[retrocircles]

Hi,

I'm going to be attempting to grow my own veg this year for the first time. I'm growing from my own garden, adapting the space we already have.

I have some raised beds previously containing box & roses which have been dug out. The soil isn't very good quality. It has a fair amount of rocks etc. I plan to add new compost on top, but how far down should the 'good quality' compost go?

In this particular space I plan to grow sweetcorn, brussell sprouts & cauliflower.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[lucywil]

firstly, welcome to the forum.

our allotment is really stoney so when i dig i remove some of the bigger ones, the only thing i have had trouble growing is carrots so i wouldn't worry too much. just take out the big one as you go, add the compost and it should be fine for the things you want to grow.

sweetcorn takes up quite a lot of room though

[penance]

If you have already dug the land over to a reasonable depth then just incorperate the compost in the top spit.

[retrocircles]

Thanks very much for the advice. I shall continue removing the large bricks & add some compost to top up the beds.

I do plan to grow carrots but plant in large butts to be sure to get no bendy carrots. 

[Stripey_cat]

Sweetcorn are quite shallow rooting, so you'll be fine.  Brassicas like really firm soil, so you'll need to tread the soil down before they go in.

[Mike.white]

What kind of space are we looking at? Both sprouts and sweetcorn can get quite large!

[retrocircles]

What kind of space are we looking at? Both sprouts and sweetcorn can get quite large!

For the raised beds that are already built they're approx 2 ft in wide & run the length of the garden which is around 80ft. I will only plant 1 row deep in these for brussels, and cauli maybe 2.

Sweetcorn I know should be planted in blocks so I'm creating a new area for those.