Space Saving Veg Growing Ideas

Mid-April, we had an inspirational talk from Barry Newman on ‘Growing Vegetables.’  Barry is an RHS judge and keen allotmenteer.  He is extremely knowledgeable and he shared numerous tips with us about how best to grow vegetables; everyone came away inspired to try new techniques or to try growing different varieties of vegetables.  

Barry is a huge proponent of raised beds in the kitchen garden for several reasons - physically less taxing on the body as you don't have to reach so far and allows for the inclusion of more mulch and top soil for those growing on poor soil. He has built his raised beds with lightweight concrete slabs that are all pre-made and just slot together with restraining clips around the edge. Further benefit being they last forever compared to using gravel boards or other timber. For those of you interested in creating raised beds, Barry had lots of good ideas regarding preparation, location and building that we can share with you. His golden rule for filling a raised bed was that it should be made up of 60% top soil and 40% compost/organic matter. If drainage is an issue consider using broken crock, gravel or other forms of rubble for the bottom layer.

Barry, like many organic gardeners such as Charles Dowding, incorporates more organic matter typically to a depth of 4-5 inches in November. This matter adds precious nutrients and helps with soil structure. Don't worry about forking into the soil as the worms should do the work over the winter. If necessary, lightly fork in the spring before planting.

Two of his best tips though were growing potatoes in bags and courgettes up tree stakes! For potatoes, one seed potato per bag (17 litre Polypot), placed fist height from base of bag and partially filled with compost. He digs a trench in the garden, using the soil removed to fill the potato bags and then places the bags in that trench, one next to the other. Add more compost/soil to bag as the potatoes grow. When watering, water 20% into bag and 80% into trench. The beauty of growing in bags is when it is time to harvest you can just remove the bags, cut off the leaves and store the potatoes in bags until you want to use them.

Whoever thought of growing courgettes up stakes...Barry's idea is a really space saver as he can grow four courgette plants in a 6 inch square. Make sure you use a sturdy tree stake at least 2-3 inches (50cm+) in diameter. Plant the courgette at the base of the stake and once it starts to spread gently lift that first set of leaves up, securing it to the stake loosely with nylons or something soft. Keep tying in the plant every 6 inches or so. As the plant grows you can cut off the lower leaves without damaging the plant. I suspect quite a few vegetable growers in Dunsfold and Hascombe will be trying out Barry's technique this year.

Barry kindly shared many of his growing techniques with us and sent across some information sheets. If interested do get in touch.