Most commercial gardens use 800mm beds, so that they may service them without walking upon them. My calculations suggest that you might be able to utilise more of the enclosed area for growing if you do not rigidly edge the plots. Charles details the advantages of ‘ ridged’ beds, being less slug friendly and safer -no edge to trip over or fall upon.
By utilising woodchip, you could get 3 x600mm ‘allweather paths’ between 4 beds @800mm, giving extra growing area, and easier access to your crop. Maintenance of such paths is minimal, simply occasional rakeback if birds chuck the chips or compost around.
Depth of beds will increase year on year as you ‘make’ soil, varieties could be arranged to suit their preference as your ‘ridged’ beds could be within 4-8″ initially. The underlying hardcore should not cause any isssues so long as it drains.
Hope that this is helpful, I would be interested in updates as you progress and to learn of the varieties and your marketing plans.
Best regards
Cleansweep
