Thank you all so much for your advice, I have such an awful lot to learn. I won't be growing root vegetables this year but I will grow brassicas and winter salads. I already have tomatoes and lettuce on the go in the garden. I will read up about rotating crops in vegetable beds, does this also apply when you grow vegetables straight into the ground? Can anyone tell me roughly how long it will take the manure I have put in the raised bed to decompose? I am just wondering if I will have to leave it a couple of years before I plant root vegetables which has been suggested. I am now thinking that putting cardboard at the bottom of the bed a bad mistake, does anyone know if the cardboard slows down the manure decomposing? Thank you all once again.
Cardboard is great as it will, itself, rot down and add to the glorious mix and allows moisture as well as beneficial soil organisms to move about and improve your soil. The simple 3 year crop rotation sequence explained on the RHS link I gave you applies to any beds, raised or ground level and includes when to apply manure for plants that need rich soil and what to plant after those.
It's probably best to wait 2 years but why not try a wee row of carrots next year and see what happens? You can always do successional sowing if the first turn out OK and beetroot and turnip behave differently so are worth a try. For this year, if you have a decent sized pot (60cms) you could sow some carrots in there in ordinary planting compost. Being raised above the ground will help keep carrot fly off them and they'll be easy to water and monitor.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
If you're going to go for root crops next year, start collecting 5-litre clear plastic water containers now to use as cloches for carrots that will help keep carrot fly at bay.
You mention other crops being grown 'in the garden'. If the raised bed is an experiment/gift from your other half, assess the benefits it offers to guide you in whether or not you create more. They're not a very efficient use of square footage.
Re planting crops in pure manure, a few years ago I bought a load of rotted cow manure from a local farmer as I did most years, he said he had a load of fresh manure that he wanted to be rid off and I could have it for a fiver, which I accepted.
He dumped it on soil I had just lifted potatoes from, I did not intend to use it until it had rotted some so I covered it with a large clear polythene sheet.
Next season a couple of potato shoots appeared, so I just left them.
When the tops started to die down, I dug the potatoes out, they were spread all around the manure, I had two black industrial buckets completely full of very large clean Romano potatoes.
Unfortunately when cooked they were uneatable, disgusting in fact, the kids thought we were trying to poison them, so I had to dump the lot!
Though unintentional, that was my one and only attempt at growing in pure manure!
After what I have read I really don't fancy growing any crops in manure, the thought of it now disgusts me, if I get another raised bed it will just be filled with compost and topsoil. Thank you all once again
You don't grow crops in manure! It's a soil conditioner which is applied when well-rotted so no nasty smells or undesirable bits but full of micro-organisms and nutrients that help plants grow well. Any manure needs to be well-rotted and not fresh.
As for potatoes - practically impossible to harvest every single one when you lift them. 3 years later I still have them popping up in what has become a dahlia bed and has had horse manure worked in to feed the dahlias. They taste fine.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Cardboard at the bottom is fine - your raised bed is on the lawn, and the cardboard will prevent weeds and grass from growing through, and eventually, as Obelixx says, rot down and add to the general mix. Look for "Charles Dowding no-dig beds" on youtube for really encouraging, easy to follow info on using cardboard for your beds.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I think something got lost along the way regarding manures.
1) As @Obelixx stated - well rotted manure is an excellent soil conditioner in a traditional plot, often dug in, often incorporated in the autumn for planting in the spring.
2) Organic no-dig involves planting directly into COMPOSTED manure (as explained in the article I posted) that is simply placed on the surface, rather than incorporated with underlying soil in any way. Composting it first with greens and browns is the key here.
Planting directly into raw manure, no doubt the taste of the crop would be vile.
In case 1) growing root crops will likely see forking, it is better to grow other crops for a season or 2 then rotate in root crops
In case 2) forking is less likely, it will be OK to sow root crops into in the first season
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It's probably best to wait 2 years but why not try a wee row of carrots next year and see what happens? You can always do successional sowing if the first turn out OK and beetroot and turnip behave differently so are worth a try. For this year, if you have a decent sized pot (60cms) you could sow some carrots in there in ordinary planting compost. Being raised above the ground will help keep carrot fly off them and they'll be easy to water and monitor.
If you're going to go for root crops next year, start collecting 5-litre clear plastic water containers now to use as cloches for carrots that will help keep carrot fly at bay.
You mention other crops being grown 'in the garden'. If the raised bed is an experiment/gift from your other half, assess the benefits it offers to guide you in whether or not you create more. They're not a very efficient use of square footage.
As for potatoes - practically impossible to harvest every single one when you lift them. 3 years later I still have them popping up in what has become a dahlia bed and has had horse manure worked in to feed the dahlias. They taste fine.
1) As @Obelixx stated - well rotted manure is an excellent soil conditioner in a traditional plot, often dug in, often incorporated in the autumn for planting in the spring.
2) Organic no-dig involves planting directly into COMPOSTED manure (as explained in the article I posted) that is simply placed on the surface, rather than incorporated with underlying soil in any way. Composting it first with greens and browns is the key here.
Planting directly into raw manure, no doubt the taste of the crop would be vile.
In case 1) growing root crops will likely see forking, it is better to grow other crops for a season or 2 then rotate in root crops
In case 2) forking is less likely, it will be OK to sow root crops into in the first season