RAISED GARDEN BEDS IN THE BUSH – GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD IN POOR SOIL CONDITIONS
When we moved to our bush property two years ago self-sufficiency was high on the agenda. We wanted to produce our own electricity, collect rainwater and we certainly wanted to grow some or if possible most of our own food. This included an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables and we both envisaged a fairly large space for vegetables, berries and flowers intermingled in a lush, productive garden. But for the time being, while we were building a house and joinery workshop, we had to be content with a single ‘temporary’ garden bed so we could start growing some fresh greens. The bed was constructed with two curved, 5m long zincalume sheets that were left over from our roof installation. We screwed the two sheets together at the ends to form an elliptical shaped bed 0.9m high. Working the bed at this height – sowing, planting, mulching, harvesting and pest control – has been extremely convenient and the ‘temporary’ bed turned out to be a great success and supplied us with an abundance of food.
The following spring we added a second, rectangular bed made of other scavenged sheets to accommodate some tomato and zucchini plants. Once you have started to grow your own food you never really grow enough or have enough space. There is always another variety that should be added to the mix. The second raised bed planted with zucchini and tomato plants is pictured in the image at the beginning of the article. The long sheets were not supported and the beds started to budge when they were filled with compost.
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