HAVE you ever thought about growing an edible garden – one that, for most of the year, is productive enough to supply a steady handful of fresh greens for the table?
The good news is, you don’t need a sprawling backyard or endless hours of effort to make it happen.
Even a small space can deliver big rewards. A raised patio garden, around 300-400mm tall, is more than enough to grow vegetables successfully.
The shape is entirely up to you – straight rows, L-shaped beds or any configuration that fits your space will work just fine.
The key thing to remember is access. If you can comfortably reach from one side to the other, about 700mm wide, you’ll find planting, watering and harvesting much easier.
Depending on the length of your garden, you can grow multiple plants together, with plenty of vegetable varieties well suited to compact spaces.
Lettuce, in particular, is a wonderful addition. With so many types available – crisp, soft, frilly or compact – there’s a lettuce for every salad, sandwich and season, offering different shapes, textures and flavours.
One area where it pays not to cut corners is soil preparation. Quality soil is the foundation of a productive garden.
Mix together well-aged manures, mushroom compost and a good potting mix to create a rich growing medium.
It’s worth spending a little more at the start and filling the raised bed right to the top.
Half-filling to save money is a false economy – plants struggle, growth slows and results disappoint. Keep in mind that soil will naturally settle and reduce over about six months, so topping it up from time to time is part of normal garden care.
If budget is a concern, there are clever ways to reduce costs. Bags of horse manure are an inexpensive option and can be used to fill around a third of the garden bed before adding your soil mix on top.
Another method is lining the base with broken bricks or concrete, then layering horse manure and soil mixes above. These approaches save money while still giving your plants the depth they need.
