From the ground up....

[Iain]

Hi all,


I'm a complete gardening novice, have done hard landscaping, but never tried to grow anything.. so would really appreciate any advice anybody has to offer

My girlfriend and I have just bought a house and are looking to start growing our own veg mainly but also some fruit...

I have decided to go with a raised bed system and have read in Alan Titchmarsh's - The Kitchen Gardener; that a good size is 3m x 0.8m.... I'm planning on making mine 3m x 0.9m and 0.9m high.. I'm thinking I'll start off with 2 beds of this size and increase to a maximum of 8 as my skills and knowledge allow me to take on more.. My garden is South facing and has good sun all day.. I live in east Anglia, the ground soil here is boggy and holds water..

We would like to have produce all year round if possible...

I have the following questions for now that I would greatly appreciate any advice on...

1. I'd appreciate some advice on whether people think a greenhouse or polytunnel is more appropriate / better. I appreciate that a greenhouse is more expensive but is it better value in the long run? I'm assuming that I will need to have some sort of heat source in order to have some crops year round.. (I do appreciate that I will have to work with the seasons and some crops simply won't be possible year round).. What do you use to heat your greenhouse and what is the rough cost? What size greenhouse / polytunnel is a would I need to service 8 beds 3m x 0.9m...

2. I'm really keen to grow something now, but it will have to be in pots as it will take a couple of weeks to get beds etc sorted... Any suggestions on what to grow, excluding the obvious tomatoes and strawberries... I would love to get some beets in.. how do these work in pots?

3. Has anybody treated rejected scaffold boards with a mixture of natural oil and beeswax? Did it work okay? Any recommendations for other appropriate treatments for the beds..

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply, your help will be sincerely appreciated..


Iain

[veggiechicken]

Hello Iain and welcome to the Grapevine.
I won't attempt to answer all your questions - somebody with knowledge will be along soon.

Some general points about raised beds - the aim is not to walk on them, so make sure that you can reach to the middle of them from both sides. Also, the deeper you make them, the more soil/compost/filling they need and if you don't have a free source of that it can be expensive. I'd make them one decking board high to start, you can always add another board at some time.

I have several GHs but don't heat them in winter - too expensive!!

I don't understand what you mean by "What size greenhouse / polytunnel would I need to service 8 beds 3m x 0.9m..." Most raised beds are outdoors.

Start seedlings in pots/seed trays now and they'll be ready to plant out in a few weeks.

[Goldcrest]

Answer to Q2. Depending on the size of your pots and choosing the right seed varieties in some cases (check the back of the packet for when to sow) .....

Radish, beetroot (if you think red is boring, try white or yellow or striped), peas, lettuce, French beans, round carrots, salad leaves (rocket, mizuna, pak choi, etc.) swiss chard (I grow all these in pots or troughs).

If you're not confident at sowing or for some back-ups nip to a good garden centre or go online and look for plug plants. See if there's any local plant fairs in the next few weeks. NB Don't forget herbs!

For inspiration, read Grow Your Own, look at the adverts in the back for suppliers. I know you can browse online, but I love settling down in the evening with a glass of wine and some catalogues!

If you want a cheat and something to eat within 3/4 weeks you could go to a supermarket, buy some "living salad", carefully separate and plant up - it feels really good when you pick and eat your first harvest

[Bigmallly]

Hello & welcome to the vine Iain........Wow, you're gonna need a few ton of soil to fill those beds. For 8 beds 3mts long plus paths, assuming 4 beds will run down each side, you will need at least a total length of approx 15mts.........that is one mean Polytunnel....depending on the width, you may be able to run beds down each side & 1 down the middle thereby reducing the length but increasing the width...you only need to make them around 20cm deep but you could put 90cm corner posts on each bed then you have the option of building them up at a later date.

[Bill HH]

Have you chosen 0.9m high because you cant bend down? that's almost 3 feet! You would need a second mortgage to build and fill those. 1 scaffolding board would be ok, maybe 2 for carrots and parsnips etc.

My advice would be to get a small poly or GH for starting things off but have the beds outside. Heating is more problematic, it is horrendously expensive whatever method you use and there is a lot you can do without it.

If money and space are object then get a larger poly tunnel or Gh because there never seems enough room, A small Gh would only hold 10 tomato plants for instance.

[Bal]

Hi Iain welcome to the vine. I'm afraid I can't give you any advice but there are loads of people here who can.

[Iain]

Thanks to all for your advice thus far... I'd really appreciate someone giving me some advice on what to treat my timbers with... the timbers will be used to construct beds and planters in which I will grow food crops... I have been researching and Linseed Oil or Mineral Oil and Beeswax seem to be options... does anyone have experience using these? can anyone advice on their effectiveness? Are there any other treatments you would advise?

Many thanks..

[sparrow100]

The boards I use for my plot are pre-treated with tanalithE, which is supposed to be fine for making raised beds. I have eight approximately 1.2mx4.8m beds for veggies, one 1mx7.2m and one 1mx4.6m bed for fruit and will have an 8x6ft greenhouse when I put it together. That's all on a half plot and I would dearly love another, but this will see us ok for more than half our veg each year.

I'd agree that 0.9m is very high, and unless you need it for access, it might be money that you could spend elsewhere. All the beds I have are 15cm/6inches high and on heavy clay. I have double dug half of them so far, and used some of the soil from the paths to increase the amount of soil in the beds. I've added manure but haven't needed to buy soil and the plants are really lush - pic attached is from 2 weeks ago and the beans and spuds are now nearly a foot higher.

As to pots, there are a few people on here who grow almost exclusively in containers and they are worth seeking out. I have some 42L tubs and grow carrots, root parsley, salsify and might attempt some stumpy parsnips in them. I also have peas, chillies (you might need to buy the plants now), toms, aubergines, bay trees and 2 pear trees in pots. You could also look at dwarf beans,

You can also grow UP with many veggies, which gives you more room for other plants in the bed as their foliage will be out of the way. I have cucumbers, peas, climbing beans, achocha fat baby, cape gooseberry all going up structures. Fence/shed walls are handy for this. Looks v pretty!

If you have or can borrow a large car/van, ebay and freecycle are good for secondhand greenhouses. I got mine for £35, albeit with a few panes of glass missing, but that's easily sorted.

One other question - what space do you have for storage for your harvest? A lot of veg need cool, frost-free conditions for good storage over winter. A squash that goes off can go kabloooey, and it's both stinky and messy.

This is a bit of a ramble, but I hope it helps.

[Bigmallly]

I don't treat my timber beds but if I did, the inners would get covered with polythene.