Raised Bed Plan - Radish/Parsley/Dill, Chilli, Marigold and Basil • Vegocracy

Raised Bed Plan – Radish/Parsley/Dill, Chilli, Marigold and Basil
So.. this is really 3 Raised Beds. I decided to only write one plan for these three beds, since the schedule is the same and since the main crops are Chilli, Marigold and Basil for all three of them. The only thing that separates them is the first batch, where I will grow Radish in the first one, Parsley in the second one and Dill in the third one. I plan to leave the Chillis outdoors for as long as possible, so I’m not planning any third batch. Depending on how autumn turn out there might still be room for a third batch of vegetables after the Chilli season is over, but in that case I will plan for that later.

First Batch:

Radish or Parsley or Dill

Second Batch:

Chilli
Marigold
Basil

Third Batch:

To be decided later

Why these crops?
Chilli is really the main crop for these three Raised Beds, so I plan around that. To companion the Chilli plants I will use Marigold and Basil, since they keep Aphids away from Chilli plants. That’s what I call great companions! Before Chillis there is room for Early and cold resistant vegetables. Since the early vegetables need to be done in mid may (when the Chillies will be moved outdoors) I will select things that I can Winter Sow: Radish, Parsley and Dill.

Location
5 e/f/g = This bed is in the “Others and Perennials” Quarter in my Crop Rotation Plan.

It is one out of Several Garden Beds (29 when I’m writing this, but tends to be more and more each season…) See the total list of beds and Layout in my Garden Plan for Raised Beds 2017.

Time Plan for this Bed
Time Plan is totally built around Chillies. I start it early to be able to get one batch of vegetables before the Chilli Plants are ready to be transplanted outdoors. 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 the Plan I follow:

December – mid:

Start Chilli Seeds indoors

January – end:

Transplant Chillies to larger pots.
Winter Sow Radish, Parsley and Dill outdoors.

March – mid:

Transplant Chillies to later pots again.
Harvest Radish, Dill and Parsley continuously

May – mid/end (depending on weather):

Clear out the Raised Beds
Add Chicken Manure
Transplant Chilli Plants to the Raised Bed
Cover with Plastic if risk for frost

August – mid:

Start harvest Chillies as they ripen
If summer has been warm and Chillis are progressing good, start planning and sowing autumn crops for this Raised Bed.

September – end:

Harvest the last Chillies
Clear out the Raised Bed
If autumn crops, add Chicken Manure and transplant Autumn Crops to the Raised Bed

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, 10th of december

It’s mid December, and I’m starting Chilli Seeds today! First Vegetable planted for this Raised Bed!

I’m growing lots of different vegetables in my Garden, but I’ve not been growing that much Chilli the last years. User LittleChili posted a great guide last year, and we were able to follow her Plants as they developed during the season. It was a great inspiration for me, and for Chillies, I plan to follow the instruction from LittleChili’s post Growing Chillies from Seed. She also sent me Chilli Seeds, so I have absolutely no excuse.. I will grow Chillies this year.

Starting Chilli Seeds in a “Plug Box”.

Filling bottom half with Planting Soil, and top half with Sowing Soil:

Adding Seeds, markers and covering the Seed with just a tiny bit soil:

After sowing, I put the plastic lid on and placed the box in a Window Sill with a warm Radiator below. I added extra grow light. I can’t wait to see the little Sprouts!

Update, 16th of december

6 days by the radiator and the first Chilli Seeds are sprouting! This makes me so happy to see, and warms my heart even though everything is snowy and frozen outdoors!

Update, 20th of december

Sprouting!

Update, 7th of january

Came back home after a few days off and realised that my small Chilli Plants were a bit thirsty. Luckily it was not too bad.

The Plants are a bit Leggy, but I replanted the tallest ones as deep as I could and hope that the Plants will grow new roots and grow more robust from now on.

Update, 14th of January

Continued repotting my Chilli Plants today. Little beauties:

Update, 19th of January

Chilli Plants are growing fine.

Update 9th of February

I’ve been starting loads and loads of trays with different type of Basils today. I plan to have Basil in these Raised Beds with my Chilli Plants, and also in the Tomato Bed.

Starting Basil Seeds in trays is quick and easy. I fill the bottom 2/3 of the tray with regular soil, and the top with sowing mix. Usually works out very well.

Update 11th of February

It’s nice to start the indoor sowing, but it’s just as fun to start outdoors. I plan for one batch of vegetables before the Chilli and Basil moves into these Raised Beds, and that batch of vegetables was started today. In these 3 Raised Beds I started Radish, Parsley and Dill according to my Plan – and I also added some Carrots and some Rocket since they are all perfect for Winter Sowing and I had some seeds left.

To speed up the sowing a little bit I used Sowing Bands for the Carrots. Carrot Seeds are so small, and my Fingers tend to get really cold when I work outdoors in the snow, so using Sowing Bands for the Carrot Seeds is a bit easier. I bought these specific Sowing Bands, but I’ve sometimes made my own. Another nice thing about using Sowing Bands is that it’s super easy to make patterns.

Step by step instructions on how to do Winter Sowing are posted here.

Basil is sprouting already, just 4 days after sowing!

Update 8th of April

I transplanted basil last weekend, and they are coming along fine.

I’ve also started Marigold seeds indoors.

Chillis for these Raised Beds are looking fine.

Update, 22nd of May

First batch of vegetables is almost done from this Raised Bed. This spring has been to cold for Dill, so no Dill to harvest. Carrots and Parsley are coming along but are not ready yet. Currently, I’m harvesting loads of Radish.