I am planning the raised beds for the back garden here. We have lots of left over bricks from the house, they would only have to return them and we would not be refunded for the over order. We will therefore use them some where else. i.e. veggie beds.
Do you have any suggestions or tips? I am open to all advise and help with this. Also, I have noticed a huge difference in my tomatoes this year, I have been watering with tap water and not water from the rain butts. I think this is the problem. Have you had this problem?
I woke up properly at 5pm, I have had a migraine since yesterday.... urgh. I feel better now. Tomorrow is next years veggie garden planning day! Hooray
Hope you are having a good weekend.
11 comments:
Good luck with your garden. I can recommend "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew.
Especially pay attention to his planting medium recipe - 1/3 various composts, 1/3 peat moss
and 1/3 Vermiculite. That's the secret.
Wretched migraines, I hope you are free from it now. It sounds as though your building works must be making progress, which is wonderful.
I'm no great gardener, I leave all of that to Max, so no words of wisdom here. Sorry.
Unfortunately this year we have both been so busy renovating the other cottage that our vegetable garden has become simply a garden of weeds. Perhaps we can claim to be resting the soil! The wild birds are enjoying all the seeds from the weeds, the bees are enjoying the browsing in there and I know there are lots of mice hiding in the long grasses (the cats tell me!) so it has not been in vain. Good luck with the raised beds.
Hi Kim, Welcome to my blog and thank you for your tip of this persons book. It could be a great winter read for me. Thanks again
Hey Felicity, I am no great gardener either. I am ok in the green house with things in there as I can control all of it. But when it is outside it goes to pot with me. Take my tomatoes. Urgh awful. I have had hardly any harvest. And what is on there is extremely poor. The plants came from my BIL and his are going great guns. I think it is a mixture of poor soil in pots (from the garden centre) and tap water. Tap water on plants seem to really slow them down I think. I am going to buy rain barrels from the water board. They are a lot cheaper
Hope you are well and that Miles and Poppy are settling well.
Hi Sol, I like raised beds because you aren't bending down to the ground when you are sowing and weeding... We grew some onions in the ground and some in old plastic baths (with drainage holes drilled in them) this year. The one's in the baths are much bigger. I think it must be the drainage. Perhaps you could incorporate some seats into the raised beds?
Sol - For me rainwater is the only way to water my veggies. You never know what you're getting in tap water...
Yeah - I also had an iffy tomato harvest last year. Reckon it was just too blooming hot!
If you make brick veg beds just make sure tehy're thick/strong enough. Also make sure they're teh right type of brick for that, some, if left wet for too long, start to break apart. They want to be quite tough, almost engineering brick for that type of thing. London commons or something won't last.
As for the tomatoes are they getting the same amount of light - mine last year suffered because of the weeds behind the greenhouse, took me months to realise!
Hi Kev, the builders said I shouldnt use the Bradstone, but I am going to anyways, with a waterproof membrane on the sides. making them like a wicking bed, if it doesnt work then I havent lost any money as I have already paid for them and they were going to send them back. Better to try and fail I think, than not try at all.
The tomatoes are in the sunniest spot I have, sun most of the day. I think it is the water and the bad soil.
I have also been thinking about next year's planting...this year I left everything up to my husband, bless him. We have been getting good harvests in, but no salad or winter crops were planted. So next year I shall 'help' him by making a plan. I am not sure if he will take any notice of it, but at least I can try!
Hey Vera, I have been chasing the sun around both the front and back garden as I want to put a small amount of soft fruit in a bed and not move it. The neighbours will love that ;) I think I live next to the real Margot from the good life. Constantly checking on our building works over the fence and asking are we really going to burn all of the wood from the trees...? Because - and get this - I laughed my behind off in doors. Our wood that we have been splitting by hand, "doesnt stack nicely or correctly". What? Seriously. You've guessed it, they have moved from the town. They also asked the farmer if they could move the cows further away as the mooing was annoying them when they were in the garden. I wonder what they think of all of the brick and roof dust that must be going into their pool? Their pool man (yes they have one of those), must be rubbing his hands with glee as he keeps charging them for every visit. And what does he do? He lifts the cover and empties the trap and filter. A 10 year old could do it. You dont even have to get into the water, it is in the patio area. I feel it is a little bit of pay back for them not sorting their oil tank, it stinks to high heaven, the lid doesnt fit properly or the bung is broken. And their shed which houses their pool machinery and vacuum that is in the pool constantly sounds like a washing machine on constant spin. And they wonder why their dogs all bark at it. Urgh
migraine--magnesium capsules unless you can afford relpax. only two relpaxes, no more, per migraine.
Hi Deborah, I have never heard of that before. I get migraines from the weather changing and thunder storms. They knock me out for a whole day, being ill and sensitive to light. I will have to look into that. Thanks for the tip
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