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  • #1

    Help growing in raised bed

    Last summer I started growing veg in containers and had some success with tomatoes, onions and radishes. And so I am now going to build a raised bed ready for the summer but I'm not sure what to grow in it? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am keen to try carrots as I only managed to grow 1 in my container, and then the dog dug it up!
    I have thought about potatoes or is that too adventurous? Or shoul they be in a potatoe planter? Help please!!!!
    The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.
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  • #2
    I grew my second earlies in a raised bed... actually I grew ALL my veg (barring 1 hanging basket of toms) in raised beds
    Never test the depth of the water with both feet

    The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory....

    Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.

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    • #3
      Raised Beds

      I grow all my veg in raised beds and have many friends and even family wishing they had raised beds as everything grows so successfully. I'm very lucky as my husband is very skilled (and obedient) and created the raised beds by using 4inch concrete blocks and he is now in the process of building a removable netted cage around the raised beds using the concrete blocks as a base, because I lost the war against the caterpillers last year.

      It will work out to be quite pricey but once it is finished I should have no more problems with many pests and it will stop the dogs and cats and children digging up the veg!

      As with all grow-your-owning always remember to condition the soil and dig over the soil so it doesn't get too compact!

      I'm sure you will be very successful!
      People with great minds think of ideas
      People with average minds think of events
      People with small minds talk about others

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      • #4
        Raised Beds

        We had great success this year with ours, my husband did 2 out of scaffold planks, and my leeks are great, we had loads of mixed salad and cabbages, until the birds had them! Garlic did extrememly well, first year too!:
        Last edited by Amberlilly; 28-12-2009, 06:38 AM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by growingkasbar View Post
          I am now going to build a raised bed ready for the summer but I'm not sure what to grow in it? ...
          I have thought about potatoes or is that too adventurous?
          Grow what you want to eat.
          I'd never thought of spuds as adventurous! They're easy, and would like a raised bed, which is basically a container but bigger.
          Roots can go deeper than they can in a container, so you'll have less watering to do.
          All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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          • #6
            Thanks everyone, I'm glad potatoes are easy I really want to have a go at them. Am I right in thinking that when you see the green leafs (of potatoes) poking through the soil you cover them up with more soil?
            The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.

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            • #7
              You can earth them up when the leaves start poking through - but the world won't end if you don't.

              I tend to plant my spuds really deeply (about a foot down) then maybe draw some soil up on each side once whilst they are growing. I mostly let them get on with it.

              I plant and harvest potatoes up quite early, I think - they are all out of the ground and into thick paper sacks in the garage by mid August. Some people leave them in the ground longer, but I think that just invites the slugs to have a go at them!
              Last edited by Hazel at the Hill; 28-12-2009, 11:57 AM.

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              • #8
                After much thought and doodling, I have come up with a plot design! I am thinking about growing my potatoes in a planter to give myself more space. Does anyone know where I can get one from? I want just one of those green sacks....I know that's not very helpful, sorry.
                The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.

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                • #9
                  A friend of mine has access to old car tyres. He grows his spuds in these. As the stems poke through he adds more soil and when enough soil is added he then puts on another tyre and more soil. He ends up with towers of the things. Then when he needs some spuds he takes off the top tyre and removes the spuds he wants and works his way down the tower whenever he wants some. This has the advantage that he doesn't ever leave any in the ground like I did this year.

                  “If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”

                  "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

                  Charles Churchill : A dog will look up on you; a cat will look down on you; however, a pig will see you eye to eye and know it has found an equal
                  .

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                  • #10
                    Some folks on here have used builders rubble sacks.
                    WPC F Hobbit, Shire police

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by growingkasbar View Post
                      After much thought and doodling, I have come up with a plot design! I am thinking about growing my potatoes in a planter to give myself more space. Does anyone know where I can get one from? I want just one of those green sacks....I know that's not very helpful, sorry.
                      I was in Wickes yesteday - they had 'hippo sacks' on offer which look like the sort of thing that you might be after?

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                      • #12
                        as you're going to have to fill the raised beds, perhaps use the compost bags?
                        Never test the depth of the water with both feet

                        The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory....

                        Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          I used those green webbed plastic garden waste sacks you get for about £1.49 each. Just punched a few holes in the bottom and rolled them down to plant the seed potatoes in a few inches of compost, then as they grew just rolled them up gradually and filled with more compost. Had a great crop and as they have handles on them, just tipped them up and searched for gold (I love searching the soil for potatoes and shriek with delight every time I find one -I know - I need to get out more!) I then stored them away for use next year
                          'May your cattle never wander and your crops never fail'

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                          • #14
                            Thanks guys! Lots of ideas there!
                            The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.

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