Filling the Square Foot Garden Beds

Today on the allotment the Square Foot Gardening Beds started to get filled, I need the cardboard and the Vermiculite out of the greenhouses and these beds needed filling, and protecting from Basil Brush and his mates from coming and doing the Watusi in the beds again like they did with the bean trench bed and the Grapevine beds.

A selection of different composts have been added to both of the square foot gardening beds, Peat based, peat free compost., and Coco Coir

The second Square foot gardening bed has had the Coco Coir in there since last year when I hydrated the block, the cardboard had more or less rotted away so a new layer of cardboard was added. Miracle Gro Peat Free Premium Fruit and Vegetable Compost and Clover Multi-Purpose Peat Based Compost.

Half a sack of both the Westland New Horizon All Plant Compost and Westland New Horizon BIO3 All Vegetable Peat Free Compost was added to each bed I didn't get to add the Happy Compost Enriched Top Soil or the Willy Worm Castings, I will add these after the beds have been rained on and compacted a little.

I didn't have room to add the Wickes Peat Free Multi-Purpose Compost so again I will wait and see how much compaction takes place and then spread it over and work it into the mix. Or use it for my potatoes.

I was not expecting the 100 Litre plastic sack of Vermiculite that I bought from Marshalls last year to be double wrapped in paper sacks, I thought the paper sacks were it and have been worried about the sacks lasting or splitting unnecessarily. 

I emptied the Vermiculite and then started to mix it in with the different composts, and mixing everything together.

I used the plastic shovel, rake, fork and finally the claw to mix up the Mels Mix and I ended up with a nice level fill to the top of the timbers making the beds.

Coco Coir hydrated yesterday was added and mixed in with the claw and shovel

Once mixed and level with the top of the beds framework I added the finishing touches the vertical mesh and blue water pipes added so I can add debris netting to keep Basil Brush and his mates out of my nice new Square Foot Gardening Bed.

I ran out of time to finish off the second Square Foot gardening bed by adding the Vermiculite and mixing everything up, but I've used the portable protection hoops and mesh to keep Basil and his mates off it.