New raised beds for 2014

joeyvicks

Hi folks,

I've constructed 2 raised beds ready for the new season. I am a total newbie to growing my own veg so need some pointers.

My raised beds measure 1.7x0.7x0.45 each and currently are just over half filled with topsoil. My intention is to fill the remainder up with multi purpose compost in the next few weeks.

With regard veg growing... I've been doing a bit of research into square foot gardening which would seem suited to me. I am wanting to grow onions, carrots, celery, broccoli, garlic, herbs, spinach and a few more. I would appreciate any advice in terms of planting, preparation of beds, setting out of veg etc etc

the beds are south facing btw.

Any help is much appreciated

safestored4

You'll get lots of helpful advice on this thread. For my twoppence worth forget Broccoli. It occupies the ground for far too long and requires too much space for the area you have.

safestored4

You'll get lots of helpful advice on this thread. For my twopence worth forget Broccoli. It occupies the ground for far too long and requires too much space for the area you have. You haven't mentioned any salad crops but if you put your mind to it you can be self sufficient in lettuce etc for most of the year. Don't waste the space in the raised beds on herbs. Many of these prefer poor soil conditions and will happily grow in odd nooks elsewhere in the garden.

annie123

joeyvicks wrote: »

Hi folks,

I've constructed 2 raised beds ready for the new season. I am a total newbie to growing my own veg so need some pointers.

My raised beds measure 1.7x0.7x0.45 each and currently are just over half filled with topsoil. My intention is to fill the remainder up with multi purpose compost in the next few weeks.

With regard veg growing... I've been doing a bit of research into square foot gardening which would seem suited to me. I am wanting to grow onions, carrots, celery, broccoli, garlic, herbs, spinach and a few more. I would appreciate any advice in terms of planting, preparation of beds, setting out of veg etc etc

the beds are south facing btw.

Any help is much appreciated

If you don't have the square foot gardening book, well worth getting. From £2.57p http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389132667&sr=1-3&keywords=mel+bartholomew I've dabbled in it but I'm not organised enough to keep on top of the successional planting and sowing.

Excellent 58 page thread on it here: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/vegging-out/square-foot-gardening_44388.html

seemasfriend

Great move JoeyVicks. I put in three raised beds last June, all around the same size as yours and used the square for gardening principles.
My failures were sweet corn (too big for space) and these overshadowed my courgettes which did zilch.
Successes were beans (French, dwarf and runner) which were laden with pods, spinach, chard and carrots. I grew oriental salad leaves in between crops and had curly and flat leafed parsley coming out of my ears.
A key lesson for me has been the need for planning - which you are doing. I tended to fill up a space with whatever I had to hand. Unfortunately I now have all 3 beds with some crops still going strong but am unable to clear a whole bed. Ordered 60 leek plants in Oct but had to slot them in where I could as other crops hadn't finished. Not a disaster but nit as neat as I would have wished.

There was a great article in gardeners World magazine last year which I could copy and send you if you pm me.

joeyvicks

Thanks for the pointers so far guys. I'll take the advice and ignore broccoli!

Would the best way be to divide each bed into maybe four areas and grow four different crops in each to begin with? Which veg will I be able to grow more than one batch of in a season?

I'll definitely grow some salad as we go through a lot of it. What about cucumbers are they good for a small raised bed?

joeyvicks

I also need to work it so that I don't end up with all of one thing at once. I need to make sure that I have a regular flow of each...

I_have_spoken

AFAIK one of the sq.foot gurus does a lot on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Lu-7FIj_g