When is the best time to set up the raised bed?
Raised compost beds should be ideal laid out in autumn so that it ripens over the winter and you can finally fill up with fresh soil in spring. This will prevent the bed from sagging when you have just planted it. This method also gives your plants more nutrients. Raised beds, on the other hand, that are only filled with soil, can only be set up shortly before planting in spring - there is no risk of collapse here.
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- Plant a raised bed with vegetables
- Ideally, create a raised bed in autumn
- Properly fertilize in the raised bed
Choosing the right vegetables for the raised bed
If you are new to raised bed gardening, first choose the ones that are as easy to pull as possible vegetables such as lettuce, radishes, basil, zucchini, tomatoes and pumpkin. Beans and peas also grow almost by themselves - as do parsley, chives, leeks and celery. This will give you a sense of achievement and allow you to calmly build up the expertise you need.
Variety choice
Don't just plant or sow any lettuce, pay attention to the variety. Especially for cabbage, lettuce, celery and carrots, there are special varieties in the trade that were created especially for cultivation at different times of the year. With such variants, many types of vegetables can be grown all year round. “Early” types of lettuce tolerate the cold temperatures better, while the late varieties are not affected by the heat in summer and they do not flower prematurely. This bloom formation ahead of time is also known in technical terms as "shooting" or, depending on the region, "shooting". In particular, leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and Swiss chard, as well as many herbs, tend to do so with frequent weather changes, extreme heat or delayed planting.
Many vegetables are sown directly in the raised bed. For some sensitive species, such as tomatoes, the short summer in our latitudes is not enough for the plant to have enough time for the fruit to ripen. The gardener avoids this problem with a simple trick: he simply grows sensitive vegetables on the windowsill in the Cold frame or greenhouse. These early young plants have a head start of up to eight weeks - in this way you can make optimal use of the valuable, limited cultivated area in the raised bed. Then only sow vegetables such as carrots or radishes that cannot be preferred directly in the raised bed.
Cultivation planning
In the garden is the right one Cultivation planning Quite complicated: Crop rotations have to be observed, certain vegetables not planted next to others and a break taken after a season. In the raised bed, gardeners are less dependent on many factors: for example, many years in a row the same types of vegetables are always grown in the same place, after all, new earth is created every year refilled. Nevertheless, it makes sense if you also follow a few basic rules in the raised bed Crop rotation and the mixed culture.
Crop rotation
The crop rotation is particularly important in the raised bed
Crop rotation or crop rotation is the term used to describe the annual crop rotation of different types of vegetables. The reason for this is that vegetables from the same plant families should only grow in the same area in the same soil every three to four years. In this way you prevent pathogens such as fungi or nematodes from spreading more and more in the soil. Cruciferous vegetables in particular, which include all types of cabbage, but also rocket, garden cress, kohlrabi and radish are susceptible to the resulting diseases. In the cases mentioned, the Carbonic hernia destroy the harvest. This is a root disease whose pathogen persists in the soil for many years.
Optimal use of the different nutrient compositions in the raised bed
A second aspect that is taken into account in crop rotation is the need for nutrients. Vegetables and herbs are divided into high, medium and low consumers, depending on how many nutrients they need for healthy growth. In a classic raised bed with compost layers, the nutrient supply is very high in the first year - ideal for heavy eaters. Middle consumers follow in the second year and low consumers in the next year. A crop rotation in the raised bed could then look like this, for example:
- 1. Year: tomatoes, celeriac, cabbage, zucchini
- 2. Year: Swiss chard, carrots, beetroot, lettuce and spinach
- 3. Year: peas, beans, herbs, onions and leeks
Of course, you can also plant medium and low consumers in the bed in the first year. You will then grow a little more abundantly and many nutrients will remain unused, but the cultivation still works.
Mixed culture
Another strategy for as much variety in the bed as possible - and thus a lower susceptibility to disease - is mixed culture. Here, too, the nutrient requirements of the different plants are taken into account, for example, strong eaters are planted next to weak eaters (so that they don't get in each other's way), but also shallow-rooters next to Deep roots. This method has several advantages: All nutrients are optimally used, and the denser planting means that there are no gaps in the bed. In addition, some species encourage each other in their growth, while others hinder each other.
- Good neighbors are, for example, carrots and onions; Cabbage and celery; Cabbage and marigolds as well as parsley and Tagetes.
- Bad neighbors are beans and peas; Beans and onions / leeks; Cucumber and tomatoes; Cabbage and onions; Salad and parsley as well as lettuce and celery.
Tips
So that you don't have to harvest all the vegetables at once and then don't know where to put them: plants or sow only small amounts of carrots, lettuce, beans or every two to four weeks Peas. This means that only a small amount is ready to be harvested at a time, which you can easily use by the time the next batch is harvested.