raised beds

[GUEPE]

hi all the gardening experts . i used to do a fair bit of gardening having plenty of topsoil to use ,but my maisson don le peregord has very little useable topsoil .so the answear must be raised beds.is this the solution? the french guy down the road has raised beds but with no retaining structure .and i wonder how much topsoil is any help would be appreciated cordialement john

[Cassis]

I've made beds this year which are similar to raised beds but without the boards - they just have grass paths between them.  The whole point of 'raised beds' is that you don't walk on them, you work them from the side and mulch each year.  If you start with beds like these and if you add manure/compost/mulch each year they become raised all by themselves.  Eventually you may have to board up the sides but not for a few years.

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i26/cassiscassis/garden/potager1.jpg[/IMG]

[Llwyncelyn]

Cassis what a charming vegetable garden.  It looks dry..............here in the Manche it has just started raining again! There is rain water everywhere.  Will be months before we can get back on to the land!

[Cassis]

That was the end of the summer - it has been put to bed for the winter (sorry for the pun).

I'll take a pic tomorrow to show you what wet looks like.

It is a hugely practical and labour saving method of veg gardening and makes crop rotations really simple to manage.

For winter I have covered each dormant bed with heavy black plastic sheet cut into strips 10m long and 1.5m wide.  It is held down at intervals by 6mm iron reinforcement bar across the bed.  This supresses weeds, stops the beds getting waterlogged in winter and warms them up quickly in spring.  You can work the ground as soon as the weather brightens in spring and plant, on average, 2 weeks earlier.

[Meg]

Don't you find it annoying to cut the grass?? And keeping the grass short round the edges?? Looks good though Cassis.

I am in competition mode for my veggie patch next year!

[Cassis]

I have so much grass to cut this makes no difference.  [:)]

The paths are cunningly designed to be one lawnmower width and the rotary mower cuts as wide as its wheel tracks.  The edges are chopped out once in spring and need no more maintenance until the following year.

I got fed up trying to work on soggy, muddy ground every time it rained in the UK and found this so much easier - the weather never stops you.

[Meg]

For me the veggie patch grass is cut with a  mower and the rest of field with a tractor so it is annoying doing it with the mower, although i could make the paths the width of the mower. Himself keeps telling me to make it into one big patch but i can't bring myself to do it! I like the separate beds. Also looks much nicer. I was just wondering if i am i causing too much work needlessly.

[Hoddy]

I used to have raised beds at a former house. I found them less work and, because the soil was so rich, that I could plant things much closer together than in a normal garden.

Hoddy

[Cassis]

Well, it takes me about 5 minutes once a week  at most to cut the paths.  If I haven't time to do that I may as well not bother with the veg patch - the beds and paths save so much time not having to dig, not having to scrape mud off boots, not to mention that the beds can be tended at virtually any time rather than having to wait for the ground to be ready to walk on.  But in the end it's down to whatever suits you.

I also find one big bed psychologically daunting even to begin work on!

[Cassis]

[quote user="Cassis"]That was the end of the summer - it has been put to bed for the winter (sorry for the pun).

I'll take a pic tomorrow to show you what wet looks like.

It is a hugely practical and labour saving method of veg gardening and makes crop rotations really simple to manage.

For winter I have covered each dormant bed with heavy black plastic sheet cut into strips 10m long and 1.5m wide.  It is held down at intervals by 6mm iron reinforcement bar across the bed.  This supresses weeds, stops the beds getting waterlogged in winter and warms them up quickly in spring.  You can work the ground as soon as the weather brightens in spring and plant, on average, 2 weeks earlier.

[/quote]

This is the beds tucked up for winter, taken today (not a nice day!).

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i26/cassiscassis/potagercovered001.jpg[/IMG]

[powerdesal]

Sturdy rhubarb Phil.

[Cassis]

Well spotted, Steve!  We were given three tiny heads last spring, which have bulked up nicely over the summer.  Most has died back bar the few leaves in the picture - I plan to cover a couple of clumps with a plastic barrel and manure next spring and try to "force" them.

That picture on a grim day doesn't do the veg plot and view of our neighbour's house any favours, does it?

[Jonzjob]

Frances is our gardener. I have a reputation that I only like to cut things down. Well that is not true, I like to cut things up too [:-))].

Frances has just started to do the raised bed thingie. Just one at the moment, but your ideas, me awd Saus, have given her more motivation me thinks. If I swing a spade or fork I spend the next few daze trying to get my hands working again. Arthritis in my thumbs.

Mind you I did help Frances to dig a hole the other day. It is to plant a Cypress, one of the lovely tall slender ones. She got abour 18 inches down and came to a full stop, still in 'soil'. I finished it with my Bosch drill hammer, with a flat chisel in it!!! Talk about solid...

Phil, you are a man of many talents, peut etra!!

[Llwyncelyn]

Dear Cassis we are not far away that is in relative French terms.  I have a job for you a lovely bedroom in which to stay all you can eat and drink.  Downside...........................or upsides........................dig my garden and created the raised beds..................

Wonderful job.  I was once told that a good veg patch is equally as attractive as flowers borders.  I agree.

[powerdesal]

Cassis,

When you come to dig Llwyncelyn's veggie beds, pop down the hill to see us, we are only a couple of klicks from his place April or September  but not in between.

[cooperlola]

And you're only half an hour from me, Cassis.  Much closer!