[LottieLady]

Hi fellow growers 

I am pretty much a newcomer to growing (other than weeds, Im good at that).  I was given an allotment in October last year which was very overgrown and hadn't been worked for over 4 years.  After much hard work I have managed to get about half the plot workable and am currently growing onions, broad beans, potatoes, cabbages, brocolli, sprouts and cauliflower.

The ground is extremely heavy and hard going clay like, very stony and definitely not suitable (from what I have read for my favourite carrots and parsnips)  so I have dug out a 9' x4' bed to a depth of 8 inches and I want to make it a part seed bed and partly for the carrots and parsnips.

Could anyone please advise me as to what compost I need in a seed bed and if the depth is enough?  I was thinking maybe a peat free compost mixed with well rotted, home made compost (from kitchen waste and grass cuttings) and top soil, but like I say I am very much a novice and could be completely off the mark!?

Any help would be much appreciated!!

[Yorkie]

A seed bed is usually a starter place for plants, and you transplant them to their final growing positions once big enough.  Is this what you had in mind?  If so, I wouldn't recommend it for carrots or parsnips, which won't take kindlly to being transplanted.

If you just mean creating a good growing environment to sow your carrots and parsnips to maturity, then I'd suggest a mixture of compost, (top) soil and sand.  You can get short-growing varieties of carrots which won't mind the relatively shallow depth.  However, my extra-large parsnip last year was 17" long ....

[LottieLady]

Yes Yorkie, that is exactly what I had in mind for my seed bed, I don't have the room around the house for seed trays and we don't have a green house. 

I realise carrots and parsnips don't like to be moved, I am hoping that if I dig over the base of the area I have dug out and then top with compost/ top soil/ sand mixture this would be ok for both purposes as it would actually have much more depth beyond the 8".  Or would the parsnips require their full depth to be this mix?

Well done with the uber-parsnip!!!

[Yorkie]

I'd have thought that would be fine