Hi folks.

I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds, each about 2meteres square.

I'm not sure how to make the rasied beds. I like the look of railways sleepers (new untreated ones, obviously) but I don't think I could afford the £400 to buy them.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can make these raised beds cheaper, or perhaps I should be looking at leavign the ground level, and just marking the beds out with wood somehow ?

Any ideas/advise would be great!

On 17/07/08 15:14, Joe Shmoe wrote:
Hi folks.

I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it
into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds,
each about 2meteres square.


That would mean you would be only cultivating 16 sq metres out of a
total area of 36 sq metres i.e less than half of the available spare
space!!

Why do you need such big spaces between your beds?

Ed

"Ed" wrote ...
, Joe Shmoe wrote:

I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it
into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds,
each about 2meteres square.


That would mean you would be only cultivating 16 sq metres out of a total
area of 36 sq metres i.e less than half of the available spare space!!

Why do you need such big spaces between your beds?


Because he is using Raised Beds which waste a lot of the available space
with paths.
It's why most allotment gardeners use walking boards with few paths, in our
case just one down the middle.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden

Bob Hobden writes

"Ed" wrote ...
, Joe Shmoe wrote:

I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it
into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds,
each about 2meteres square.


That would mean you would be only cultivating 16 sq metres out of a total
area of 36 sq metres i.e less than half of the available spare space!!

Why do you need such big spaces between your beds?


Because he is using Raised Beds which waste a lot of the available space
with paths.
It's why most allotment gardeners use walking boards with few paths, in our
case just one down the middle.

I don't think most people with raised beds make their paths 2m wide
which is what is implied here.
--
Kay

"Joe Shmoe" wrote in message
...

Hi folks.

I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it
into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds,
each about 2meteres square.

I'm not sure how to make the rasied beds. I like the look of railways
sleepers (new untreated ones, obviously) but I don't think I could
afford the £400 to buy them.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can make these raised beds cheaper, or
perhaps I should be looking at leavign the ground level, and just
marking the beds out with wood somehow ?

Any ideas/advise would be great!

old painting.scaffold planks if you can hold of them are good.
Painters/scaffolders will scrap old boards from time to time & likely give
them away free. 2x10 inch. I have used both old planks and garden sleepers.

rob


-- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to --

On 17/07/08 17:06, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ed" wrote ...
, Joe Shmoe wrote:
I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it
into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds,
each about 2meteres square.

That would mean you would be only cultivating 16 sq metres out of a total
area of 36 sq metres i.e less than half of the available spare space!!

Why do you need such big spaces between your beds?


Because he is using Raised Beds which waste a lot of the available space
with paths.
It's why most allotment gardeners use walking boards with few paths, in our
case just one down the middle.

Is it not possible to have raised beds with narrow paths (say, the width
of a wheelbarrow) between them? Surely you don't need 2m wide paths?


Ed

On 17 Jul, 15:14, Joe Shmoe
wrote:
Hi folks.

I have quite a large garden and would like to dedicate a portion of it
into growing my own veg.

I have at least 6m x 6m to spare, so was thinking about 4 raised beds,
each about 2meteres square.
I'm not sure how to make the rasied beds. *I like the look of railways
sleepers (new untreated ones, obviously) but I don't think I could
afford the £400 to buy them.
Does anyone have any ideas how I can make these raised beds cheaper, or
perhaps I should be looking at leavign the ground level, and just
marking the beds out with wood somehow ?
Any ideas/advise would be great!

I've used lots scaffolding planks which I nail with a triangle at each
corners. On another bed I've used bricks without mortar, but these are
for herbs and perenials, with some salad/spinash/sorrel too, so even
if it's not a solid hedge, I don't need to move the soil as much as
with say spuds etc. I've also used sleepers - it is costly but well
worth it. To save money, we've made the width with breeze blocks and I
planted cornus at one end and grasses at the other to hide them. Looks
great )