Shallow soil

[Sylvan]

What can I grow in 6-8 inches of compost?
(The bed is 8ft x 3ft and has sand, gravel, and solid rock under it)
There is also one, beside it, that will be 14-16 inches deep.

[Baldy]

Thats probably not as limiting as you might think - lettuce, spring onions,radish, rocket, baby beetroot, baby or round carrots etc

[nickdub]

Herbs + most Mediterranean plants as long as it gets a reasonable amount of sun - main thing is to start small plants and let them find their way .

[Sylvan]

Thanks

I was hoping I might be able to stick some courgettes or spaghetti squash in there.

[veggiechicken]

Bung 'em in Sylvan. They'll be fine. If you're worried you could put them on a little mound.

[Sylvan]

Will baby sweetcorn, or things like summer PSB and kailaan be ok in the deeper one?

[Sylvan]

I'm trying some new things this year, like chicory, kohl rabi, Florence fennel...
What sort of depth will I need for those?

[Penellype]

I grow most things in 1ft deep 30 litre buckets, including kohlrabi, calabrese and florence fennel. PSB is very big and although I grow it in the same buckets the roots do tend to get restricted somewhat at the bottom. I haven't tried chicory as I don't like it.

[Sylvan]

Thanks Penellype
I suppose I could try some in the shallow bed too, since the roots will be able to spread sideways once they hit the bottom.

I should be able to transplant my small salad plants from the 2ft deep beds as well, to free up the space, shouldn't I?

[Sylvan]

I've never tasted chicory, kohlrabi, or Florence fennel, but I thought it was worth 99p per packet of seeds to see whether we like them. If not, we can always give them away

[veggiechicken]

I should be able to transplant my small salad plants from the 2ft deep beds as well, to free up the space, shouldn't I?

I grow my winter salads in GH beds less than 4" deep. https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ml#post1572735

[Penellype]

I've never tasted chicory, kohlrabi, or Florence fennel, but I thought it was worth 99p per packet of seeds to see whether we like them. If not, we can always give them away

Chicory is quite bitter, kohlrabi tastes like a cross between a mild turnip and a broccoli stem, florence fennel has a mild aniseed flavour.

[rary]

you could cut out the bottoms of MFBs and sit them on top of your soil and grow whatever you want, or as VC says "Bung `em in" personally I would plant things tidily, but you must show a bit of respect for what older folk tell you, and lets face it she has been around a lot longer than you or I

[veggiechicken]

If that is what you mean by "a bit of respect", rary, you clearly didn't learn much in school - too busy playing with your abacus, no doubt.

[Sylvan]

Is rary's first name "cont" by any chance?

I'm just hoping the salads transplant OK, VC. I managed it with some cut + come again lettuce last year but that could have been a fluke

Nah, I thought of that rary, but I'd have to push them so far into the bed to stop them blowing away that I may as well just grow in buckets with bottoms. Besides, I think all my MFBs will be full anyway