Telegraph 10/03 - raised bed offer - is it any good?

sb44

Ok, took the plunge and ordered one although I don't know where I am going to put it!

The seeds in the picture look like Thompson and Morgan packets and they also sell the EasyFeed that you get as part of the package.

I wonder if they look like the ones that they are selling at the minute although the ones in the pic in the Telegraph are green.

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/sundries1/product/kww2095/1.html

Money_maker

I think the ones in the Telegraph aren't quite so deep. But they look good...

sb44

Money_maker wrote: »

I think the ones in the Telegraph aren't quite so deep. But they look good...

I think they are probably more like these:

http://www.selections.com/GF2165/raised-vegetable-bed-1sqm/?internalsource=product_pred

Money_maker

Good enough

If I don't like it, can use it as a sandpit for the LO!

sb44

Money_maker wrote: »

Good enough

If I don't like it, can use it as a sandpit for the LO!

I'm sure it will be ok. Just checked the size and if we make it into a square foot garden it can be divided into 9 plots.

Now then, what can I grow in something which looks like it may be 15cm deep, root veg are out.

Money_maker

Salad veg, onions? May put a bit of copper tape round top and hopefully have somewhere where the slugs wont chew my veggies.

PeteW

I would have thought that the expensive part of having raised beds is not the wood work but the hundred and hundreds of litres of compost/manure/topsoil you need to fill it out with.

Is that not the case? That's what's put me off so far

Money_maker

You could use cheap growbags, other garden soil or perhaps raid a compost heap. Looking at the depth of it, you wouldn't use too many bags of compost I shouldn't think. I will probably swipe some soil from a bed then do the top inch or so in multipurpose compost.

Lotus-eater

PeteW wrote: »

I would have thought that the expensive part of having raised beds is not the wood work but the hundred and hundreds of litres of compost/manure/topsoil you need to fill it out with.

Is that not the case? That's what's put me off so far

Depends how you do it. When I did mine, I dug over the whole area, mounded up slightly good topsoil where I wanted the beds, then put the wooden beds in, the paths went around and were slightly lower than the beds, which had the extra soil on them.
So you've already got some extra soil from the paths, the soil will also be well dug and will bulk up because of that. A 70 litre (used) bag of compost for every bed as well, as there always seems to be used growbags and pots around as well for me.
Then at least two full bags of local free manure and a bit of half composted garden compost.
The plan was to have leaf compost as well, but my first lot still isn't ready, I've started putting a lot of urine on it now and it's really coming on.

It's not difficult, if you want to do it, start collecting leaves next Autumn, start grooming a local manure supplying horse owner, start composting everything you can get your hands on at home, that means every bit of paper and cardboard as well as kitchen waste.

tomsolomon

Money_maker wrote: »

Salad veg, onions? May put a bit of copper tape round top and hopefully have somewhere where the slugs wont chew my veggies.

Over priced and over rated. I'm giving up the tape after I found a slug crawling straight accross the top of it.....:mad:
I going to stick with egg shells and straw this year. Oh and a big spot light and bucket of water. And any other way I can get rid of the nasty slimy little !!!!!!s. Not checked the prices but I recall nemaslug wasn't much more money to buy than the tape last year.