Help! Newbie looking for a litle advice please??

[andrewo]

8' x 8'

Remember that when you are on your 20" path you will need to be able to get to the centre of the bed. This may be difficult with the peas and beans unless you plant in rows and leave a good space to get down between them (also you need to leave a good space between them so as not to heat up the air between rows and cause a micro climate for bacteria). Naturally, each time you walk on the beds you will compact them but the plan is good, you just have to take this into account when planning e.g. Can I get the crops in the centre of the bed?

Good luck.

Andrewo

[sparkyaj]

the beans and peas are in rows. I hoped that would be easy to get down beside then having a foot to walk either side of them.

Thanks for the advice.......it's getting their

[nick the grief]

Sparkyaj,
8' wide beds mean you won't be able reach the middle from the paths, they reckon 4' is about the maximum.

This means you'll have to walk on the beds to harvest anything thats in the middle & sod law says this will be ready first unless you're leaving a path between crops. This would also mean that you'll have to dig it all as you'll have compacted the soil through walking on it.

Could you not make the beds a bit narrower and join them up, that way you could have a no-dig approach and the closer planting wouldn't be an issue as you could reach the middle from the paths.

ntg

[sparkyaj]

I checked the slabs between the grass and the plot tonight and found that they were 22"'s so the 20" that I have allowed is quite a good size for me. (Im like a bean pole)hehe

As for getting to the middle, by having a path around three edges it's quite easy for me to get to the middle from any edge. after all.......... you can reach about 6ft when nealing down. So as long as you can reach 4ft, your in the middle of the plot.

Lastly, they are 8 ft square, but I have divided the spacings at 1ft gaps thus making 7 rows square. This being the case it's actualy around 3/3.5ft from either edge to the middle.

Thanks again.

[andrewo]

Compaction

All I would worry about (you have a 6' reach, my God you're Zeus!) is that you could set up micro climates, beans and peas need to get air through them. Geordie's idea of reversing canes is a good idea but you need room between them and so that the air can circulate (ever been in between a wigwam of beans, like a tropical forest in midsummer) or else you're open to fungus and God knows what.

I did wide beds on my first allotment, roughly 10' wide and though this worked for root crops and potatoes (as you are always digging these over at one time of year or not) because I could see between them. It didn't work on any of the cane supported crops, you couldn't see down the lines and more importantly you were always darting down them to get crops and compacting the soil. You may have a 6' reach on your knees but when you're reaching for crops that can reach over 8' you are putting alot of pressure on your lower spine (something I know and have suffered for), and worst still you are compacting the soil and making the eventual digging over, harder for yourself.

Just a thought, wide beds are good for low crops but anything supported you want to be able to get to without any damage.

Also, it would afford you having more beds, if you go organic and plant in blocks instead it means if part of your crop is attacked in bed A1, then your crop that is 20' away in A2 bed may go unscathed. You have to look at it from a bugs point of view, they literally see what you have done on your plan and fly and gobble it up, less work for them if you put all of one type of crop next to each other and more work for you when you discover it's ruined!

Good luck.

Andrewo

[Lesley Jay]

Andrewo you have just made me think of something (I know you wondered what the noise was!). Surely you will have to walk on the beds to harvest the beans and peas. I need to stand in front of the plant in order to see the runner beans, reach them and cut them off. I don't have raised beds as you know so how do you manage to harvest the vegetables without walking on the beds?

[Jaxom]

Andrewo and Geordie. Some good advice there. I have just built the raised beds in my garden. I wanted 4' wide but my other half wanted 6' wide. I refused to allow a start while it was planned at 6'. In fact I got quite agitated about the problems they would cause.
The beds are now built but at a compromise of 5' wide which I am still not happy about. Even with out crops currently in the middle strip it is very hard to reach that area and I know that I will more than likely plant something that needs little attention and can just sit there for long periods due to their natural slow growth rates. I'm 5'10" tall and at 40 years of age have no wish to be crawling round in my garden to reach things especially during wet periods when the ground is going to require wellies at all times.
sparkyaj I do wish you well with your beds and sincerely hope all goes well for you.

[andrewo]

Surely you will have to walk on the beds to harvest the beans and peas. I need to stand in front of the plant in order to see the runner beans, reach them and cut them off. I don't have raised beds as you know so how do you manage to harvest the vegetables without walking on the beds?

Lesley, yes I learnt this the hard way when I had wide beds, now I keep my beds to max of 3' wide - easy to reach. At home now, my beds are even narrower 18"-2' and I never stand on them! As I can't dig this helps as I just add manure in the winter and the weather break it down and the lovely worms!

Andrewo

[sparkyaj]

thank you for the coments today.

I wish things were easy................ er

I thought by planting the beans in the middle of the plot growing in leaning frames I would be able to pick them from the front main path at around a 2ft reach.

With the beans climbing upwards, I thought it would be easier to pick as they were slightly back from the main path........

Stil unsure......... I just feel if I use 26" paths and drop the plots down to 4 ft I will lose around 50 planting spaces, where as by using 20" I still have a pathway nearly as big as my slabs in the garden and I gain the extra space.

thanks guys

[sparkyaj]

Idea!

I KNOW!!!!!!

I should put a small stepping stone in the center of each plot!

That'l sort the problem!! HEHE

[nick the grief]

the ground you ;oose for the paths would probable be less than having to leave space between crops Sparky, so it's 6 and two threes(and a half) if you see what I mean.

I guess in the end it comes down to what works for you - have you got space to get a barrow round ? I fell for this one and it's OK empty but a 3ft barrow isn't easy to manovere thru a 2'6" gap when its full

[sparkyaj]

I can ruhn the barrow down the main concreat path besid ethe plots the whole length of the garden/ 50ft.

[Acorn]

My tip is to turn the wigwam frame upside down....you have a narrow base....tied together about 2' from the ground with the canes stretching out over. At the top simply loop string around opposite canes so they pull against each other and keep their shape. The bean pods will now hang outside the framework. You can also use the space underneath the frame as a catch crop for salads etc.....this was not possible on the previous method.

Geordie,

What a great idea! But how do you support the frame so it doesn't fall over? Isn't it too narrow at the bottom?

Thanks!

[andrewo]

You put a giant T structure at each end or reuse one of those old circular washing line poles.