Gardening with Children

School Zone

Grow Fruit and Vegetables in Raised Wooden Beds

Date Posted: 01 March 2013

In March Countryfile featured a school in London that grew their own fruit and vegetables, which were then used in the school canteen for the school dinners as well as in the classroom in cookery lessons, they had converted some of the school playground into a vegetable garden using Raised Wooden Beds, not only were more pupils having school dinners but remarkably there was a vast improvement in their academic achievements.
 
It is very important for children to learn where their food comes from, how it grows, what it needs to grow and to be able to grow it themselves and then to cook, eat and enjoy it.
 

FSC Wooden Raised Beds - Standard

More and more schools and gardeners are discovering the benefits of growing in Raised Wooden Beds:-

You can match the type of soil in your Raised Wooden Bed to suit your plants or if you live in an area with poor or heavy clay soil you can fill your Wooden Raised Beds with a good growing medium.

Raised Wooden Beds take the bending out of gardening and provide easy access gardening for the young, old and the disabled.

Raised Wooden Beds offer improved drainage which is good news for those that live in an area prone to flooding and also during prolonged wet weather.

Crops are easily reached without walking on the soil so there is no compaction meaning less digging and less work.

The soil warms up much faster in Spring enabling you to plant earlier crops.

They are easy to cover with film, fleece or netting to protect crops.

They are suitable for growing a wide variety of Soft Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers, Alpines, Small Trees and Shrubs.

Now is an ideal time to prepare your Raised Wooden Beds ready for sowing and planting when the weather warms up.

Make any repairs to your Raised Wooden Beds whilst they are empty, replacing any tired posts or boards which may not last through the next growing season and apply a coat of preservative.
 
Weeding is one of the first jobs to do and the majority of them can be added to your Compost Bin.
 
The Classic Single Wooden Compost Bin (90x90x75cm)
 
Fork in a good 5cm layer of garden compost from your Compost Bin or well rotted manure as well as a general purpose fertiliser such as Chicken Poo (pelleted chicken manure). Digging will expose any pests which the birds will readily clear up for you.
 
Cover your beds with film, fleece or cloches this will keep the soil drier and help to warm it up.
 
Once your soil remains at 7-10C for a week you can begin to sow hardy seeds such as carrots, beetroot and lettuce.
 Garden On A Roll

 

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