Raising the Veg Beds

After yesterday's rapid progress, I started building the raised beds this morning. This was the same sort of construction as for the fruit beds, but modified, as they're not designed with tall posts for netting. Instead, the posts are only as tall as the boards, and crops that need netting will have these supported on canes. We decided to do it this way, as the netting requirements will vary with the crop, which will themselves move, and to have each bed able to cope, integrally, with any crop would mean having tall posts throughout.

The vegetable beds, then, have 5cm square posts, 60cm long, at each corner, and breaking up the long runs. These are short enough to hammer into the ground (impossible for the 8-foot posts making the raspberry beds!), which considerably speeds up emplacing them. Once they're in, the 15x2cm board can be cut and screwed on (I prefer screwing them into place, rather than nailing: more secure, and easier to remove and re-jig). As before, I've gone two boards high. This makes quite a nice height for kneeling next to, and, when filled to about 60% of their depth, gives a good root run in 'improved' soil, while allowing space for mulching. The wood's all pressure-treated pine, so it should last well.

I've got about a third of the C-shaped bed done, and about half of the Q-shaped bed. That's allowed almost all of the remaining heap of top-soil to be brought down, and means I've probably got another weekend of construction to go. In all, the progress has been enormous: all of the ground cut, about a third of the beds raised, and a quarter of them filled—much more than we expected to get done!

I also broke in my new spade, a lovely ash-handled stainless steel affair. It's got a longer shaft than our other spade, which makes it better for me, and a tread edge. I have hopes of more tools from the same supplier, as the spade was excellent (and has a lifetime guarantee).