[plopleuk]

i am starting to set up my beds and paths equally and a neighbor on the allotments has said don't do them all the same size.
i am doing 4 equal sizes for a 4 year crop rotation then a raised bed for permanent plants plus salad stuff and then an area for fruit.
should i take his advise? even if i get more of a certain crop one year if it has to go in the smaller bed a year or so later and i wont get the same amount then.

[JayG]

I'm assuming your plot neighbour gave some reasoning for his advice?....................

Crop rotation is a (good) aspiration, not an absolutely rigid discipline. For one thing, crops from the different groupings take up different amounts of space, and of course you are allowed to grow however much or little of anything which suits you. 

[Goosegirl]

Personally, I would do them all the same size, especially if you are rotating crops. If you always fill your bean bed, say, then you rotate, you will still need the same size of bed for your beans the next year. I don't fill all my beds completely each year as my brassica bed tends to get a little empty in autumn. I only grow what we use and like. I use crop rotation but only tend to dig two beds out of my four. The root veg bed I spread manure/compost on in autumn as I do to the other two beds, but I don't dig it in to avoid forked roots - I just move the manure aside and plant/sow. The brassica bed is not dig at all to give a firm bed but has manure spread over it in autumn like the root bed.

[mumofstig]

I plan a 3 year rotation on my small plot and will have 3 beds equal size, finished for next spring. Spuds, brassicas and everything else
I manage to get an early crop of peas grown and picked, before the brassicas go in their bed- so it works well for me.

so equal size makes perfect sense

[kevinp]

Amazing I was just going to ask this question as well I am spacing mine out as four foot beds there will be twelve altogether but what spacing do you use between the beds ? I am using the 30 day trial of grow veg and drew my allotment out with two foot spacing between the beds but this looks very big in real life so I am playing around with different spacings and one and a half foot seems big enough what do you have ?

By the way all beds will be the same

[mumofstig]

Imagine your bed is full of growing stuff...peas..potatoes etc, would 18inches be enough room to get a wheel barrow down the path if you needed to?
Could you kneel to weed in 18inches?

Just a few things to consider before you decide what will suit you 

[kevinp]

Good points never thought of the wheel barrow ( don't own one yet but I will at some point) or kneeling down.

Thank you

[JayG]

..........and of course kneeling room is not just required for weeding as you will discover when you try to germinate parsnips, or grow outdoor cucumbers, or..............

[gillie]

How long are your arms?  I find it difficult to reach the centre of my four foot beds and consequently there is always some uneven sowing here, or a row of weeds!

Gillie

[plopleuk]

i am using the weed retardant membrane from sainsburys, its 1.5 mtrs wide so is enough for a barrow and kneeling.
i laid it down and covered with wood chips.
i am making my beds 5 foot wide as i can reach half way with ease.
i guess ill keep them the same size and see how i go, i can always make a fifth one.

[beaker141]

I deliberated on raised beds and went for 1.8m * 2.4m, about 8ft * 6ft.  I have 4 so far in a row accross the top end of the plot and have 40cm paths, it seems ok for my requirements.

I went for all the same size so that when I create some tops for the beds, e.g. mesh, fleece, polycarbonate cold frame, they will be fully interchangeable and fit on any of the beds as and when required - e.g use a polycarb cold frame to start things off then move it to another and eventually use it as a greenhouse style over summer.

As for wheelbarrow access, if I went for the maximum of 16 (4*4) beds on my plot, all but 4 of them could be accessed from the standard edge path leaving just the middle 4 that I couldnt get a barrow to without some ingenuity.

I'm sure Ive got OCD though wanting them exactly the same size and symetrical - ha ha !

[mjpalin]

Amazing I was just going to ask this question as well I am spacing mine out as four foot beds there will be twelve altogether but what spacing do you use between the beds ? I am using the 30 day trial of grow veg and drew my allotment out with two foot spacing between the beds but this looks very big in real life so I am playing around with different spacings and one and a half foot seems big enough what do you have ?

By the way all beds will be the same

I used grow veg to plan my plot, i thought that 18" paths would be big enough.. it's ok, but hard to bend down and weed "facing" the beds, have to do it all side on. By the time I realised it was too late, apart from the last 2 beds where we now have 2 foot spacing and it is soooo much easier.. may look big on the plan, but in reality it's not!

[Junie]

I am hoping to lay down temporary paths each year, making them with timber and webbing.  Then taking them up to give the area a good rotovating ( It was rough land until this year so needs pleny of work) It has been interesting to see what widths people have their paths.