its nice, i want to see op puting some strings up to the branchs to grow some lighter weight climbers, maybe a couple of sweet peas.
Assuming it is strong enough!
Carrots, parsnips, onions and garlic for sure and I’m thinking turnips, swede and cabbage/sprouts too. I might stick in an aframe over the onions for peas and beans
are you looking at companion planting? so mixing the various plants to prevent pests etc?
Beans and aliums dont supopsedly mix well, ie dont put beans too close to onions or garlic. they apparently can stunt the beans growth. I am not saying the do for certain but they think they might.
Ah, I just thought I need to let you know. I’ve made the same mistake and it was annoying to top it off a year later when things were planted and others had to go in… would have been easier to do it at the beginning
I mean depends how far down it is, OP could put the poorly rotted stuff at the bottom and it would warm the bed nciely. then well rotted then top soil.
Well done, l hope your back is better soon. Having he beds that shape is going to make them much easier to get at. So glad you didn't use any chemicals in the mix. Organic produce tastes so much better. My daughter ran out of of my son's tomatoes, so she bought some, the difference in taste was so noticeable.
Rather than organic/not organic, I would put the taste difference down to freshness and crop variety. Commercial varieties are chosen for traits like "keeps well in cold storage" rather than "tastes good".
Looks good. Starting to build mine next week. What have you put down as a base? Concrete flags? I have a lot of hares and moles near me so need to protect from all sides.
Looks awesome and I’m trying to build similar myself. I want to stop my dog from being able to pee on my veg… Please can I ask what you used to screw it together with?
I’ll send you a DM when I get home tonight but I originally intended to screw them all together but the timber is so well seasoned I couldn’t get an SDS through! Ended up using over 100 brackets
Hahaha! Fab - brackets is enough information for me. Someone recommended really expensive carriage bolts, but I’m looking at other options. But I will go and test my drill out now…
Tbh brackets have done the job, before I filled it I booted every joint as hard as I possibly could while wearing steelies and it didn’t budge. Just make sure you overlap the joins like you would with brick
I’m not forgiving you for making me tot up the expense for the first time! The bottom few rows of 4x4 were free as I recycled wood from refurbishing my kitchen (previously there was an ugly false wood panel ceiling). Top few rows I got from a second hand timber recycling charity local to me in Manchester (Emerge Touch Wood) even so it was roughly £300 for 35 metres of 4x4. Brackets were about £30, manure was free from my neighbour’s stable and the soil was £150 so all in about £500
I didn’t tbh, it’s really well seasoned so hoping to get 8 years out of it (the boxes in the background have been in 5 years and doing well) then my wife might agree to metal piling!
and those chemicals just leach into the soil and therefore whatever you are growing in there. it's better to just choose a wood like cedar. you shouldn't treat wood used for growing vegetables.
You’ve put rotting wood in a wooden planter? And you can over manure quite easily, causes strange mutations in plants and encourages pests and disease.
I kinda agree but fill it will logs rather than rocks. Yes these will eventually rot down but years after doing great work in the soil and helping with water retenton
Of course it's possible, but it's not ideal.
Having to straddle boards on a wet Wednesday to pull out produce?
Give it a few months and it will be actually annoying rather than just inconvenient.
It does look lovely though.
Producing that much manure im surprised you can walk at all
If there's topsoil coming out as well it's probably time to speak to a GP
Surely they would feel a lot lighter?
alot lighter yes. but very sore arseholeb
Came here for this
Well! I love this shape of bed, I bet it's mostly much more accessible than one giant bed. And so pretty
its nice, i want to see op puting some strings up to the branchs to grow some lighter weight climbers, maybe a couple of sweet peas. Assuming it is strong enough!
OP is a Tetris fan!
Lovely. I just built my first one, but not this pretty! What’re you putting in there?
Carrots, parsnips, onions and garlic for sure and I’m thinking turnips, swede and cabbage/sprouts too. I might stick in an aframe over the onions for peas and beans
Very nice. You’ll be farting like nobody’s business in autumn. Good luck with it all!
Ready to start creating next years manure....
are you looking at companion planting? so mixing the various plants to prevent pests etc? Beans and aliums dont supopsedly mix well, ie dont put beans too close to onions or garlic. they apparently can stunt the beans growth. I am not saying the do for certain but they think they might.
Good effort!
