Turning a lawn into a Veg bed

SmallL

Hey,
Im currently in the process of up-turfing and turning part of my lawn into a veg bed.
I think we have clay soil so iv read that mixing in some sort of organic matter is preferable (im going to use compost)
Currently i have only up-turfed about two meters squared, the turf i have taken off is upsidedown on the exposed soil.

(I plan to make about a 4m square veg bed)

I know its quite late to start but what veg can i plant to get a crop later this year if i had the bed sorted by about end of next month? I was thinking simple salad leaves/spring onions(got seedling indoors)/perhaps cabbage.

Sadly i dont have much time (i go to uni) so thats why prepping the bed will most likely take a month at most- weather hasn't been brilliant either lately

Oh also any advice on to prepping the bed will be much appreciated as im not entirely sure im doing it right

TallGirl

I am no expert but if you want an easy way to grow veg use a raised bed. I made one myself out of pressure treated timber that way you don't have to dig too deep (I have clay so I know how hard it is). I have not started any veg yet (we live in the South) so I would say you are not too late. In my raised bed I grew everything just sow little and often so you have a continued flow of veg. Peas and salads and raddish are easy to start with and I am sure you can sow them all spring.

theoretica

Look up double digging - basically you dig another spade depth down and bury the turf upside down at the bottom. If you just put it upside down on top you end up with a solid mass of grass roots your veg can't grow through and lots of grass coming up anyway.

Lotus-eater

A 4 metre square bed is not a good idea, very difficult to get into the middle. So unless space constrainsts mean you have to make it that size, then make it 1.2 metres wide and longer.

Manure is much better than compost. Unless it's homemade compost.

You have two ways of doing it. Double dig and incorperate manure as you go, or put manure thickly on the grass, then cover with something. Cardboard would do nicely, a thick layer. Next Spring you have a lovely medium to dig over and plant in.

Either, hard work now, to plant this spring, or little work now and easy work next spring to plant.

mrbadexample

This is what I did. Get the bed dug as soon as you can (a day's hard labour should do it), and you'll have plenty of time to get things in this year. Worry about building the raised beds later - just keep your eye open and the wood you need will turn up eventually.

Aim for a bit this year, and next year will be even better.

SmallL

Thanks everyone:

@Lotus- im aiming it to be in the form of two longish beds with a verge of grass going down the middle for access The 4m2 was more total area.

@Mrbadexample- That looks amazing, and the size is very similar to what im going for! sadly i dont think mine is going to be half as neat, the grass hasnt been sut and is a good 3 inches long (been too wet) and im using a fork of all things to take the turf off!!! (really should get a spade)

Really wish i had more time, i cant afford to spend an entire day or even half a day on it, as iv got so much university work at the weekends and attending lectures on weekdays!!

Fingers crossed the weather stays sunny and il be out in a couple of hours, if i manage to deturf the area and give it a good ploughing il post some pictures

Sazbo

Lotus-eater wrote: »

You have two ways of doing it. Double dig and incorperate manure as you go, or put manure thickly on the grass, then cover with something. Cardboard would do nicely, a thick layer. Next Spring you have a lovely medium to dig over and plant in.

I would absolutely LOVE to do this. We got fed up with our lawn the summer before last and killed the grass, with a view to creating veg beds, but didn't do anything with it last year so now we just have bare patches of earth interpersed with weeds lol. Neither DH nor myself are up to the double digging and the demands of working and commuting don't leave us with much spare time - so this method would be perfect. But the previous owners of our house added an extra room at the side of the house, between the garage and garden, so now there is no easy way to get tonne of manure into the garden! :mad: Does anyone do helicopter rental cheaply?!

Saz x

Lotus-eater

Lay down plastic sheeting, get a barrow which fits through the house and just go for it.

Sazbo

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Lay down plastic sheeting, get a barrow which fits through the house and just go for it.

Thanks Lotus - maybe we should do just that. There is also a change of levels going between garage/extra room/garden - but I guess if we could put some boards down then that would make maouvering the barrow easier.

Thanks again.

shirlls

I dug up all my grass a couple of years ago. I also have clay soil and I used horticultural sand, which helped to break up the big clods, and home made compost. I now just dig in my home made compost when I'm ready to plant my veg seedlings. Stick at it, just get a small bed ready for this year and dig over more as you have the time, if you're like me you'll get such a buzz picking and eating your own veg.

SmallL

Update- Went out and have completed deturfing a strip of lawn about 3/4 meter wide and 2 metres long. Dug down about 8-10 inches, tried to get some air into the soil but i think further efforts will have towait the arrival of compost and possibly sna dto break up the huge blocks of clay! ( i did try with a hand fork/spade but the clay was too wet!)
Think il just concentrate on doing this strip for now, once iv planted i can start on another strip, perhaps a raised strip for overwintering root veg