Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

After a couple of years of total disaster in the veg. garden (slugs and rain) we have changed strategy this year and gone for raised beds and what a success, everything that we planted has grown. We dont have a polytunnel (on the to do list) so everything is planted straight into the beds. We let the ducks roam around the veg. area and I believe that has had an impact on the slug population.
My children like lettuce and radish now!!!!

Morag

That's great Morag. I was wondering why raised beds gets promoted so much over plant directly into the ground which is what I am doing now, but trying to keep the individual beds from becoming overgrown by surrounding grass is becoming tiresome. Plus the slugs are after eating a fair bit, and the parsnip seedlings have mysteriously disappeared! Some tough cookie plants are surviving.
To create a few extra beds in a rush this year we have taken a layer of turf off the top. Although it means that the best bit of the soil has been removed this year, next year all the grass in the turf will have died off and we can use it to top up the raised beds that I will create over the winter
- Kirstie