Gone are Raised Beds

[davidkParticipant]

They were there earlier in the year & now they are gone;

Woooow, Just put mine in over the last year, I’ll leave in a bit longer, then rip-out!
The abundance video is great, & is great to see you waving your arms about Charles, & yes you should be so so excited. I wanted to eat that carrot!!

RB’s are their to save my back a bit longer, well that was the theory.

But then I know you’ll still have the HIGHEST raised bed with your amazing hot beds, which I hope to emulate this winter. Just got Jack First’s HOT BEDS book.

Thank you Charles.

[StringfellowParticipant]

David, I hope you enjoy Jack’s book on hot beds as much as I – exciting possibilities! Although it won’t be happening just yet for myself.

I wondered Charles, now that you have built and used hotbeds, what your views on the process and results are? Will you be making them again this next season and, if so, is there anything you would approach a little differently?

Enjoyed the new video; keep ’em coming Most inspiring and motivational, great stuff!

Many thanks.

[davidkParticipant]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Beds-Early-Age-old-Techniques/dp/0857841068

Tris,
This is a wonderful little book, I hope to take my raised beds to another level, a bit like Charles did this last winter. Where he used 3’/900mm high Hot Beds to grow & propagate. I have a lemon tree which I put in a poly-tunnel, in a poly-tunnel last winter & heated it @ great expense.

Now the lemon tree is due to go ‘in’ now, but this year I’m going to try & build a raised hot bed to protect/heat the lemon tree for the winter without the ‘Lecki’ company, having to give me a huge bill next spring.

So my local farmer will supply the ‘muck’ to a demountable able to grow Hot-Bed. Yes the Lemon tree is growing so next year the H-B needs to be a little bigger.

This is probably very mad, but I do love lemon trees! & hopefully I get a few more lemons next year than this year.

[davidkParticipant]

Yes Lemon tree now in its hot bed with fresh calf bedding much(about 2Tons), & after one day it’s hot & steaming with tons of condensation. It’s got a chimney too! @ this rate the lemon tree may start flowering again. Have I started too early? will I need to replace much, that is very early in spring!? when there will still be frosts about. I’ve insulated the walls will recycled plywood 4″ insulated panels from my old condensing wood kiln, & built a double skin poly-pyramid on top, with side vents thru’ the plastic. The lemon tree is wrapped in corrugated iron from my barns old roof(holding back the much but not the heat); It’s not cost a penny yet!!(OK labour) The whole box is just over 2m square with the walls 1.2m high & pyramid about 3m high total. I’m wondering whether to put some much on top with some worms in it, or leave that nearer to spring?

Will be interesting to see how far out the snow melts from the pyramid-hot-bed!

The Lemon tree is in a Half Oak barrel & will plant next year, with Lemon tree forming its own raised bed, with companion planting: Chives……..@ ground level till next years pyramid!

[charlesModerator]

 Amazing David, timing is good with frosts imminent next week. Your raised beds may be gone, now you have something more elaborate! I wonder if the tree has enough light?

As for hotbeds, the heat fades after six weeks to a lower level for another six weeks or so. Probably enough for the tree all winter in view of your insulation.

Anyone reading this and planning a hotbed for propagation next spring, a good time to make one is early February, in greenhouse or tunnel preferably, then replace ingredients with new manure in third week of March approx, to have steady heat from early Feb to late April, the main plant-raising period, and less after that, still useful.

[davidkParticipant]

Well it’s fun to see it working so powerfully, & so quickly!, especially as I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing, just following you Charles & Jack First, How we ever forgot these things I do not know. If flowers appear in the middle of winter it could be amazing!

Light wise, you are probably right, the lemon tree survived last winter under 2layers of plastic, I’m not sure it was that happy though. This next year I hope it will be very happy & produce lots more flowers.

I maybe should have only half filled the bed & filled more later, maybe it will have dropped lots & I can just top it up in Feb.

I certainly will propagate ontop of the hot bed Feb next year. Thank you Charles.

[kiwicoopsMember]

When I worked in Italy 20 yrs back farmers there grew lemons in enormous terracotta pots with the branches trained onto a willow frame like an ice cream cone. They would put the plants away into a dark unheated stone shed for the winter, most of the foliage would fall off, then in spring they would re-shoot. They did however have very hot summers to ripen the wood and they would wind in new growth or prune to keep them open at the center but tightly fitted to the cone frames.

[davidkParticipant]

Yes it’s continually pumping out white smoke(steam) from the chimney, after 1 week!

My gut feeling is it’s going to settle 1-2 feet, 300-600mm, & will add more muck(new) later so it can send up the Pope too, & then will be cool enough to put mature manure ontop in Feb to sow all sorts.

The leaves are look’n great @ the moment, can see one branch thru’ one of the side vents.

I’m definitely going to make some more Hot Beds that will turn into ‘no-dig raised beds’
The only problem is my veg garden is alot to manage already for one.

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