[dadshelper]

Hello all

I am just starting out on growing my own veg (taking up the reins where Dad left off).  I am going to be building 4 raised beds ( each 4' by 8') they are all South facing.  It will be on an area that is presently lawned.  I intend to turn the lawn over then incorporate some farmyard manure.  I will then fill the beds with a multi purpose compost.

My questions are

1.  What do you think I could plant that would be able to be harvested this year.
2.  Would it be OK to plant carrots or would the manure be an issue
3.  Could you recommend a good book to help me choose a scheme as I am aware that certain vegetables grow better if they are with other complementary vegetables

Any assistance or guidance will be very appreciated

[woodburner]

1there have been a couple of threads on this recently: thread
another thread
2 traditional wisdom says no (never done it myself)
3 one of my books has quite a nice table can't remember which one though
 :oops:  I'll check later, but I'm pretty sure it's either Bob Flowerdew's no-work gardening or HDRA's organic gardening.

Before you buy any wood, (actually you could still use it for compost bays ) have you considered lazy beds?

[dadshelper]

Hello and thank you for the reply.  Thank you for the link.  I hadnt thought about a lazy bed (didnt know what one was) I just typed raised bed into the internet as I had heard of one of those.  However the garden is sloped and the slope is running West to East and so I thought that a raised bed would be a bit easier and tidier.  Also the groud is quite clayey and where I am putting the bed there is a hedge of laurel so I thought it would be dried out.

I will have a look for your books no need to be embarrassed re your book its good that people like you pass on your knowledge just wished I had taken more interest when Dad was around as he had a huge allotment and large garden plot but gave 90% of the stuff away but he just loved growing it.

[woodburner]

You're welcome. Which reminds me: Welcome to the forums  

Lazy beds work on slopes too, I have a slight slope in my garden, and more of a slope in my lottie, but haven't got as far as making beds there yet.
Have a look here though.

[compostqueen]

I love Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Vegetables and keep it handy to keep dibbing in  to  

Raised beds are a good idea
Carrots don't like freshly manured soil. Grow carrots on manured soil next year     They are ok on poor soil mixed with SAND
Grit or sharp sand is very good to incorporate into clayey soil as is manure and home made compost or home made leaf mould, so if you don't have facilities for composting these then get something sorted cos you won't ever regret it  

You can take the top spit of turf off your chosen beds, turn it upside down in situ or remove it to the compost heap where it will rot down beautifully.
You can they lay a thick layer of cardboard down in the base of your raised bedto keep weeds from coming through. They will die by the time the cardboard has rotted (in theory)  and plonk all the soil/compost/muck/leafmould/grit on that and get planting. If you're sowing you will have to sieve a bit for the top as you can't sow in very lumpy soil.  Carrots and parsnips need finer soil or they will be distorted  

[dadshelper]

Thanks for the welcome.

Compostqueen unfortunately I dont have space to do my own composting and where I live the council have a green recycling scheme which takes all garden waste away.

My thoughts were once the base of the bed is sorted and what I was going to do was dig down on spade full get rid of all the stones and clayey soil turn the grass sods over and layer some manure in to give some good ness back and then put in 1' of good quality potting compost.  

I realise not the most cost effective method.

I think that I will stick to the wooden beds as whilst it will be more expensive at the start I think I could make them into a nice feature

[woodburner]

Found the table of what grows well with what. It's on page 155 of 'the no-work garden'.

I can't find much in there on crop rotation, but how you divide your crops into equal areas and how many years you take to get back to the same arrangement as year one, depends so much on how much of each you actually want, that, for me at least, bog standard plans wouldn't work.

There seem to be only a couple of really important things to remember anyway.
1 Put brassicas on different plots each year and don't have them back on the same plot for at least the next two years. (3 year rotation)
2 Don't put carrots or parsnips on ground you manured the previous autumn.

My Grandfather didn't have much space for composting, he would dig a trench a spit deep where he wanted to put runner beans and Grandma dumped veg peelings into it.  

[dadshelper]

My dad did the same til he got a compost bin.

Thanks for the advice I am hoping to grow

Beetroot, Carrots, Parsnip (love them roasted), onions, runner beans a few sprouts, salad plants like lettuce, spring onions, cucumber herbs and some fruits like strawberrys and rasperrys.

I dont want to grow tonnes of each just enough to keep 3 of us in fresh fruit and veg.  Hopefully it will save alot of waste because at the moment we go to the supermarket  by the veg but we seem to throw a few things out each week at least way we will only cook things on the day rather than thinking a week ahead.

Anyway thanks for all the information I will get that book otherwise I can see me making some BIG mistakes