GARDENING THIS WEEK

The ultimate raised garden :

Construction was simple; lay the two painted fence posts on the ground and place one sheet of iron over the posts to completely cover the two posts. Check to make sure its square fitting and then drill holes of suitable diameter to take the roofing screws.

On a roof you would fasten the ridge part of the iron sheet so water would flow down the gully part. For your raised garden the reverse applies. Screw in the roofing screws at both ends of the sheet. The reason for using screws as apposed to roofing nails is they are easy to unscrew if you want to move the raised garden or extend it. The same is done on the other long length of iron. You now have two sides so next the ends.

The final sheet of iron is cut in half making it 90cm long, a nice width to work on from one side or both. The posts are going to be inside the bed.

The two ends are screwed to the fence posts. It is best to assemble where its going to sit which ideally one long side should be facing in a northerly direction..

Now you have the raised garden ready to fill. To fill take any trimmings of trees and shrubs and place onto the concrete pad inside the raised garden. along with any rubbish organic material which can be grass clippings (Not sprayed with herbicide for over 18 months) sawdust, newspaper, old spent compost, old potting mixes and even some top soil (which is likely to have weed seeds in it.)

By Wally Richards

Filling the raised garden to about half the depth. You can even trample it down and add more till about half full. Over this you put several layers of newspaper. Cover this with purchased compost that is NOT made from green waste. Daltons & Oderings Composts are two safe ones along with straight mushroom compost. The fill will take it to about 35cm from the top of the raised garden. Now you spread some goodies such as Blood & Bone, sheep manure pellets, Wallys Neem Tree Granules, Wallys Unlocking Your Soil , Ocean Solids, chicken manure and the cover these with another layer of purchased compost about 5cm deep. This should then be about 20 to 30 cm from the top of the raised garden and ready for you to sow seeds or plant seedlings. After planting you can stretch some netting or crop cover across the bed and holding secure with a nail in each corner post. This will stop birds and cats from getting in and destroying your plantings and if crop cover is used it will stop most insect pests as well including butterflies. Having one long side facing north will heat up the contents through the iron, warming nicely the mix. The gap between the mix and the top creates a wind break and so you have your own special micro-climate and plants will grow twice as fast compared to if they were in open ground.

When a crop is harvested just place more goodies into the bed and cover with more compost. You will get years of pleasure and nutrition dense vegetables for your health. You can easily extend the raised garden with two more 1.8 sheets and one more post cut in half. Unscrew one end that you want to extend, removing the end section. Unscrew the sides at that end so your new sheets will overlap onto the existing and be screwed on together. Posts at other end will take the end half sheet and now you have 3.6 metres of raised garden. Fill this as previously. You may need to place a brace across the middle two posts to prevent it bowing outwards. Happy Raised Gardening. I am now doing gardening sessions with Rodney Hide on Reality Check Radio.. The sessions are available as replays at https://realitycheck.radio/ replays/real-talk-show-replays/ If you want to here me chatting away then have a listen.