Perfect when you only want to grow the essentials because you lack space, the vegetable patch finds its place in any outdoor space. You can thus harvest your own garden products while adding a decorative touch to your little corner of nature. Let’s see what place of choice to reserve for your vegetable patch and which plants lend themselves particularly well to this type of culture.
What is a vegetable patch?
The vegetable bed is a kind of wooden structure, a large container for raised cultivation, which is ideal for don’t have to bend down at the time of sowing, thinning or harvesting. It is very important to choose wood that has not been treated with chemicals but must still be able to withstand drought, frost and humidity. the raw larch lends itself very well to it. You can also afford a vegetable garden on legs in polypropylene with anti-UV treatment.
Different models are marketed by garden centers, DIY stores, supermarkets and many specialized online sites. Some squares are equipped with a shelf that can accommodate gardening accessories, and are sold with a clip-on protective cover. They are therefore transformed into a mini greenhouse.
How to install a homemade vegetable patch?
For the sake of economy or simply to have fun, DIY enthusiasts, even without any particular experience, can create their own vegetable patch with bois recovery, brickfrom pierre or some metal platesEveryone to his own tastes.
However, you should think about:
- Create some feet with poles for more comfort when gardening,
- Drill the bottom for a bon drainageor make it with thick boards, taking care to keep a space between each of them,
- Consolidate the bottom with battens because it will have to support the weight of the vegetables and the earth, the latter being even heavier when it is wet,
- If necessary, delimit the planting areas by a grid made from simple cleats of wood, also not chemically treated.
It may be useful to first perform a sketch of its vegetable plot so as not to make any design errors.
Where to install a vegetable patch?
The vegetable patch can be set up anywhere, in a cour or one patioon the terrace where the balcony… in ville like at the country. It is also an ideal solution for growing in jardin when the land is barren and difficult to grow vegetables.
It can be on feet or placed on the ground, but the first solution is more and more popular because it allows the gardener to bend down as little as possible. So it’s a matter of preference.
However, if you opt for a vegetable bed without feet to be installed on the grass or on bare earth, it is recommended to put a large piece of cardboard on the ground so that the grass no longer grows. This limits weed control and the cardboard will degrade over time, which will enrich the soil with cellulose.
To allow plants to develop well and produce abundantly, it is of course essential to respect the other following points:
- Choose a sunny exposure or, at least partly shaded, knowing that most of the vegetables and aromatic herbs need sun.
- Cover the bottom and the uprights with a very good quality geotextile film that it is necessary to fix with large staples for example. This is crucial so that the earth does not sink over time.
- Opt for a loose substrate which promotes rooting and is sufficiently humus-rich, which is even more important in a raised vegetable bed. A mixture consisting of one third of peatone third of vermiculite and a third of potting soil for vegetable plants does the trick.
- Make sure to guarantee a bon drainage to allow water for irrigation and rainwater to drain perfectly, as excess humidity must be avoided at the level of the roots of the plants.
During the days preceding the first sowing and/or planting, it is necessary to water the substrate several times and copiously so that it is well moist when installing the seeds and plants.
Once the plantations are done, do not hesitate to install a mulch, as we do in the vegetable garden. This limits the development of unwanted weeds. Mulch is also useful for keeping the substrate fresh. It is an excellent protection against cold, heat, heavy rain, wind, and as it decomposes, it brings nutrients to the substrate.
About the watering the vegetable patch, they must be carried out before the substrate is completely dry and more frequently than the vegetable garden because, as is the case with potted plants, the earth dries faster and also heats up much faster in models on feet. But as can be done in the vegetable garden or in the pleasure garden, to overcome the problems linked to drought, we install a system ofdrip irrigation. A simple perforated pipe is sufficient.
What plants to grow in a vegetable patch?
Ideally, the vegetable patch accommodates plants allowing a quick harvest, that is, within a fairly short period of time after sowing or planting. This frees up space for further sowing. Thus, in a small space, the gardener can enjoy his crops throughout the year, the main advantage of the vegetable patch being to allow a space optimizationand despite the small cultivation area, a family must be able to draw a good part of its food needs from it.
It is therefore essential to select fast growing vegetables et which take up little space because this garden must be as productive as possible. For example, a stalk of rhubarb has nothing to do with it because on its own it can fill an entire vegetable patch!
here are the vegetablesthem aromatic plants and the fruits perfectly suited to square cultivation.
- Lettuce,
- Chewed up,
- Swiss chard pear (chard or Swiss chard),
- Radish,
- Spinach,
- Leek,
- Courgette,
- Pepper,
- Pepper,
- Tomato,
- dwarf bean,
- carrots,
- Ail,
- Shallot,
- Onion,
- Thyme,
- Mint,
- Basil,
- Chive,
- Parsley,
- Strawberries tree,
- Melon.
All these good garden produce are perfect for the gardener to make the most of the reduced area devoted to his crops. However, we must not forget toamend the substrate as needed with manure or one mature compost because the soil of the vegetable plot devitalizes quite quickly.
Finally, we insist on the fact that no material treated with products that are dangerous for the environment and human health should be used during the manufacture of a vegetable patch. It is absolutely crucial to take all precautions necessary in order not to contaminate the cultivated land with chemical substances. We therefore forget the recycled pallets (unless they are raw) or the old railway sleepers, the latter having been treated with creosote, namely oils extracted from tar.