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Help with new Veg Patch

 
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dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 8:15 am    Post subject: Help with new Veg Patch Reply with quote
    

Hi Everyone. Last weekend I got some wooden boards and built a frame for a raised bed veg patch.
Its approx 3 1/2 metres by 1 1/2 then lifted it to the back of the garden where we wanted the patch and made a cut into the grass around the frame.
I took away the frame and started digging up all the grass into patches. All fine so far. I then got the fork and started digging down to a folks depth and just with every turn kept on digging up loads of big stones. It was extremely hard work and took me the entire weekend but went through it all approx 3 times and have gathered 6x big blue Ikea bags worth out so far. It doesn't seem to stop.
The soil is quite strange it has what seems three different sorts. One and thankfully seems like most of soil looks perfect to my untrained eye then the second looks quite sandy in the top left corner and then when dig to bottom of folk seems slightly clay like but overall seems ok I think???

My question is how much of the stones do I still need to take out?
Should I get rid of as many as I can or is 25% stones of all shapes and sizes ok?
I will be making compast to keep filling it up over the winter to reach the top of the bed so should have approx a foot of good soil on top in end too.
Lastly the patch is approx 2 metres away from a row of large Conifers and some of the routs go into my patch. Will this be a problem or is it ok?

Thanks for any help

Pic half way through the work below


Last edited by dean_butler on Wed Oct 03, 12 8:44 am; edited 2 times in total

NorthernMonkeyGirl



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4584
Location: Peeping over your shoulder
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Depends what you're growing. For anything but roots, I'd just build up the soil now. For roots you might want to keep digging!

From someone with a mix of lovely tended soil and lumps of concrete and glass

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Northern Monkey Girl
Thank you for the reply. Im very new to gardening and just getting the patch ready for next year (March)
Im not sure what root plants are too much. Im wanting to grow the usual stuff really, Carrots, Beans, Broccoli, Tomatoes etc.
Mostly I have been putting my efforts into researching compost.
We have just recently purchased our first house and only moved in 3 weeks ago and I have been wanting to grow for many years and now have land to do so

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 8:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Pic added

Last edited by dean_butler on Wed Oct 03, 12 8:45 am; edited 1 time in total

Nicky cigreen



Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9702
Location: Devon, uk
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

different veg want different conditions - roots - ie carrots parsnips want poor soil - so as NG says, keep digging.

other plants such as beans and peas like rich soil

spuds and squashes courgettes etc like really rich soil

So if you wanted to do more of these 'hungry' plants it might be as well to get in a really deep layer of muck -e.g. horse manure

its not a huge bed, so perhaps better to choose one group of veg - and that depends on what you like and how sunny a position it is etc

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hey CIG thank you for your advice. Yes we will definatly be adding some horse muck and also will be doing our own compost to build it up.

When it comes to horse manure can you put it straight on top of the bed (fresh) or do you have to wait a year? I have heard both? I dont know what is true.

So basically I should try and get rid of as many stone as I can possibly handle.

Would you say more I get rid of the better?

Nicky cigreen



Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9702
Location: Devon, uk
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

again it depends what you are planning on planting there - spuds can handle fresh muck - most other things need it rotted down first.

A lot of people use a crop of spuds to prep a bed - the inevitable digging and removal of stones is good for the ground and then the addition of muck - which will be well rotted by the time the spuds are harvested also is a good thing. Then the digging again when you dig up the spuds - more stone removal with that. at the end you have a good bed.

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

colour it green wrote:
again it depends what you are planning on planting there - spuds can handle fresh muck - most other things need it rotted down first.

A lot of people use a crop of spuds to prep a bed - the inevitable digging and removal of stones is good for the ground and then the addition of muck - which will be well rotted by the time the spuds are harvested also is a good thing. Then the digging again when you dig up the spuds - more stone removal with that. at the end you have a good bed.


I think we will be starting the planting in March so if we just put the muck down now and left it until then will it have rotten down by then or does it need to be in a bin as well so it concentrates?

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 9:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yet another small question. Can you and would you also plant herbs in the veg patch or would you have them in separate areas in wooded boxes etc?

Sorry such newbie questions.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 9:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Veg and herbs require different growing conditions and as such they are often grown separately but there's no hard and fast rule. You can mix herbs and veg but check first whether they will happily grow side by side happily with each other.

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

vegplot wrote:
Veg and herbs require different growing conditions and as such they are often grown separately but there's no hard and fast rule. You can mix herbs and veg but check first whether they will happily grow side by side happily with each other.


Thank you Vegplot. This is all really excellent info. Great, basically plant them separately apart from maybe Basil that goes great next to Tomatoes?

OtleyLad



Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 2737
Location: Otley, West Yorkshire
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Dean

When you've dug your bed I would cover it with some plastic sheet or simialr until you want to actually grow something.
If you leave it uncovered, even over winter, it will quickly get over run with weeds and that always feels like a major setback.

This stuff from ebay is good (you an often get it by the metre from garden centres).
Best of luck with it all!

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 12 10:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

OtleyLad wrote:
Dean

When you've dug your bed I would cover it with some plastic sheet or simialr until you want to actually grow something.
If you leave it uncovered, even over winter, it will quickly get over run with weeds and that always feels like a major setback.

This stuff from ebay is good (you an often get it by the metre from garden centres).
Best of luck with it all!


Thank you for the great tip OtleyLad. I will see if my dad has some as he has lots of odds and bits.

dean_butler



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Posts: 39
Location: London
PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 12 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

These are the stones I have had to get out of my patch. Are they flint?


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