Building raised beds isn't as big a deal as you might think although there is a bit of work involved as well as the initial expense - layout. But it does make managing your plot a lot easier as well as a few other benefits.
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| Spuds in raised beds |
By creating raised beds you not only make your plot more manageable but raised beds tend to be warmer and helps with the control of the temperature during the colder months, so you can plant earlier in the season as opposed to on the ground growing. It also helps with drainage and serves as a barrier to pests such as slugs, snails and along with all these benefits it makes it easier if you have any back issues like myself. Many experienced allotmenteers use this method for growing carrots and so on.
Timber can be very expensive so I chose to use scaffolding boards along with 2.4 metre fencing posts.
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| scaffolding boards & fencing posts |
You can get scaffolding boards from local small building sites in many cases for free like I did here.
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| Free scaffolding boards |
I cut the fencing posts to 48cm posts and using a good old fashioned yankie screwdriver I then screwed them to the scaffolding boards.
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| Laid out scaffolding boards & fencing posts |
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| Using Yankee screwdriver screwing fencing posts to scaffold board |
Once screwed together and complete I positioned the bed frame then using a spade I then dug a hole around all four posts.
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| Holes dug and frame with posts |
I then Positioned the frame with posts in the hole then using a spirit level I checked the positioning of the frame, and as necessary using a spade at an angle I dug in under the scaffolding frame along the length to get the frame to sit straight. I then backfilled it all and then back to my favorite bit the de - weeding, once this is done I'll be ready for spring. A good tip though is do this kind of work if possible around September as the ground is wet, soft easy to dig and work with, oh and have fun because once it's done another benefit will be less weeding hooray LOL.
But before I carry on with the weeding of the beds I've had an idea which I think will pay dividends down the road, I'm going to sort the paths out while I'm here. So what I've started doing is scraping the top off on the paths using it to fill up the beds and then using a fork turning over the paths and pulling out the big weeds. Then I covered it all with manure mixed with hay. It's a bit of work yes but by doing this now it will limit the weeds coming back through the beds while feeding the ground and helping with drainage at the same time.
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| Manured paths |
