Hi

I got some great responses from my first post so i thought you might be able help with another query?

I have taken over an allotment and have spent the last 12 months clearing it!!! The soil is pretty good but for ease of access i have built 2 x 'L' shaped raised beds. 10ft x 8ft at their longest sides and 4ft wide.

I hadn't quite anticipated how much soil etc i was going to need to fill them! They are 12" high and i am looking at approx 3 tonnes to fill them......

I don't really have any spare soil although i have taken some out when i was making the paths.

What should i fill my beds with? I wish to grow a variey of things in them. I have looked at topsoil and it is very expensive. I assume i should also have a quantity of compost in there? What about sand?

I know this can be improved over time and with the addition of manure etc but i would really like to start growing in them asap

Thank you for your time

Hi mw80

Sand in the raised beds is OK but it will make it drain faster. This might mean watering in summer. Have you somewhere you could get manure from? This could be put at the bottom of the beds to bulk them up. Straw is good, but fresh stuff might rob the soil of nitrogen in it's first year. Newspapers at the bottom bulk it up a bit. You can use all sorts for the base soil then put a few inches of good top soil on it. By the time the plants establish the subsoil will be rotted enough to awelcome the fresh roots.

cheers

Ian

www.gardening.ie

g'day mw80,

can you source spent mushroom compost from the mushroom farm or other?

how about that composted recycled material from the local landfill or
refuse station? not sure about where you are but lots of local
councils recycle green waste this way, sometimes they give it away to
gardeners other times they charge for it.

we sue mushroom compost as our main medium for our gardens, we have
pic's and story on our site.



On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:51:36 +0100, mw80
wrote:
snipped

With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

Thanks both

I have managed to get some well rotted horse muck for the bottom of the beds and then mixed some compost and top soil for the rest.

Do i need to add any sort of irrigation system or well the trusted watering can do the trick?!

we never use irrigation systems we find we can better manage water
when it is done by hand, so to that end we mulch heavily to minimise
moisture loss from the beds.

we also use our grey water and my wee water on our plants, but we make
our own laundry gel and use an earth friendly dish detergent, and as
we use rainwater all the time we need very little detergent as rain
water is softer.



On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:12:38 +0100, mw80
wrote:
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/