New to the forum - Just wanted to say hi and get some advise.

[WendyC]

Shabunkins can get to be quite friendly. Ours were til Mr (or Mrs heron ) ate them during the long cold spell last Spring.
Another thought is not to have beds to fill, just plant in the soil. You can improve it over time but if it grows a lawn it will probably grow vegetables.

[Bill HH]

My Shabumkins do eat out of my hand, some of them are 12 inches long and i have several babies from last year. We get sea gulls attacking fish in ponds here so i used to have a frame over it with a net, but it was unsightly, this year I bought some "Pond Guard" they are green plastic mesh pads that float on the surface, about 10 inches across and hexagonal shape. They supply tiny rings so you can link them together if you wish and the shape allows you to fill any awkward shaped pond. I love em. The fish can still eat their food through them to.

[Farmer_Gyles]

What I'm a little lost with is the cost of filling my beds with good healthy soil that's going to grow next years crop.

I've been growing veg for years and still a little lost with the point of raised beds when there's soil to plant in to .... but never mind! just enjoy growing, whatever way you do it!

[ella]

hi and welcome

[ella]

Not sure you wouldnt be opening yourself up for child abuse charges, keeping kids in water is probably breaking some law. Definately go for the fish. You may have your heart set on Koi but when I looked into it and spoke to a few people they advised having shabumkins. Koi eat all the plants so your pond ends up a sterile tank, Shabumkins dont touch the plants. Ok they dont grow as big but you dont really want a 30lb Koi in a tiny pond.

Going back to the raised beds have a look at this.

No dig beds (A must if you dont like weeding) - YouTube

Oh and keeping fish is probably one of the best educational projects for children (good tak to take with the boss)

And the raised beds in vid above are only about 4 inches high, mine are made from old decking boards and I have one on top of the other so its about 8 inches high.

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Whether you use boards or nothing is a matter for you and the circumstances of your plot, I have a small garden and need to keep it quite tidy, no sides to the beds would mean soil all over the paths. i also like the look of em.

beautiful garden!!

[Two_Sheds]

.
My plan is to get some average everyday topsoil from a builder

I wouldn't. It's likely to be full of rubbish: rubble, subsoil, weed seeds etc.

The good stuff (£100 a tonne) is free of all that, that's why it costs so much

.... to which I ...could add the waist bedding from next doors rabbits and the odd bag of horse manure ... along with the waist veg matter from indoors.

yep, layers of greens (weeds, kitchen scraps, grass clippings etc), and layers of browns (autumn leaves, straw, shredded newspaper)

It's composting, basically, but in a bed instead of in a heap

.Am I completely wrong with this?

no, you're almost completely right James. We call it the "lasagne" method

Two Sheds; she filled hers up at no cost at all with leaves, cardboard, grass clippings.... Not sure how long it all takes to break down though.

It took me a few weeks, but there was no rush. I had time, but not money.
You don't have to wait for it to "break down" before you plant. You just add a nice friable top layer (molehill soil, or bought compost, or quality topsoil) and plant straight away

you could dig a pond and use the earth from that.

Only the topsoil though, not the subsoil (which is likely to be an orange colour).

my Nissan Micra doesn't fit much in

I could only get one black sack of material on my bike, but I did it all by bike. One sack a day, every day for several weeks, no problem at all

Shabunkins can get to be quite friendly.

They're a blue shade of goldfish, if anyone's wondering, and goldfish are carp like Koi are. I wouldn't say they're friendly: they're just greedy

[alldigging]

I wouldn't. It's likely to be full of rubbish: rubble, subsoil, weed seeds etc.

The good stuff (£100 a tonne) is free of all that, that's why it costs so much

HOW MUCH?

Ours varies from 26 quid a ton to 46 (triple filtered luxury stuff..)

[Martin H]

I got some "good stuff" recently to fill a raised bed / wall. It looked like good stuff until it rained, at which point it set into concrete

Lots of compost is slowly bringing it back to workable now though.

[Two_Sheds]

HOW MUCH?

I know ~ that's why I made my own

[7oaksvegman]

Hi Twosheds,

Thank you for breaking everything down for me, going to get into the woods this week and get some of last year leaf matter to add into my beds and as you said,ill just keep making the layers up and I guess keep my black polythene over it to keep it as warm as poss.

Thanks again.

James

[Two_Sheds]

going to get into the woods this week and get some of last year leaf matter

Um, no, you shouldn't rob leafmould from the woods, sorry.

There's plenty on the paths and cycle lanes where it isn't going to be used by trees. Take that.

[Bill HH]

I have decided to request my body be laid into a raised bed, my wife should get a bumper crop the following year.
I am lucky (or not ) that all the leaves in our road blow into my drive, up the drive and make a neat stack by my garage.