As most of you know my lotties have had it because of the rain, however as have several 12 inch high raised beds I may have a couple of options left.
At the moment I have a lot of winter brassicas to go out and the ground is under water, the raised beds are not as of today.
John has managed to dig up all the salad spuds out of one which is almost 5 feet by 8 feet long. It is filled with good loamy soil but not too compact.
I would like to get some of the brassica plants in there and want to get as many as possible in the space, also taking into consideration the value of the harvest I get later.
The brassicas I have are...
about 4 types of sprouting broc, late, early, etc including white.
several types of cauli all with different maturity dates.
several types of cabbage ditto re dates
several kales
2 types of chinese veggies
A few late Brussels.
I need to choose and prioritise and have never grown brassicas in a deep raised bed with this type of soil before,it might be a bit soft, and I need to know just how close I dare put them.
All help would be great.
Thank you
XX Jeannine
I've got 4 foot beds and plant in staggered rows. The bigger stuff - brussels & broccoli - goes in 3 in the first row, then 2 in the next, then 3 again; same distance between rows as individual plants. The smaller stuff - cabbage, kale & caulis - goes in 3 in each row, but again staggered. (Does that make sense?)
In a 5 foot bed you might just get away with 3 per row for the bigger stuff and 4 & 3 for the rest.
If the soil's very soft, the brussels might not be a good idea, as they may blow, but the rest should be OK.
John has just said they are not quote 5 feet about 54 inches
Do you think I could get X X X
X X
X X X
X X
X X X
Or should I leave off the last three.
I really appreciate this.
Would it matter what they were apart from the brussells. I think my first pick would be the cauliflowers
XX Jeannine
I don't know why it has shown up crooked
Your beds are the same width as mine and I get four across thus;
6"in from edge x 16" x 16" x 16" x 6" =60" =5ft
I then plant them in rows 15"-18" apart.
There are some who will say this is too close but you are on raised beds and can therefore plant closer.
Plus you are planting winter varieties and they will sit all winter relatively small and wont develop until spring so the closeness allows them to support each other during any inclement weather that winter throws at us..
I also find by doing this I have less of a weed problem, i.e. all the soil is covered in a very short space of time.
have you got any troughs, jeannine, I grow chinese leaves as cut 'n' come again in them, like lettuces, we have 3 raised beds for brassicas, 4' by 12'..1 for sprouts, big cabbages and broccoli, 18" by 18"
1 for calabrese, kale and romanesco brocc, 15" x 15 "
1 for smaller cabbage and caulis that are 'idol', small just for 2 people
just remember, whatever you plant, stomp 'em in good, put a cabbage collar around them and cover the bu**ers up
hope this helps and you get loads of good stuff, you both deserve a good harvest :)
p.s, even 'buckits' would do for chinese leaves, they only have a short root system ;D
Thanks Manics, we are utilising every inch of space as and when we can,I think even my narrow flower borders are going to get my sprouts!!
I can follow some of the ideas you have given me, and John is going to build a couple more beds this next week, it seems funny building when we are surrounded by water but it is the only way I think,the lottie was still flooded as of lunchtime today,We tried the potatoes by reaching over from the path edge in the hope that they were Ok but they are just mush.
No hope for the squash but I think we may get some stuff in the boxes.
Glad to have you home,I hope you are feeling well and getting stronger every day.
XX Jeannine