er... non-raised beds

[hedgewizard]

Can I ask a question from someone going in the other direction? Because potatoes were such a pain in the arse in the raised beds I'm going to put in some "conventional" veg rows beside the bed system. They'll be potatoes one year in 3, and other stuff the rest of the time.

Question is, if I'm sticking to fixed row positions rather than digging over the whole plot, then how wide should they be? And how far apart? And what do folks actually do about the space in between, since it's not an actual path?

I've been a devotee of raised beds from the start, so haven't the first clue how to do conventional rows!

[thomas533]

Well, not having planted potatoes in rows in years I did a quick google search for "planting potatoes" and got a ton of hits and the first few seemed to be what I remember. I won't regurgitate the all the info here because so much info is already out there. I used to do 12 in spacing with 3 foot rows.

My question to you is what problems did you have with potatoes in the raised beds?

[Wombat]

Yeah Hedgie, what's the story!

nev

[Millymollymandy]

And what do folks actually do about the space in between, since it's not an actual path?

Whatever spacing you find by Googling, make it much wider than they say between the rows. As you have to earth up several times, the space in between gets more and more difficult to walk on because you can only put one foot in front of the other (thus it is quite easy to fall over!). Eventually the plants top growth meets over the rows making it even harder to walk along the 'paths'!

You may not need to walk between your rows but we have Colorado beetle here so we need to.

You'll also have to walk between rows to water, which is hard, so put a seep hose along the top of the ridges.

[hedgewizard]

I'm not making myself all that clear, I fear! S'okay, I can work out how far apart the rows need to be, no problem. But I'm lazy/thrifty/tight-as-a-duck's-arse and only intend to dig and enrich the "fertile band" in the middle where the crops will actually be, remembering they'll only be potatoes one year in 3. This means I'll be fixing the position of the fertile band by smacking in a bit of coloured piping at each end.

So my question would be better phrased, "how wide to I need to dig that fertile band, and what do folks do to keep the weeds down between the rows?"

[Jack]

Gidday

Sounds like you are a man after my own heart.

When I grow spuds I place the one spud into the soil, put my big fat hoof with the heel next to it then plant the next spud at my toe and continue up the row thus.

All advice I have ever been given is the rows to be 3 feet apart but I tend to think a bit further is better. You will need to mound the soil up around the plants and when you do that rthat takes care of the weeds at the same time. The main reason to mound the soil around a spud plant it to prevent any light getting at the growin spud itself which would make them go green and be not only unetable but bloody poisonous as well.

Now the part where you said you were a lazy bugger, chances are you would only be a long second to me. And if you want to take advantage of that good trait, try straw bale gardening, it will save you even having to prepare the soil and then you hardly even have to wash the spuds when you get em out.

[supersprout]

Hi hw, I use a bed system to be organised - blocks of cultivated ground (your 'fertile bands') between paths. The beds stand up further from the paths with cultivation, not treading on them, mulching and digging only to harvest. I don't 'raise' the beds with rigid sides, it just happens by default. Personally I think 'raised' beds is a bit of un unfortunate term - John Seymour's Self-Sufficiency always called his beds 'deep' i.e. deeply cultivated. Combined with heavy mulching, it's ideal if you don't want to dig, weed or water!

Hey Jack, spot the straw bale hot box at the far end of this one



Perennials are planted at the Sough-facing end of the plot, and up one side, in long rows with paths between them so we can harvest - soft fruit, rubub, globe artichokes and asparagus go here. Weeds are suppressed with deep (<8") mulch - e.g. manure when it's time to top dress, grass clippings, shredded paper, spent hops, coffee grounds, raw or 'cooked' compost, and straw over the lot to look tidy.



IMO another of the BIG advantages of a bed system is flexibility - if you want long rows for any reason, you can merge beds together, widen or narrow them, to suit your crops and your growing preferences. My 'beds' will widen or narrow by a few extra inches each season, you can't do this with fixed sides. I use stakes and string to make sure things line up, like the idea of coloured pipe for visibility, thank you!

I got my first plot here two years ago, and the plot next to it in December, so I'm still using spuds as a 'clearing crop', covered in black plastic and growing through it to suppress weeds. I can start to rotate around the 'normal' beds (4 ft wide, 14 ft long) in the normal way from this year. At 2.5 ft apart each way, this yields 12 spud plants per bed (= per 56 sq ft). At this spacing, spud foliage will grow over the paths, so there's no 'wasted' space, I'm keen to get the most from the cultivated areas too!

[Chickpea]

I agree. I found the term "raised beds" confusing for a long time as I assumed it meant builing walls 2' high and filling them with earth. I didn't want to do that so I just did my own thing and then later realised I had created a raised bed system all unknowing.

[hedgewizard]

That's great folks, love the photos Supersprout! So - three feet apart, maybe 18 inches wide, loads of straw and grass clippings everywhere. That do it?

[supersprout]

oops: see next message - finger slipped

[supersprout]

That should do the trick hw!
If it doesn't work perfectly first time, adjust next year

[hedgewizard]

What's that "hotbox" thing all about, btw?

[supersprout]

The Hot Box is an old way to extend the growing period by using heat. It's a sort of giant propagator in which heat is provided by rotting manure.

How to make one:

Just after Xmas, fill a large container (the hot box) (1m x 2m x 1m minimum) with fresh manure, right to the top. Cover with transparent plastic to keep in the heat, and leave to settle.
Half way through January, cover the top again with 6-9" of compost.
Plant early spuds into the hot box.
Cover the hot box with transparent plastic tunnel. I'll use alkythene pipes bent to hold the plastic above the crop.
[/i]The rotting manure will raise the heat sufficiently to keep off frost and encourage early spud growth. With luck, you can harvest your first earlies at Easter!
After the spuds have come out, in go the melons
After the melons are harvested in September, all the muck goes on the soil and the Hot Box is left empty until January.

This is my first experiment! Made of straw bales, about 1m x 2m inside. So I've yet to see how the theory works in practice. Care to join me?

The Hot Box was one of the insights on a full-day course 'Vegetables all the Year Round' at Barnsdale Gardens. These short, practical courses on technical aspects of growing fruit and veg have been invaluable, can't recommend them highly enough. More at www.barnsdalegardens.co.uk

[hedgewizard]

Ah, a variation of hotbedding which the Victorians used to raise all sorts of wonders. Not this year I think - too much to do already, though I'll await your results with interest!

[supersprout]

Yes, did they feature on in the Victorian Kitchen Garden?
I remember they used them for pineapples, I think that might wait til next year too