onions from sets, carrots (very vigorous but hit by carrot fly a bit), runner beans

Poor: French beans, courgettes, lettuce - all of which I put down to the wet and cool summer

 

[Chris James]

What's the best way to build raised beds cheaply? I got fed up with grass and weeds encroaching onto my veggie plots this summer so something like this might solve the problem.

Mine are made from 3 B&Q pressure treated fence bottoms (2.5 long), making 1.25 x 2.5m beds with the corners made from fence posts. That was pretty cheap I guess. They still look perfect after three years.

 

[Chuffy]

Mine are made from 3 B&Q pressure treated fence bottoms (2.5 long), making 1.25 x 2.5m beds with the corners made from fence posts. That was pretty cheap I guess. They still look perfect after three years.

Have you got internal support posts along the length to prevent bulging? Also, how thick are the fence bottoms?

 

[purplemoon]

Mine are made from 3 B&Q pressure treated fence bottoms (2.5 long), making 1.25 x 2.5m beds with the corners made from fence posts. That was pretty cheap I guess. They still look perfect after three years.

That sounds pretty feasible to do as my beds are around that size already so no major adaptions needed. Thanks!

 

[Maz]

What's the best way to build raised beds cheaply?

Someone told me that if you can get hold of old pallets (forklift truck wooden base things), they make excellent raised beds. Guess you stick some bricks under it for legs or something like that.

 

[dantheman]

Someone told me that if you can get hold of old pallets (forklift truck wooden base things), they make excellent raised beds. Guess you stick some bricks under it for legs or something like that.

this is what i intend to use, cutting in half lengthways and staking down as usual, I'll
probably treat them with some nice coloured fence paint, and line (the pallets only, hence letting the water drain through the bottom) with plastic sheet to help it last some years (hopefully).

luckily, i have got some suitable pallet tops from work, and should be able to get some decent plastic sheet from there too..

 

[Cab]

I know its almost heresy these days, but I just can't be doing with raised beds. Less of an issue this summer maybe, but the more you raise up off the ground the more prone to drying out the soil becomes. The initial weed suppression you'll get is easy to lose, all that has to happen is you get a busy month at work or at home and a few weeds go to seed and before long that initial advantage is lost. There is no clear advantage with regard to maintaining fertility.

As for edging, people make the mistake of sowing crops right to the edge of a grass path and expect to get good veg specimens all the way along, but that just doesn't happen. Leave a couple of inches so you can edge it once or twice per year (its part of my digging over).

 

[Chris James]

Have you got internal support posts along the length to prevent bulging? Also, how thick are the fence bottoms?

The fence bottoms (not sure who else to describe them really) are probably an inch thick and abouty 18 inches deep. So you bury them a bit in the ground and the bit above the surrounding level prevents bulging. Since my corner posts are longer than the sides of the raised bed then when the soil level increases then all I need to do is nail another fence bottom on.

 

[User482]

I really wish I'd raised my veg patch. Double digging thick clay was NOT fun!

 

[Cab]

I really wish I'd raised my veg patch. Double digging thick clay was NOT fun!

There are better options than a raised bed though. Dump on a pile of newspaper and cardboard, then a hefty layer of manure followed by topsoil, and let it rot in. They call it a 'sandwich' bed these days, but its not a million miles form being an old fashioned lazy bed. Standard autumn/winter digging from that point on seems okay.

 

[User482]

There are better options than a raised bed though. Dump on a pile of newspaper and cardboard, then a hefty layer of manure followed by topsoil, and let it rot in. They call it a 'sandwich' bed these days, but its not a million miles form being an old fashioned lazy bed. Standard autumn/winter digging from that point on seems okay.

That's what I thought a raised bed is! And what I wish I'd done with my veg patch...

 

[Chuffy]

My raised beds are fairly low (about 6"). I'm after ease of management more than anything else. There's also the apparent bonus that carrot fly won't be able to get up high enough as they fly low plus slugs will be easier to keep away if I lay bark around the beds with a handful of organic slug pellets. There's also the bonus of starting from ground-zero with some lovely clean topsoil.

 

[rich p]

My raised beds are fairly low (about 6"). I'm after ease of management more than anything else. There's also the apparent bonus that carrot fly won't be able to get up high enough as they fly low plus slugs will be easier to keep away if I lay bark around the beds with a handful of organic slug pellets. There's also the bonus of starting from ground-zero with some lovely clean topsoil.

I think it's about 12" for carrot fly avoidance!

I built some narrow raised troughs for my carrots - they didn't get eaten but were more julienne than dildo!

 

[Chuffy]

I think it's about 12" for carrot fly avoidance!

Oh cack.
Might have to plant some screening plants around the edge in that case.

I built some narrow raised troughs for my carrots - they didn't get eaten but were more julienne than dildo!

You want to try growing courgettes then. I found myself looking at some of mine and wondering where the batteries went!