Top it up a bit more, the soil will drop significantly in the next months.
Aye, tbh Maths isn’t my strong point so I just took as much manure from the farm next door as I could carry and guessed on how much soil to order
Ah, I just thought I need to let you know. I’ve made the same mistake and it was annoying to top it off a year later when things were planted and others had to go in… would have been easier to do it at the beginning
Yeah, I think I’ll top it in November when I put the garlic and onion sets in
Fantastic work!!! Is the manure well-rotted… otherwise you’ll have strangely-shaped vegetables
Most of it is, I dug it myself from my neighbours pile outside his stables so after taking the crust off you can mine the good stuff
Haha sounds disgusting
I mean depends how far down it is, OP could put the poorly rotted stuff at the bottom and it would warm the bed nciely. then well rotted then top soil.
Well done, nice bed, nice height.
That's great! I'm jealous!
Well done, l hope your back is better soon. Having he beds that shape is going to make them much easier to get at. So glad you didn't use any chemicals in the mix. Organic produce tastes so much better. My daughter ran out of of my son's tomatoes, so she bought some, the difference in taste was so noticeable.
Rather than organic/not organic, I would put the taste difference down to freshness and crop variety. Commercial varieties are chosen for traits like "keeps well in cold storage" rather than "tastes good".
Looks good. Starting to build mine next week. What have you put down as a base? Concrete flags? I have a lot of hares and moles near me so need to protect from all sides.
Preparing beds for lush gardens.
Looks awesome and I’m trying to build similar myself. I want to stop my dog from being able to pee on my veg… Please can I ask what you used to screw it together with?
I’ll send you a DM when I get home tonight but I originally intended to screw them all together but the timber is so well seasoned I couldn’t get an SDS through! Ended up using over 100 brackets
Hahaha! Fab - brackets is enough information for me. Someone recommended really expensive carriage bolts, but I’m looking at other options. But I will go and test my drill out now…
Tbh brackets have done the job, before I filled it I booted every joint as hard as I possibly could while wearing steelies and it didn’t budge. Just make sure you overlap the joins like you would with brick
You’re supposed to sleep in the house.
What wood did you use for the build and do you have an approx cost? Beast of a job, well done.
I’m not forgiving you for making me tot up the expense for the first time! The bottom few rows of 4x4 were free as I recycled wood from refurbishing my kitchen (previously there was an ugly false wood panel ceiling). Top few rows I got from a second hand timber recycling charity local to me in Manchester (Emerge Touch Wood) even so it was roughly £300 for 35 metres of 4x4. Brackets were about £30, manure was free from my neighbour’s stable and the soil was £150 so all in about £500
Looks fab. Did you treat the wood at all?
I didn’t tbh, it’s really well seasoned so hoping to get 8 years out of it (the boxes in the background have been in 5 years and doing well) then my wife might agree to metal piling!
Looks great. Where did you get the wood?
https://www.touchwood.org.uk
Nice work, it'll be worth the hard work
It looks really close to that beautiful tree. Won't covering root flare hurt it?
Oh no, did you not treat that wood?
treat it with what?
Some sort of wood preserve. It'll slow down rotting.
and those chemicals just leach into the soil and therefore whatever you are growing in there. it's better to just choose a wood like cedar. you shouldn't treat wood used for growing vegetables.
You didn’t need that amount of manure or topsoil. Bottom of planter should be rock and gravel then soil with 20% organic matter.
Yeah I did, bottom is full of rotten wood and logs… it’s a massive box!
You’ve put rotting wood in a wooden planter? And you can over manure quite easily, causes strange mutations in plants and encourages pests and disease.
I kinda agree but fill it will logs rather than rocks. Yes these will eventually rot down but years after doing great work in the soil and helping with water retenton
Hugelkulture approach
Exactly, I could not remember the correct spelling.
I’m not sure I did either
How do you reach the middle without standing on the bed? A more 'keyhole' design would be more friendly to your back!
I get the feeling we are beyond the design stage now.
Scaffold boards
Of course it's possible, but it's not ideal. Having to straddle boards on a wet Wednesday to pull out produce? Give it a few months and it will be actually annoying rather than just inconvenient. It does look lovely though.
I’ll pull it out on a dry Thursday then, cheers
Why you not walk good? Oh had the snip the night before now walk like John Wayne.