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Hi, I’d be interested what people have to say about the approach I described on BRF/RCW which is popular in France and Quebec. They say it’s best to spread the green chips on the surface directly without composting.
Perhaps you could do a combination – thin layer of compost and woodchip mulch on top?
Or collect your neighbour’s green waste and cook up compost with the woodchips mixed in.
They are a lot of work to put in but are used a lot in arid climates, in Australia they are called wicking beds. I use the principle in all my windowboxes as I keep forgetting to water them. Also used the double bucket with success for tomatoes on the patio.
Basically you create a water reservoir and fill that up directly instead of watering on top. Then you need a “wick” to help the water go into the soil above, I used earth-filled pots suspended into the reservoir. Lastly, some sort of overflow.
Because of my forgetfulness I made a wicking base for all my starts that I plant out later, using sand instead of soil, and nestling the pots into that.
is my favourite after early potatoes, it is so sweet you wouldn’t believe it, even my kids eat it. I put in plants straight after harvesting the potatoes.
Has anyone tried beans after potatoes? Especially after potatoes under mulch, as this gets all mixed up with the compost during harvesting.
if you don’t want to eat that many potatos squash are a great easy crop to fill large spaces quickly. Winter squash like Butternut keep for months and are great presents. Its fun to try new ones too, I usually keep the seeds of pumpkins I like and have a go at growing them. Dead easy.
I did potatoes under straw the previous year and it worked a treat but this year my allotment neighbours complained about mice and I had to cover up the straw with a layer of earth (quite clayey). The potatoes weren’t great in fact there was not much growth through the soil layer on top. Any clues as to why?
I am planning a school project on pasture land being converted to veg growing.
My plan was to cut the turf of the 1m wide paths and put the sods onto the 1m wide beds, grass side down. Potatoes in a row down either side and a row of broad beans down the middle, covered with compost. At the same time, sow the path with clover. Earth up with grass clippings (or the clover) once or twice, harvest both crops before the summer holidays. Should be a cool project with a variety of seed potatoes provided by the agricultural research station nearby.
Do you think this would work?
I usually do a three sisters bed: sweetcorn, squash and beans. Be careful not to use a too vigorous bean though my corn stalks were pulled down one year.
I planted brussels sprouts between squash (butternut and pattypan). I have just put a covering of compost on the beds and the sprouts survived. Cannot compare to different placement unfortunately.
I have had an overwintering kale Cavallo de Nero, planted the previous autumn, which is huge, very tall, that would not have had a problem in the squash bed. Broccoli too, but not the calabrese type.
To satisfy the hunger of squash I have sometimes made a bucket sized hole, filled with compost. If you plan ahead you can even fill the hole directly with kitchen scraps and cover with earth. The worms take care of it until the roots reach down.
I get a 10l bucket of coffee grounds from the local cafe and if I don’t have time just dump them on my raised beds or at the base of trees. A short time later, scraping the coffee off a little, there are lots of compost worms. Must be good.
Great to see you are investing in your community! I’d love to visit if I am in the area again.