In article , Stephen Howard
writes

Actually I have scaffolding planks because they are marginally easier to
carry 200 foot up the garden.

Sound ideal - you don't really need the width of a sleeper.
I've nabbed four such boards for a strawberry bed.


Nabbing would have been a darn sight cheaper! They cost me £11 each
locally and take two and a half to make one bed. I have room for 12 or
13 beds so it's going to cost a bomb in the end .Plus the cost of laying
weed cover on the pathway in between.


At the moment I have four large 14 x 14 foot squares with a pathway
between, I thought raised beds would organise the plot more.

It does. I have four 30ft x 4ft beds in my plot - just helps to keep
things orderly, and it looks nice
Mine aren't lined. I had to dig so much flint out that by the time I
infilled with manure, the beds just about came back up to ground
level.
I guess I have sunken raised beds!

Oh good so have I at the moment! I did think of putting weed blanket on
the bottom and then filling in with top soil/compost etc just to stop
any perennial weeds that I might have missed, but didn't bother in the
end.


The deep bed system works well with trench composting over the winter.
Simply dig a small trench, shove your kitchen waste into it and cover
with soil as you dig the next trench. But the time May comes around
you'll have a spot that just perfect for deep, gross feeders.

Did that as well for the runner beans as I find it keeps the moisture in
the soil for longer during dry weather. It seems to encourage a vast
amount of worms as well.


Onions and carrots work very well when 'bunched' - that's to say four
or five plants shoulder to shoulder. You get smaller veg, but the
overall yield of the plot increases.
If going for the traditionally spaced method you can generally halve
the distances printed on the seed packets.
That said, I've found that lettuces do far better with lots of space
between plants, and suffer less from slug attack.

Think you should write an article about this as you have some very good
ideas and information.


I tried to grow rocket last year...flea beetle ate the lot
I had no idea they'd eat the stuff...so when they come around this
year....I'll be ready!

Regards,


I've got wild and ordinary rocket if you want to try some different
types. Moles seeds seems t sell a variety of vegetable seeds not often
seen elsewhere but blinking big packets!!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk