Totally new to veg growing - raised beds etc...help!

[sarahjane13]

Hi

In an attempt to get my 4 year old son to eat vegetables, we have decided to start a veg garden (to be fair I've wanted to do this for a while so he is just a good excuse!).
In order to be ready for next year we have built 2 raised beds so far. These are 7ft long x 2ft wide x 14 inches high. We will also be building wooden frames to go over the top and covering them in environmesh to deter insects etc.

We'd like to grow a variety of veg and also maybe some strawberries. We will also be growing beans but we are building a separate raised bed for these with supports etc.

What I'm not sure about is what compost/soil etc to fill them with, and whether I should be starting this now or early next year?

Also, I was looking at the sq foot gardening method and wondered whether Mel Bartholew's book was a good buy or whether it was more focussed on USA weather etc?

Thanks!
Sarah

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine Sarah if you're interested in sq foot gardening there's an excellent thread here on the forum :-

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ing_44388.html

its a long thread but full of help and info.

[Small pumpkin]

Welcome to the vine.
I'll let others advise you. I've more of a make it up as I go ( technical term winging it ) style of gardening.

[burnie]

Welcome to the vine, when I built my raised beds I used a fair amount of the compost from my local council tip, it's the stuff made from your green waste bins. It can't be used on it's own and you need some soil as well to add the right balance of bio diversity.

[Paulie]

Hi and welcome Sarah. I reckon anyone on here will tell you that they're still learning. Growing vegetables is very much about trial and error, (or at least it is on my allotment!) so the main thing is don't worry!
Any topsoil will do, providing it isn't full of perennial weeds, I'd advise putting the soil in now if you can, so it can settle between now and spring. A few weeks before planting I would add some fertiliser such as blood fish and bone. And this time of year is perfect for making a list of veg you want to grow. Once you have mad a list, I suggest you then prioritise which you want to grow most, and then look at how much space each needs. Good luck!

[nickdub]

If you can get a load of manure from anywhere delivered to your garden that will help a lot - its difficult to make enough compost when you are starting out - the ideal time to spread manure is the Spring so winter rains wont wash all the nutrients out - but if you can get some now, you can store it in a heap and the cover that with a tarp or something until you use it.

[muck lover]

I think it’s worthwhile when getting started to buy some of the big B&Q compost bags for your raised beds. I would add layers of whatever organic matter you can get your hands on. Including autumn leaves grass clippings coffee grounds and if you can get it manure.
Happy growing!

[rary]

Welcome to the Vine sarahjane, when I make up a raised bed I start by putting any turf or weedy soil in the base, I try to remove any perennial weeds, then clear the garden of any old compost that I might have, I then rake this level and cover it with layers of cardboard and paper, then fill up with good soil topping off with a couple of inches of compost, and if it's compost I need to buy its the cheapest I can finde

[sarahjane13]

Thanks!

Thank you everyone. Well, the square foot gardening book in on route from amazon and I'm off to look around for compost, top soil, vermiculite and anything else I can get my hands on this weekend! Fingers crossed I'll get something growing next year!