How do you make a raised veg bed

I was lucky enough with the scaffold boards too, I was about to buy some gravel boards but I managed to coax a scaffolding company that were doing a job on the house across the road from me to sell me some boards too and I now have enough for my raised beds. All I need to do now is make them! The area I have to cover is 6 metres long by 2.5 metres wide so I think I am going to need a lot of veg to fill it! Will need manageable sized beds to make it less daunting! I have seeds already sown for some of the beds though and potatoes sprouting shoots nicely too. Also (thanks to dendrobium for the seeds) I have lots of herbs sown too which will look great in the raised beds.

TimD, congratulations - why not grow some tomatoes, Emily will be able to see them grow as they are not underground and will love picking them and eating them.

 

Final preperations completed yesterday, and beds now covered over for soil warming / weed suppression:



Bed on the right still needs top dressing but will do that saturday.

Also managed to cut the lawn for the first time this year:



Getting there at last !

TTFN

 

Looking good oktarine, what did you use to fill the beds with and where did you get it from out of interest?

 

Hi LCH - sorry for slow reply - work gets in the way of everything!

3 main parts to filling the raised beds:

1. Before i made the raised beds, the location was dug over / hand weeded many times, which inevitably raised the soil level. When i made the raised sections, they had to be pressed down into the earth to get them level ish. The boards are 9" deep, and this levelling probably accounted for the 1st couple of inches.

2. I then proceeded , over time , to add some soil from the around the raised beds where i intend to put access paths ( black fabric with minimum 2" depth of bark chippings ), together with a 80litre bag of peat free compost dug into each bed. At time of adding / mixing these two parts, i also added slow release fertilizer at recommended rate.

3. Final top dressing was of general purpose potting compost from garden centre. I struck a deal locally, managing to get 6 torn/split 80 litre bags for �£9.00 . I had to ask first, then barter over the price, to be told finally that they usually get skipped anyway because jo public doesn't want them in the back his / her car ! If you dont ask, you dont get !

Do hope this helps you. Incidentally, my original soil under all this is heavy clay, hence all the additions. I tried pushing a six foot cane into the smaller bed yesterday, and with just fingertip pressure, it went in nearly 4 feet !

More pics to follow with broad beans going in later today !

TTFN

 

Hi oktarine,

Thanks for the info, I have finally managed to dig over the plot today as mine too is heavy clay. I am planning on getting the raised beds made tomorrow so should be able to get the soil ready for sowing soon. Will see if I can find any split bags of compost too but not sure if my other half will allow loose soil in the boot of his car!!!

 

Finished 2 raised beds with tanelised planks 2x1.5 m
and decided get a tonne of loam and mushroom compost from Rowland for �£80. Lovely stuff! Really nice texture but quite alot of money!
Most expensive veg ever!

 

How's everyone getting on with their raised beds projects ?

 

The story so far :

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/oktarine/08042007001.jpg

See my blog for more info !

 

Am I too late to start building a raised bed for veg for this year?? Just 'acquired' a pre-built wooden frame that was used to raise the height of a trailer!!!! It's 2ft deep by about 6ft long...do I just plonk it down on the grass and fill it...no don't tell me...more digging!!?? :rolleyes: :D

 

Just been looking at your blog Oktarine - very impressive!
If I start my raised bed this week (a bit late but I've only just 'acquired' the materials!) will I be able to get some veggies from it this year?
Just Runner beans, tomatos, a few herbs....is there anything else I could start off now and still get a crop from this year????

 

Windy,

You have plenty of time.

More digging though I guess, you could just slice the turf off the top with a spade, then fill your raised bed with general purpose compost? It would be more beneficial to dig first. If you dont dig over the ground, your growing will be limited to the depth of the compost you use.

However, all that you mention can still be grown successfully, as well as carrots, betroot, french beans, peas etc etc etc

Have fun !

 

Great stuff Oktarine, thank you!!
This is my first venture into veg growing...hopefully it might persuade my boy to eat something green that hasn't come out of his own body!!!!
I'm just sowing some Gardeners Delight toms and some dwarf runners, so that's a start!!
I was thinking of putting the raised bed outside my door, which gets early morning full sun and some sun all day - but not full on....will that be okay??

 

Right, been a busy girl today so here's an update!!
This was after turf removal...

and this is after digging it over and de-stoning and weeding...

Quite proud of myself!!!
Off to empty my Dalek into it and then nip off to B&Q for some extra compost!!!

 

Well done that woman!! And don't forget to get a few beers in for sitting around the raised bed this evening, gazing at it in admiration!!

Will there be some ritual sowing of seeds once the compost is in?

 

Well I've got the compost,the seeds and no idea!!! :rolleyes: (the beers in the fridge, for Ron - later on!!!)

Seeds - got carrots,beetroot,spring onions,dwarf beans,garlic and I've started some toms off inside. Now can these all go in the same bed together, or will I end up with some weird hybrids or something????? :eek: :rolleyes: :D