Making raised beds from rubbish

 

We grow lots of soft fruit on our Farside allotment but our strawberry patch is constantly being invaded by raspberries, brambles, comfrey, nettles and weeds. We have set ourselves the task of creating a series of raised beds to be planted up with the strawberries. And the other condition is that the raised beds must be built from waste and rubbish. We have just about achieved this.

The raised beds are made from paving stone boxes. These are very strong and sturdy as they are used to transport heavy paving stones. The boxes have been lined with plastic feed sacks which are stapled into place. These staples are the only items which are bought. The boxes have been filled with layers of waste - mainly from our goat and hen houses. Some but not all of this muck has been partially rotted down. Ther are also layers of garden waste and cardboard. This material will rot down slowly, gradually releasing nutrients on which the plants in the raised beds will feed. The final layer is fully rotted down garden compost.

We have so far created three raised beds. We have about another 17 to go.