Ideas Please

[privateb]

Hi I am building 2 raised bed veg patches 6ft X 4ft each and wold like some help with what to stock them with so far I am thinking:-

Onion
Carrott
Potato
Runner Beans
Peas
Caugette
Garlic?
Parsnip
Keal
Lettuce

[Flobalob]

I'm guessing anything that can be grown in a plot can be grown in raised beds. Beetroot etc etc.

[Demeter]

What else do you like?

Consider broad beans, they can go in next month and will be out by, say, late May which will be just about right for planting out courgettes and runners.

Consider climbing French beans as an alternative to or addition to runner beans. It's a matter of taste, or course, but personally I think they are much nicer!

Sweetcorn, squash, outdoor cucumbers, pumpkins etc are all wonderful but quite space consuming so only grow them if you really love them! Go easy on brassicas too (like cabbages, caulis, kale, broccoli) as they use up a lot of space relative to the amount of food you get.

With the courgettes, make sure you get a "compact bush" variety (Gold Rush is good, and yellow to boot) as otherwise there won't be much space for anything else!

Salad is a really great value crop if you like salad (not just lettuce, other leaf veg like rocket or land cress, spring onions, radishes etc)

If you like kale you may also like chard. I have mixed feelings about chard. It is very productive and easy to grow but, how can I put this, not all that nice. (I still grow it anyway!)

Consider putting a few herbs in to liven up your cooking, and if there is space some flowers as they can attract pollinators, distract some pests and generally make the veg patch look loved.

Good luck!

[Two_Sheds]

I can't improve on Demeter's advice, but would reiterate ... check the spacings.
Some of those plants are going to use a lot of space.

You can be cute and squeeze salads in between the big, slow stuff (Keal? Kale?) though.

You need to sit and work out a timescale too ... what will be in the ground when, and what have you got to fill any gaps when a crop finishes.

Definitely make use of vertical space (climbing beans).

[privateb]

Thanks for all your help guys - what could I be planting now?

[chriscross1966]

Garlic, overwintering onion seeds, if you get lucky you might get some baby carrots, especially if you can put a cold frame over them and we get a bit of an Indian Summer in October.... potatos (will need protection)... an early variety for new potatos at Christmas

[rustylady]

PrivateB, you don't say where you live. If you add your location to your profile, it will show up on your posts. Advice may be totally different if you live in the North of Scotland rather than somewhere like Cornwall. I'm putting in onion sets (in the shops now) and garlic. Also going to try some overwintering broad beans.

[ginger ninger]

Broad Beans, if you plant them now, you'll get a nice early crop in the new year/early spring. I'm planting my Autumn Shallots this weekend while the soil is still warm.