On 30 Jan, 20:19, "80/20"
wrote:
Questions:
How high would you make the beds?

Depends how tall you are, seriously. I've made mine the height of two
railway sleepers, which gives me a good height to bend and work on the
beds (I'm 1m57). Too low and you'll kneel across which is really
unconfortable. I've never seen a too high raised bed except in Carol
Klein's garden on the programme Grow Your Own. I was surprised, it
works well but it really gives lots of shade, which I find counter
productive in a way. Also when you're sitting at a table, if your beds
are too high, you'll see lots of earth and stems. Put a chair next to
the area where you want your beds and imagine the height and decide
accordingly.

I have plenty of home made compost, could this be used to fill the
beds?

I've used top soil as well as home made compost and OM. It's amazing
how much you'll need. Go onto a website for top soil, example http://
http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/produc...m_topsoil.html and
enter the area you need to fill. It calculates for you how much approx
you'll need.

What crops would you recommend?

I've grown in my raised beds radishes, leeks, salads, herbs, a variety
of flowers, nettles, spinash, sorrel, various trailling plants, and a
honeysuckle permanently settled in there when I used a honeysuckle
stick to prop up some helichrysum! You can plant anything you want
really, providing the soil is suited to the plant you want to grow.
HTH