Raised beds

Good point Freedy, that is quite a lot to add to existing ground

 

I've got arthritis in my knees so I need 'em high to reach over. I've left a wide enough pathway for a chair and the wood is wide enough to balance a cup of tea and tools. Bliss.
By the way, the soil arrived (from a local v. reputable merchant) and was disgusting......smelt and felt oily, full of huge stones and clumps of inferior stony clay etc. Obviously not the screened green field site soil I ordered....more like a building site!!! When I complained they initially said I couldn't have a replacement til Monday but I had people lined up to help barrow and this is the only w/e I can do for 3 weeks so they are thankfully swapping it tomorrow am. The boss is personally overseeing it. Damn right too!! I was so excited it was all finally coming together after months of saving and planning......... then lost a day barrowing. Ho hum......

 

needs some pictures of the before, after, and the Chain Gang hard at work please!

 

Do my best!!! (in between barrows, cups of tea etc...)

 

Hello everyone! I too have some newly made raised beds! My neighbour has a huge manure heap, which i have recently secured access to.... my question is this: the manure heap has 'layers' the top layer being fresh horse manure, and then by varying degrees, it decomposes in form, until when you get really deep into the heap it is like oily thick soil. At some point in the heap there is an amazing quantity of worms in the mix, all I think eating and composting the manure... which bit of the heap is best? (I headed deep into the depths to prize out the thick black soil ...and then got lured by the sight of the worms, so i had some of that too.) Can I possibly go wrong in the face of all this manure at my feet? And if so, how? (I'm hoping to grow runner beans, tomatoes and courgettes this year).
Thanks! Jo

 

Anything with the worms living in it and below is good. The stuff above is "too fresh"

Fresh manure will "steal" Nitrogen from the soil if you put it on fresh; Nitrogen is the primary element the plants need for growth, so its quite important!

Separate the fresh off the top into a new heap, and use the rest. If you are going to have the use of the heap regularly see if you can get your neighbour to start a new pile every 6 months. You can put the fresh manure in your compost heap mixed in layers with your garden / kitchen vegetable waste. Make a layer of "green" material about 6" deep and then a layer of manure about 2" deep - keep the proportions about the same, the exact depths of the layers is not too important. The muck will boost the temperature of the heap and thereby accelerate the composting process.