Summer Planting

[eph101]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the forum, and have been casually planting simple vegis for years, and I'm now trying to improve my garden. I've recently popped up a small plastic greenhouse and built a raised bed (approx. 1 foot up) for planting. Unfortunately my soil is terrible, full of rocks/chalk/tree roots, are there any tips for loosening it up a little, maybe any plants which can help?
I was also hoping to get some ideas for planting, I love growing from seed and have a few basics already, but what can I sow now for results in the autumn and even winter? (I have my typical tomatoes and strawberries long underway, and some leeks and salad leaves slowly growing already.)
Thanks for any help,
Ed

[rustylady]

Hi Ed, welcome to the Vine.

Best way to improve your soil is to add as much organic matter as you can.

Whereabouts are you? If you add your location (nearest town) to your profile it will show on your posts and helps us understand your local growing conditions.

For what to plant and sow now have a look through this thread http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1149044

[eph101]

Thanks a lot for the tips, I've updated my profile and I'll get to the thread now.
My garden was built out of a chalk cliff (in Brighton), where they obviously poured some cheap soil around the house and so the quality is horrible. I made a completely fresh veg box around four years ago, where I mixed grass cuttings etc with some bought compost, it's a bit too small though, so I started the new raised bed last week. I've done a similar thing with this new bed, but as it's not too high I couldn't add too much of either mulch or compost. I guess now, I'll try and improve the quality a little more, and get to planting asap. Lets hope it goes well.

[Two_Sheds]

as it's not too high I couldn't add too much of either mulch or compost.

A foot high/deep is adequate for most crops, definitely for salads and the shorter carrots.

Homemade garden compost & leafmould are excellent (and free) ingredients for raised beds.

Here are the ones I made at school, on soil similar to yours.

I lived in Brighton (near Waitrose) for 6 years, still miss it.