Simplifying Life - Mark II

firework

oh man!! just felt part of one of my teeth disintigrate while i was eating ... icecream!!!! and there was me bragging about never ill etc blah blah blah - lucky its one at the back but honestly - on a friday night grrrrrrrr! so a trip to dentist on cards for next week. yuk!

ceridwen

firework wrote: »

been reading alot on the square foot gardening site, have read all the basics and checked the FAQs but i still have one unanswered question... if i'm putting it on a concrete yard, should i just put it straight down on the floor or should i put a bottom on the box, and / or should i raise it - thinking drainage, and what would i raise it up on?? breezeblocks? has anyone done it yet - any ideas please. also i have seen kits for raised beds - wondering if i should buy one or just have a go at bashing me own together.....


cheers.

I'd be glad of any comments on this myself. I've bought a readymade raised bed square foot size gardening kit myself (ie 4' x 4') and part of what came with it was a liner (made of some sort of loosewoven plastic sheeting). I see that some other readymade raised beds on the market have liners as well (looks like the same material) and can be bought with or without the liner. I'm guessing that one only has to use the liner if wanting to protect the concrete from possible damage by soil (ie it going mossy/mouldy/whatever). I would think it isnt vital to use one of those liners on the one hand (if you're not that bothered about how the concrete might look subsequently) - but that, if you do decide to use the liner, then it looks as if its loosewoven enough that the water would drain through it on the other hand.

Personally - I'm thinking I will use my liner - but the jury is still out a bit on that - as I dont want to take the risk of getting waterlogged soil.

So - 'twould be good to get some input from any experienced gardeners on here on this one purlease:D

FIREWORK - over on "My Gardening Notes" blog that I have I've got links to suppliers of readymade raised beds on the one hand (think its under the "Supplies" label) and on the other hand I put a recent entry on how to make your own raised bed:

http://mygardeningnotes.blogspot.com/

(its not a "conventional" type garden blog - as its veering round to foodgrowing post Peak Oil now - but you might well find useful stuff on there. Thinking I must have a good read now of my latest entry - which is a free 300 page online book on home foodgrowing).

EDIT; 1. That 300 page free book I mentioned is "Seed starters handbook" from the Green Roof Growers website.

2. I've checked through my gardening blog and the links to readymade raised bed kits is under the "Supplies" label - currently the 2nd "post" down.

3. The link I've given on there for making your own raised bed is:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2009/02/build-your-own-raised-flowervegetable-bed/

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PS; MARY.....OH MARY.....WHEREFORE ART THOU?

mardatha

I wish Mary would appear and then I could relax ...

firework

ceridwen, many thanks for all that info and glad to know i'm not alone with working out what i thought would be the easy bits of this gardening lark - i'll have a good read through all that later tonight. must be some humdinger of a cold that mary has, she's been off here over a week now - and we're all worried about her!!! come back mary...... do hope she's ok.

pagangirl

Hi folks - I do read all the posts, just more of a lurker than a poster theses days!

Any news of Mary yet - I hope she is ok - was thinking of her today especially with Mothers Day being so close to her losing her own mum. Big dodgy hugs Mary :grouphug:

mary43

Bless you all for caring :A

I'm back now but only briefly...........been in hospital for last 2 weeks -bit of an emergency.............sodium levels in the blood dropped - least thats what showed up after endless blood tests, ct scan etc. They'd have kept me in longer but I needed a nights sleep ! Ward of patients with dementia who roamed around at night -very scary - one old lady died ! Just what I needed when I'm trying to get to grips with losing mum. Nursing staff were brilliant - doctors ?? ..........*&^*(@ !!!!! what more can I say ? Am putting in letter of complaint about them. Real eye opener it was. Something to fill up the pages in my diary I think.
Will scan back on threads another day when I feel more 'up to it'.........still bit weak and wobbly so doing everything a little bit at a time. Break from kids -most important. I'd never cope at the minute and big bruv. is being surprisingly good.............says he'll deal with mums ashes (relief !) and not to worry about anything ! Maybe this whole thing has marked a turning point for us. We'll see.
Catch you all later -keep simplifying :j

rosieben

Thinking of you Mary, take care of yourself.

meanmarie

Mary, not been keeping up very well, sincere condolences on the loss of your mother, its a difficult one to come to terms with, especially as you have been ill yourself. Glad to hear that you are home from hospital and sleeping better, but take care of yourself...hugs.

We have had four square foot boxes ...OH put them together from odd pieces of timber around the place. We put them on gravel and lined the bases with cardboard....they have worked fine for us so far....hoping that he can persuade himself that he is well enough to put two larger ones near the greenhouse.

Marie

ceridwen

Hi Mary

...and thanks for the P.M. - I was just going to follow your instructions and let people know the gist of whats been happening...anyways...I see you've kindly come on and told us all here. I'll pass the message on to others - our Mardatha has been worrying herself at frequent intervals about you - think she picked up the vibes that summat was wrong and I think we'd all begun to suspect that the problem wasnt one of your p.c. being down.

Glad you got yourself outa that hospital - sounds like it was more likely to have the reverse effect, rather than helping you get well again to me.

Just as well to take however long a break you need from work and hope you soon feel better.

Take care <hugs>

love

ceridwen

P.S. Should you feel up to it - then 'twould be nice to have a P.M. of your address - so's I could send you a card...but if you dont feel up to that even...I'll understand. Sounds like you had very little sleep during that hospital stay..

mary43

thanks for all your kindness.

ceridwen.......will pm you. Could write long saga about hospital stay but not at the minute............has given me something to put in my diary though and was a real eye opener to how hard nurses work...........can't praise them enough. If only the 'boffins' could work out that we're people and not pawns in a chess game........not rocket science or too much to ask I'd have thought.