I have two Link-a-Bord raised beds in my back garden, each 1m x 2m x 15cm, plus a narrow brick-edged border built against the conservatory. These have been a great improvement over growing my salad vegetables directly in the ground, since the soil in my garden is shallow and rather poor quality. The main problem is keeping my bantams out - even with bird netting strung all the way around the beds, they are quick to attack any plant whose leaves grow close enough to peck at through the fence!
So far this year I have grown:
- Flat-leaved parsley and coriander - self-seeded from last year, and very prolific, but bolted in late spring :(
- Carrots "Early Nantes" - sown under Coke-bottle cloches in early February, these have been cropping steadily through late spring and into summer
- Spinach "Matador" - sown in March, and provided several meals' worth of leaves in April and May
- Courgette "Albarello di Sarzana" - not too prolific, but we get a steady supply of good-sized pale green fruit
- Lettuce "Parris* Island" - a nice crisp cos that hasn't bolted yet (fingers crossed!)
- Tomatoes "Ferline" and "Sub Arctic Plenty" - just starting to set fruit, not helped by a wet June
- Garlic "Purple Heritage Moldovan" and "Chesnok Wight" - now drying in my conservatory. I grew these around the tomatoes, and they seem to have kept the pests at bay very successfully. The bulbs are modest in size, but there are over two dozen of them, so should keep us going for a while
- Ruby chard - very attractive, with an earthy taste similar to beetroot leaves (the chickens love it too!)
There's more planned for the autumn, including more carrots ("Rothild" this time), bulb fennel, pak choi, spring onions, and of course lots of salad leaves!
* No, that's not a typo. Apparently the lettuce is named after Parris Island, off the coast of North Carolina, not the capital of France