New Vegetable Patch in Progress

Im a bit confused. Are you saying that you have a pile of earth somewhere?
If so, definitely use it.

 

Have you seen the picture I uploaded? I basically dig that out. I have earth that I removed but it's really full of stones and chukies etc. I was thinking sieve it and reuse it with a compost mix and then top soil to seed?

Sorry I'm really new to this so may talking rubbish

 

No, you’re not “talking rubbish” If you’re worried about the stones, then I suppose you could just sieve the area you plan to have your root crops (carrots), but sieving the whole lot will be very time consuming. It might be an idea to sow a row of carrots in the un-sieved area, to compare.

 

Thanks Freddy. That actually makes good sense.

Is there any need to apply fertilizer of any kind also? In terms of top soil what depth would this typical be?

 

From memory, when I last put together raised beds (mixing topsoil with MPC), I didn’t need to add any fertiliser. Some folks do, some don’t. A lot depends on how far you want to go with it. You could for instance test your soil (ph test). I found that by adding plenty of organic matter, that was enough to grow pretty good crops.
@Steve R posted a very good video, one of many by Charles Dowding, like this one...

Have a watch of a few of them, very good. Like you, my beds will have been dug, but I’m going to adopt this method going forward.

 

To add on a slight tangent, from the photos it looks like you have a relatively small area for the bed? I've been growing vegetables in a small urban garden for the last three years and it's been an experiment in size vs output - everything has to earn it's keep to come back the following year. Looking at your space I would personally be inclined to skip on the potatoes for now; from past experience the amount of bed space they take up vs the volume and quality of the final product just isn't worth it. On the flip side I've found things like celeriac, parsnip, carrot and tomatoes (though maybe not in your climate?) to be well worth their while - and cut-and-come-again salad is brilliant.

 

Thank You for the input.

It's not bad. You can't see the whole bed and it still needs dug out but it's about 10m2. Potatoes may be better in a separate raised bed.

This bed I'm showing I'm keen to do things like carrot and beets but I'm so confused about compost and soil.

Ideally I would be able to reuse the soil I've dug up if I can sieve it to create a base over some cardboard mulch. There after I can fill it with compost

 

Aaah that's bigger that it looks then, your potato plans can continue

Carrots tend to do best in less fertile soil - I grow mine in large regtangular pots filled with the previous year's tomato compost - so you might be better using the seived dug-out soil rather than fresh compost for those? I'm still very much trial and error with my veg growing though so other more knowledgable people might have better suggestions!

 

Nikos, try not to overthink it. There’s no need for cardboard in your situation, as far as I can tell. Mr Dowding only used it for suppressing weeds, at ground level. I might add, there’s no real need to use timber. I like to use it because it gives a nice neat edge, it aids drainage and means I don’t have to bend down as much As long as the bed is higher that the surrounding ground, that’s fine Incidentally, did you have grass in the area you’ve dug? If so, put it at the bottom of the trench, turned upside down.
I’m just now putting together one of my raised beds, I’ll post a pic when it’s in place, if you like?

 

Everyone seriously thanks for the help. It's been amazing

Mr Dowding was awesome. I've laid a sheet of cardboard anyway as I had some. It's 10inch deep to the top of the stone so I may build a small timber frame to make it neat tidy and to allow me to bring depth to 16inch.

I managed to sieve the earth I dug up and used it as a base layer on top of the cardboard. I've now layered that with multi purpose compost as it's all I could get just now. Once I build my box I fill further and managed to get top soil which I'll use to finish it off before seeding.

I'm maybe making mistakes somewhere but honestly just loving the trial and error element.

Here's a picture update.....

 

Looking good Don’t worry about mistakes, we all make them. BTW, have you got your seed already? If not, you might want to get it ordered, as demand is heavy.

 

Struggling to get seeds but my dad has some spare. Bit of a bummer that one but everyone in the same boat there.

 

And seed potatoes, you can get some?

 

Not looking likely for potatoes now.

Can I ask. I've out down a general multi purpose compost. Would you say it's better to mix this with some organic compost also before I start?

 

For carrots and beetroot, I wouldn’t have thought it necessary. I’m not quite sure what the term “organic compost” relates to, other than it means no chemicals have been added. Different types will have different ingredients. Do you plan to grow anything else?