Raised Bed.. 2 questions

Hello all.

I made this raised bed, and wondered the following.

1. If anyone had any suggestions of Cloche netting solutions that would work best

2. Embarrassing I have forgot what I have sown, and threw the seed packets out. (lesson learned for next time)

Aside from the right hand side, which are strawberrys struggling to grow

On the left I should have, peas, carrots and one other.

For those that grow below the surface, how will I know when they are ready to pull out? Will it be a case of knowing when they produce, or do you dig down periodically near to the time of harvest and see?

I don't want to disrupt the process.

Any tips, are greatly appreciated on the two questions.

Thank you

Chris

 

I haven't used a cloche on my raised bed but hope to do so next year. I suppose one consideration is that it should be firmly secured, because being raised from the ground it could catch the wind easier.

To know when carrots and parsnips are ready I just scrape a bit of the soil away and you can see how big they are.
Turnips and radishes, you can see the tops of them at ground level, they don't seem to be totally buried.

I've never grown peas in the raised bed because they are too tall.

 

Hi,

1. What do you want to do, protect things from birds with plastic netting or horticultural fleece or something more substantial to keep the heat in, which the fleece will do by keeping a light frost off.

2. Add a bag of write on Plant Labels to your xmas list


The Strawberries, when did you plant them, have they already fruited and did you cut the old growth off ?
Raised beds generally need more watering than garden soil, so have they been regulalry watered during the hot weather.
Either way, they are robust plants and should be ok for next years fruit.

Looks like you have some good looking carrots in the center of the bed, but difficult to see what else is in there.
You need to pull a carrot out to see how they have grown, some folk including us only managed dinky ones this year, just so dry.

One thing stands out, looks like you have made a dry storage area for you logs under the bed, but did you put some drainage holes in the bottom of the bed as in the winter rains it could become a bog garden and rot anything in there ?

 

You asked for advice?
Could have planted peas along the back, giving support on a net attached to the shed behind.
Strawberries would hang nicely in semicircular baskets on the front.
Thats freed up space to put the salads you intended to grow (?) but didn't.

Re cloche,:
A)you could simply build a cold frame top
B) Simple wire hoops above and below a polythene cover; or insect net, according to needs
C) if dimensions suit, a mini greenhouse such as :
https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-pvc-cloche-greenhouse-with-2-openings-h60-x-w120-x-d60cm/p/0273087

 

Tell us that you have mushroom impregnated these, for shitakes or oysters !

 

How did they start off? Are they from potted plants, bare root, plugs, seed, rooted runners?

If they're from bare root or rooted runners cut prematurely, they might just be building up their strength, focusing their energy on laying down good roots before they focus on top side growth.