I have been reading about the benefits of growing veges in wicking beds for quite some time on various blogs and on Simple Savings, a forum I am a member of. I have been wanting to build one of my own for ages, but Chris doesn't think I need one, seeing as we garden conventionally on a large scale already. (Until the sheep eat the plants, that is).
Anyway, being the obstinate and independent creature that I am, and with a generous Bunnings Christmas gift card from Chris's brother, I decided that these holidays I would have my bed. Then the procrastinating frugalista kicked in and I decided to scout around the sheds to see if I could improvise and create a bed without spending any money.
A little blog browsing came up with a mini wicking bed design constructed in a styrofoam box. Yay, I have one of those! Then I needed a pipe work system. Yay, I also have one of those where we ripped out an old poly water line! I needed some gravel - yep leftover white stone from some landscaping, some soil - wow I'm lucky we have our own delicious compost where we clean out the cattle yards after weaning calves (manure and straw mixed & decomposed). Plus a bit of mulch.
So for the price of the plants, I have created this little wicking bed. Parsley in one end, and strawberries in the other.
The box will get full morning sun until lunchtime, which I hope will be sufficient. The afternoon sun is too hot around here at this time of year, so I think the location should suit.
My idea is that I will test the concept on a small scale and if its as good as I think it should be, I would like to install larger beds. I think that I could cope better with the maintenance on a bed like this than the constant battle against weeds in our large gardens.
Do you grow your own veges and what are your thoughts/experience of wicking beds?
Todays stats:
Min 17.7 Max 28
Rainfall: Nil
Eggs: 4
Til next time,
Kath
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