Down Under On The Bucket Farm wrote:

Hi there...

Living in an apartment block, I only have a very
small bit of actual land. Most of my plants this
year are planned for buckets.

But I do have an area totally maybe 3 square
metres (about 3 sq yrds?) right up in front of the
building. So I figure that I might as well use
it.

I hand-tilled the area a couple of days ago, and,
maybe 5-10 cm down, ran into a plastic woven mat,
and, apparantly, solid rock.

My new idea is to buy some "garden edging," which
is a bunch of small wood rectangles wired together
on the back.
http://www.mitre10.co.nz/products/item.asp?iCatego
ryID=9&lSKU=635886&loggedin=False

This will help with building up a small bed, with
maybe 20-25 cm of soil depth.

So, for 3 sq metres, and adding, say 10 new cm of
soil...

What should I use? The closest/easiest thing is
"potting mix" with peat and bark. (That is what I
am using for my bucket-bound plants.) I can go
downtown for some sheep manure if that would be
better, though. (I live in the 'burbs, so a
truckload of horse manure, etc, is out of the
question.)

And, generally, I am very interested in
suggestions for veggies that will work with that
soil depth. I am doing a bit of research to find
the best spacing. Since this is my first year,
and I a focussed upon just learning, I am open to
anything. My plans include maybe some lettuce,
broccoli, capsicum (bell pepper), and ???
(Whatever will fit.

(Tomatoes are scheduled for late Oct, in 20-litre
buckets.)

Thanks in advance for your advice!



All of those roots will go deeper than your soil if permitted but should
still manage okay despite being shallow. Is it possible that you could
drive some stakes into the ground and fasten a second row of that edging to
them?

The soil mix recommendation you were given is a good one. You might also
consider (if adding that seconds layer) filling the first layer with straw,
manure, etc. which will be well along in its break-down by the time the
plant roots enter that zone. Moreover, having straw for a bottom layer is
much like having a sponge down there. It's all good.

Oh ... and congrats on having spied out this parcel to grow in, however
small.

Bill

--
Zone 8b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.