Raised allotment beds

Apr 14, 2008 3 Replies

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mw80 18 years ago

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

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

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

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

What should i fill my beds with? I wish to grow a variey of things i them. I have looked at topsoil and it is very expensive. I assume 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 manur etc but i would really like to start growing in them asap

Thank you for your tim

-- mw80

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len gardener 18 years ago

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."

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mw80 18 years ago

I have managed to get some well rotted horse muck for the bottom of th 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 truste watering can do the trick?

-- mw80

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len gardener 18 years ago

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."

formatting link

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