Filling new raised beds, best/most economical mix

[Bill HH]

The MPC 75ltr is cheaper than I can get it round here.

[KirstieSparkle]

so reading through this thread should i put cardboard, rabbit waste and horse much if i can get some in the bottom of my pots to begin with while i put stuff in the seed trays to start them off?

[Bill HH]

so reading through this thread should i put cardboard, rabbit waste and horse much if i can get some in the bottom of my pots to begin with while i put stuff in the seed trays to start them off?

Well that was all advice for raised beds, if you put that lot in pots there wont be any room for soil. multipurpose compost lol. Best just to use good qualirty MPC in pots i would think but dont forget any food value in MPC is quickly exhausted and you will need to feed the plants. There is no harm in mixing some blood and bone in with the MPC though.

[KirstieSparkle]

blood and bone?! :-o

[Bill HH]

Blood and bone or fish blood and bone is a common powdered general fertiliser good for vegetables. Alternativly you could use any general fertiliser. Dont overdo it though, say half a tea cup full to a gallon .

[Dorothy rouse]

The MPC 75ltr is cheaper than I can get it round here.

Our 'allotment' shop is very good for supplies, and def cheaper than you can buy elsewhere, they also get all our spuds, seeds (at least a third off), onions, fruit bushes etc

[Dorothy rouse]

Actually Bill, if I follow your earlier advice about disposing of relatives, that would also add 'blood and bone' , good plan.

[Sheneval]

Actually Bill, if I follow your earlier advice about disposing of relatives, that would also add 'blood and bone' , good plan.

Dotty - that would be Flesh, Blood and Bone as opposed to Fish, Blood and Bone which is superb stuff - I used it on everything last year and it gave good results.

[Sheneval]

Dotty,

What about your local Council waste disposal - we get 70L for £2 whereas our neighbouring Council lets their residents have 4 bags at a time for Zilch - lucky people

[KirstieSparkle]

Eh what? The council lets u have 70l of waste for £2 or takes 70l away for £2?

[BertieFox]

Without reading every post in this thread, my first thought would be to observe how plants grow in nature. Some do very well just growing in gravel over a hard surface, and most root well into hard soil as long as there is some mulch on the surface. The whole concept of a raised bed filled with a foot or so of wonderful ideal compost is just crazy, and costly. Instead, note how plants grow, which is basically to have a medium into which to put their water roots and those that support the plant, and secondly the fine hair like roots which feed them, which is all within the top few centimetres of the soil.
Rather than go to a huge amount of trouble trucking in masses of material, put what you have into the raised bed and then concentrate on constantly adding to the top mulch and feeding with liquid feed and any other balanced natural fertiliser you can find. Eventually, through worm action and the natural build up of soil as you add organic matter to the surface, your bed will do all you ask of it.

[Bill HH]

If you go the buried relative route you may get extra eyes on your potatoes, In Redditch Worcestershire (where i used to live) they heat the local swimming pool from the next door crematorium (This is absolutely true) They could have a sign in the pool saying "Your heat today is provided by Alice whatshername aged 92"

[Dorothy rouse]

Dotty,

What about your local Council waste disposal - we get 70L for £2 whereas our neighbouring Council lets their residents have 4 bags at a time for Zilch - lucky people

Actually check that today, £3.00, for 40 litres,and a round trip of 30 miles, cos we live in the South it's assumed we are well off!

Doesn't compare to yours does it!

Thanks tho

[Sheneval]

Dotty,

Azda are currently doing a deal 3x70 or 75 litres for £10 - It was the best deal I found last year but I am going to try and persuade the Society to buy in bulk online and get the price down to £10 for 300L

[Dorothy rouse]

Thanks for that, useful to know that, looks like our allotment price of £4.80, for 75 litres is good price.