On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 08:59:46 +0100, jkn wrote
(in article . com):

Hello all
I am constructing a couple of small raised beds (around 1.2m x 1m)
for our small garden; we want to experiment with growing a few
vegetables & salads etc. at home. I've dug over the area and put down
the frames, and I plan to fill them with a mixture of (cheapish)
topsoil, and compost from our home composters.

I'm guessing that it would be a good idea to plant a sort of ...
sacrificial ... crop to begin with, to ... erm, amalgamate the soil
properly and get it all settled in, kinda thing. But I'm willing to be
told I'm wrong!

Any suggestions a to a good 'first planting' to take us through to
next spring, when we should be in a position to plan our sowing a bit
better? We're on the South coast, & the beds face south, but are
shaded from the sun for part of the day.

You can't beat the taste of your own vegetables, picked just before you eat
them! If you don't want to use the beds for anything else during the winter,
you might consider growing a green manure. Details and information are he
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_51.

Just dig it in in the spring.


--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church with conservation
churchyard:
http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk