Raised Bed Plan - Beetroot, Sugar Snap Peas and Autumn Spinach • Vegocracy

Raised Bed Plan – Beetroot, Sugar Snap Peas, and Autumn Spinach.
This Raised Bed is planned to give 3 Batches of Vegetables during one season. The picture above shows the layout of the first two batches.

First Batch:

Beetroot
Sugar Snap Peas

Second Batch:

Beetroot
Sugar Snap Peas

Third Batch:

Autumn Spinach

Why these crops?
This bed is located in the “Enrichers with a twist” section in my garden. These sections are based on Beans and Peas to enrich the soil for next 3 years, all in line with the Crop Rotation Plan. That’s why Sugar Snap Peas are the foundation of the plan for this Garden Bed.

I will try to grow Beetroot together with the Sugar Snap Peas in this bed. This is partly due to lack of space in the “Needs Less” section where I usually would grow Beetroot – and partly because Beetroot seem to grow fine in most places and together with most other crops. I have not tried this exact combination before, and I am excited to see how it grows.

Location
1d = This bed is in the “Enrichers with a twist” quarter in my Crop Rotation Plan.

It is one out of Several Garden Beds. See the total list of beds and Layout in my Garden Plan for Raised Beds 2017.

Time Plan for this Bed
I start my sowing for this specific Garden Bed in the beginning of March – which is quite late compared to many other of my Garden Beds. The dates will depend a lot on where you live, and what average temperatures and sunny hours you have at different months. I’m in Northern Europe and this is my Plan for this Bed:

March – beginning:

Sow Beetroots Indoors (select an early spring, cold resistant variety)

March – end of:

Sow Sugar Snap Peas indoors
Transplant Beetroot Seedlings to bigger Pots if needed.
Remove Ground Covers (leaves and grass clippings) from the Winter Cover to allow the Spring Sun to warm the Soil.
If it’s a Cold Spring, cover with glass, or plastic to let the Soil heat faster.

April – beginning:

Move the Beetroots outdoors to the Raised Bed, 15 cm between the rows

April – mid:

Move the Sugar Snap Peas outdoors. Wait until later if spring is super cold, or cover with Garden Cloth if risk for frosty nights.

May – beginning:
While the Beetroots and Sugar Snap Peas is growing in the Garden Bed, it’s time to start preparing for the second batch.

Sow Beetroot indoors (this time, you can select another variety)
Sow Sugar Snap Peas indoors

June – beginning:

Harvest Beetroot and Sugar Snap Peas. The Garden Bed is now empty, and ready for Second Batch.
Move the Second Batch of Beetroot and Sugar Snap Peas Outdoors.

June – end:

Sow Autumn Spinach in pots/planters

August – mid:

Harvest Beetroot and Sugar Snap Peas. The Garden Bed is now empty, and ready for Second Batch.
Feed the Raised Bed with Manure (I use Cow Manure Compost)
Move Autumn Spinach Outdoors. Plant in rows.

October/November:

Cover Bed with Cold Frame or Plastic if it’s a cold autumn
Harvest spinach continously.
Cover the Bed with Organic Material and let it rest for the Winter.

Background
My Kitchen Garden is built with a modular approach. I have a number of Raised Beds (Deep Beds) – currently 29 beds. Most of them are 120×80 centimeters. They are Deep Beds and I always cover them with Organic Material to improve soil and nutrients, and also have a No Dig Garden. More background information can be found in these posts:

Kitchen Garden Layout Plan – Layout overview
Building a Raised Bed Kitchen Garden – How to Deep Dig the frames and feed them with organic material
How to build Raised Bed Frames – Step-by-Step guide on how to do the Frames for the Raised Beds.

Methods I use to plan each Garden Bed
I plan each bed carefully and enjoy making and developing my plans. I try to consider different angles:
– Succession Planting: I want to have at least 3 batches from each bed to maximize my harvest
– Crop Rotation: I rotate my basic crops each year to eliminate diseases. I have a 4 year Crop Rotation Plan (more about my Crop Rotation Plan here).
– Companion Planting: I want each batch to consist of Plants that thrive together to get good harvest and keep the plants healthy.
– Continuous Harvest: I want to be able to harvest from early spring to late autumn without having to preserve too much food. We prefer to eat all the vegetables as fresh as possible.

Don’t hesitate to discuss the planning of this bed with me. There is always loads of input that can help improving this further.

Update, 17th of January

January and February are my Winter Sowing months, and this year I will try to Winter Sow Beetroot. I’m thinking that it SHOULD work, but I have never tried it myself. If they are not Sprouting in the Spring I will simply start new Seeds with regular Methods.

For Winter Sowing in a tray, start by placing the Seeds. It’s nice, since you can prepare everything indoors and take you trays outside when you’re done with the sowing.

Take the trays outside and add Snow on top.

Add a lid.

Place the sowings in an outdoor greenhouse or a larger plastic container outdoors and wait for spring.

Update, 19th of April

Beetroot update! The Winter Sown Beetroot seeds have been developing fine, and are now looking like this:

The indoor Beetroot seeds were started later, but has already been transplanted once. They are a bit thinner than the outdoor plants, but all are looking ok.

I was planning to transplant all of these Beetroots to the Raised Bed last weekend, but I have been waiting a few more days since nights has been very cold (-7 degrees celsius). Hope to get them outdoors within a few days.