Tips for my first veg plot 2008

Hi All!

Thought I'd sign up to this gardening forum as it seemed easy to use and friendly. I was just wondering if anyone could give me some tips and advice for doing my own veg plot. I have ordered some timber and I'm going to build my own raised bed for the vegetables.

As I have chosen to grow vegetables in a raised bed, I will obviously have greater choice with the growing medium, as my soil in my garden is very heavy clay. What should I fill my raised bed with in order to grow my vegetables? I have a compost heap going, but none of it is ready to use yet. Should I just fill the bed with compost from the garden centre? Or does it need to be a 50/50 mix with something else?

These are the veg my wife and I are attempting...

Carrots, Courgettes, Leeks, Savoy Cabbage, Runner Beans, Lettuce, Leaf Beet, and Brocolli. We are also growing potatoes and tomatoes in containers.

Do any of have any particular advice for the selection of veg that we are attempting to grow. For example, what veg benefit from a cloche, and what soil they grow best in?

Many thanks in advance for any help!
Chris

 

Hi and welcome you cant just fill your beds with compost its very light and fly away , look in local papers or yellow pages for some top soil , as for growing dont sow too much or too early slightly lat sowen veg soo catches up to early sowen and avoids frost dammage ,sow leeks and brocolli towards the back of the plot as they ae a long time in the plot but other produce can be sowen in between ie lettuce raddish ,carrots i grow just in a line dont have a problem w carrot fly so just try them and see beans need a lot of feed i dig a row spade deep put newspaper at the bottom then a food with manure then cover back and plant finally why grow pots in pots if you are going to all this trouble with the beds i would deffo put some new pots in the ground there is nothing better hope this is some help.

 

In autumn/winter tlast year i started a veg patch too!

I have heavy clay soil too so i turned it over ( hard work! ) then dug big holes and trenches and filled these with half decomposed compost material. Then mixed some horse manure on the durface. Then left it over winter.

when in spring i turned it lightly over again the trenches and holes had pockets of compost in them.

And soooo many worms. all good.

then i raked the surface and have just planted some early peas, beetroot, savoy cabbage, brocolli, and carrots. fingers crossed for sucess. With a raised bed (mine isnt) i would maybe put some compost in to fill it up. dont use to much because it could be a waste of money as clay soil is rich in nutrients. I would also reccomend if your soil type is acidic mixing in some lime.

As an extra try sprinkling on some half rotted compost on top over winter and although unsightly it will break down and grow healthy veg.

i know it is a bit late to do this now, but perhaps do it this winter. If you have winter cabbges in etc just mulch and mix around them. even surrounding the base of them with mulch can help!

hop[e this helps!

 

Hi Chris, and welcome to the site. When you`ve built your bed, turn over the soil in the bottom to improve drainage. I would then fill it with a 50/50 mix of clean topsoil and sedge or dark, peat. Mixing the peat and soil together should give you a slightly acid soil which vegetables want.

 

Raised Beds ? Good choice!

You can fill with general purpose compost, mixed with topsoil and peat free compost.

Drainage is the key. Ensure the sub soil under the beds is well dug and weed free. Incorporate some sand / fine gravel to the soil before adding your growing bed area.

Check my blog for some further info.

Have fun