Posted on by Lesley

The first raised beds

The first three raised beds are built and in place. Hurrah! Another small but significant milestone on our croft journey.

There was a short gap in the weather this morning which husband took advantage of. The timber was cut, positioned and screwed together to create three high sided, solid boxes.

The challenge here is the exposure of the site. We receive the full force of the South Westerlies which whip over the croft, with only limited tree cover to the west. The flat land that is cultivable is close to the house and right at the top of the hill.

In terms of positioning I wanted the beds close to the house for ease of access and proximity to water supply. They also needed ideally to be oriented east-west to maximise exposure to sunlight, and if possible be sited on flat land. The perfect (and only really viable) place here is going to need good wind protection.

We will put up a heavy duty mesh windbreak whilst we plan what type of hedging should be planted here, get the basis of the hedging in, and that will be it for this year. I can start with basic, small scale vegetable production in between house building.

We’re also keen to get compost piles started, so timber to construct a couple of adjacent compost bays is on its way.

Behind this row of beds I’m thinking of trying a hugelkutur bed, which I’ve read great things about. We will have wood debris that can form the core of it from fallen branches from the existing trees, and we should have home grown compost by next year.

First things first though.

Tomorrow I will line these beds with cardboard as a weed suppressant and start moving and de-stoning soil to fill them. This huge soil pile was excavated from the croft when the builders dug the parking area the caravan is sited on, and it will form the bulk of the growing material in the beds, topped off with compost mulch.

It feels good to be preparing for growth.

16 Replies to “The first raised beds”

  2. Really good looking solid frames for your raised beds. Putting in the windbreak hedging is always difficult, as you need a windbreak to protect the young plants.
    New gardens are always so exciting.

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  3. That looks amazing! It really makes me feel so glad for you, to see so much progress. Maybe you could add some wood scraps to the bottom of those beds too (to lessen the amount of wheelbarrowing of soil and provide some water retention and nutrient release). I loved my Hugelkultur beds, they were so productive and needed so much less water. I have plans for more (away from the house this time) when I get the urge to build garden again.

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    1. Thank you! We will probably need some sort of lid, as a few locals on Skye have suggested, but I’m so pleased to be able to compost again after many years

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    1. Thank you. I’m hoping to start small with these three beds and experiment with potatoes, garlic, kale, Spinach, Shallots, leeks, beetroot and herbs (I’m sewing coriander, parsley, Chives and thyme too but may sow these I to barrels if I run out of room in the beds and have them closer to the house. I’m also planning on starting a berry bed with Honeyberries, Gooseberries, currants and raspberries, probably a mounded hugelkultur bed. How about you?

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      1. How exciting. Might be a bit late garlic. We still have leeks in the beds. Such a great crop because it’s resilient to just about everything. We are are going to grow a lot this year. Too much too get into in this reply 😀

        The berries are a great idea. Our strawberries are prolific.

        One comment from last year’s experience is to prepare for slugs. They were a real problem for us, and because potatoes have so much foliage, it was a haven for them. The nematodes worked a treat, but they’re expensive.

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