[ytyynycefn]

Anyone done one of these?

I'm about to empty my two manure bins onto the beds, and I have a free supply of horse poo delivered to my plot - basically as much as I want.

So I thought I'd replenish the bins with fresh poo, and do a hot bed to get early carrots and turnips, and then plant squashes in them after that.

Do I need a cold frame stylee lid?  And should I put some soil over the manure as a sort of buffer layer?  I realise I'll need to let them sit for a few weeks to settle down a bit before planting, but other than that, I have no idea.

Any thoughts?

[Axe Victim]

Hot Beds? I thought that was a Rod Stewart song...

Try this useful looking link....

http://www.holon.se/garden/howto/hotbed_en.shtml

 

Cheers

Axey

[ytyynycefn]

Great link, Axey, mate - just what I needed to know.  Don't fancy all that salad, much - but will try carrots, turnips, squash, tomatoes etc.  Watch this space!

[supersprout]

Me too, I made mine out of straw and will put early spuds in there at the end of Feb-ish. Just been watching the Victorian Kitchen Garden DVD and there are mini-hotbeds all over the shop! :shock:

[richyrich7]

I'm tempted to grow my tom's this year on bails of straw anybody tried this before ? You have to soak them with loads of water and leave them to get hot and when they have cooled down you can plant your toms direct from their pots into the bale about three to a bail or so I've heard.

[muntjac]

now that mate i have seen and it werked well  she used liquid manure to feed them and i tell ya the roots went all the way through the bales .she had blooming loads  loverly toms .gardeners delight ones and dam was they sweet. she kept hers in a platic bag affair on the floor they was turned on the short side up

[richyrich7]

  Might just try that this year, suppose it might work for peppers as well. Bail of straws about £2.50 around here so it might work out quite reasonable in the long run as you would have loads of straw for composting at the end of the year, and some free heat in the early spring.  I'll post some picks if it works !

[wellingtons]

... and managed to keep salads going and growing from January til about March ... was good!