The Micro Bed Gardening project is a new initiative using small spaces to grow food. The idea is to use four, one metre square beds each planted with a different crop for the summer season. If you want to follow crops after harvest it should be possible to get another crop and/or over winter some vegetables ready for the following spring. The next year another four crops are planted but in different squares.
The project will provide all the information required but you will need to register to gain full access to the site. If you live within travelling distance of Bakewell we hope you will to come to our meetings but this is not a requirement as the support you need will be here.
To give you an idea of what is possible we ran trials in 2010 we went from this to this in just 8 weeks!
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(Click an image to enlarge)
The yields in 2009 from four, one metre square beds was as follows.
Lettuce – 9 Webb’s Wonderful harvested, total weight 6.3kg, replaced with 9 Hispi cabbages 5.4kg.
Onions – 8.6 kg, average weight 126gms.
Carrots – 9.0 kg
Runner beans – 8.8 kg
Total weight of food produced from 4, 1m square beds = 38.10 kg or 83.82 pounds. Average yield per bed = 9.53 kg or 20.56 pounds.
In 2010 four new beds were made on very rough ground to show just how quick and easy it is to start growing. The beds were edged with Linkabord recycled plastic boards and filled with compost made from green waste supplied by VitalEarth. The total time to prepare and plant was around 5 hours which included clearing waist high weeds. The beds then required very little attention until it was time to harvest the crops.
If you would like to participate in the trial, or need further information, please complete the joining form. There is a subsidised fee of £5 (first 50 participants, full fee of £10 thereafter) for the first year which gives access to all materials on the web site which are not visible until you are registered. You are also welcome to come to any of our meetings but this is purely optional.
You do not have to live in Derbyshire to join the project. All the material and support are available from the web site. We already have participants in Warwickshire and Norfolk.
All we ask in return is that you take some photographs of your plots through the year, make a note of what you plant, when you sowed seeds and what the yields were. Also, a record of how many meals where you ate some of your own food be useful.
When you signup you will have access to the full Micro Bed Gardening Project content which is currently around 70 pages. The information will take you through all stages of making, sowing and harvesting your micro bed garden.
We acknowledge financial support from the following organisations
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