Raised bed planning
e*jay
Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg
Hi all. First. Forum. Ever. Wanted to speak to my fellow allotment buddy’s but we rarely cross paths now! Really some advice for my allotment please! Got it in March this year and planted some beds with all the same veg and some a with mixture. What’s the pros and cons? We have 15 raised beds approx 2m x 1m so no shortage of space but want to plan better next spring. We had lots of crops all at once then nothing. Looked at successional planting but not sure whether to do this row by row in the same bed or batch plant a whole bed then move on to another?! I know I need to move things round to avoid pests etc. But want to hear your advice on raised bed planning please👍🏼
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I don't grow much veg, and I'm not very methodical when I do, but this post will push you back up to the top of the listings for a while.
The usual method is to grow all the same type of crop, or compatible crops that like to grow together in the same bed, one year, then rotate that type/group into the next bed the following year.
If you are growing something that is planted later, you can grow a quick growing ‘catch crop’ in the empty space first. So I grow young spinach in the bed destined for my tomatoes, while the young plants are growing on in the poly tunnel until they are big enough to elbow out the spinach.
You rotation plan does depend on what you are growing, and sometimes things just don’t fit neatly into categories or ideal plans. The main thing is to keep rotating!
As there are only the two of us for much of the year I tend to buy plants like cabbages, broccoli, cauli, beetroot and oak leaf lettuce as plugs in trays of 6 or 12 as they come and plant those out then, a couple of weeks later I'll get some more. They all go in their own allotted bed depending on the rotation. That way, with any luck, I get a succession.
Garlic grows well here but not in my last garden so I now buy a bag of bulbs, split them and plant them in December. OH likes potatoes but I won't be bothering next year. We don't eat enough to justify the space and if you only harvest as you eat them then even waxy earlies left in the soil too long become big floury maincrops.
There's a local chap who sells organic baby tomato plants at a plant fair at Easter and I buy 2 or 3 each of all the varieties I want to try. He has about 50 or 60 varieties so no need for me to buy seeds. Hard to find decent chilies and peppers here so I'll be sowing my onw next year and starting them early in the polytunnel as they need a long growing season.
I also find it simpler now to buy just one or two plants of the pumpkins we like - utchi kuri, butternut - but I have to sow if I want blue ones. I train them up frames or obelisks to save on ground space and get the fruits up in teh sun for better flavour. I find one courgette plant is enough especially if you give it plenty of room, some well-rotted manure and regular watering in dry spells.
Plants like rhubarb and globe artichokes need their own dedicated beds as they stay in one place a long time, as do soft fruits like blackcurrants, redcurrants, blackberries etc.
Keep a good compost heap system and use the results to improve the soil every time you clear a bed and re-plant.
Keep space in your freezer for gluts. I sowed 36 broad bean seeds in October and nearly all have become plants so we'll have a glut. I make passata and dried tomatoes with excess toms and they see us thru winter for sauces and soups and bruschetta.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Lots of chat on this thread
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1027558/allotment-gardening/p1 sharing news and experiences of growing on an allotment ... everyone’s welcome 😊
Welcome to the forum e*jay - hope you get a bumper harvest next year! All veg gardeners have gluts, plants that end up going on the compost heap and empty spaces in the soil but it is possible to minimise the waste. Don't be disheartened if the first couple of seasons don't work out too well. After a couple of seasons you'll find out what works for you.
I have always grown fruit and veg which was difficult or expensive to buy in the supermarket. Fresh peas, raspberries, currants, asparagus etc and two courgette plants was more than enough to keep the 2 of us in baby, finger sized courgettes.
Top tip - don't bother growing stuff you don't like to eat!
Visit your local library. There are many excellent books about growing veg and I'm sure there are some excellent (UK based) videos on You Tube as well.
Bed 1: Beets and Brassicas (lightish feeders)
Beetroot
Chard
Spicy greens salad leaves - mustard, mizuna etc.
Rocket
Radish
Bed 2: Curcurbits and Corn (heavy feeders)
Early catch crop - Lettuce
Courgettes
Cucumber
Sweetcorn in a block in front of the curcurbits to provide shade
French beans
Bed 3: Legumes (light feeders)
Broad Beans
Sugar snap peas
Peas
Autumn catch crop - Spinach
Bed 4: Solanaceae (heavy feeders)
Salad Potatoes
Bed 5: Alliums (light feeders)
Garlic, once finished, leeks transplanted from the seed bed
Lettuce leaves
Onions
Spring Onions
Baby carrots surrounded by the alliums
Bed 6: Solanaceae (heavy feeders)
Early catch crop - Spinach
Tomatoes
Peppers
Aubergines
Basil
Main combinations I always avoid planting in the same bed, because one group of plants inhibits the growth of the other:
Alliums and Legumes
Brassicas (inc brassica leaves and radish) and Lettuce/Spinach
Curcubits and Potatoes
Potatoes and Tomatoes
Good luck and happy growing in 2020!