[RUSTYME]

Another bed for me to dig !
 I will be starting a new herb bed this year . Most of my herbs seem to have gone walkabout over time , so clean start.
They will obviously be used for cooking , but they will also be used for medicinal purposes too.
 A medicine chest as well as a cookery herb supply.
The main cure i am looking for is one for digging ! 

[doganjo]

Raised beds, Russ - at a height where you don't have to bend.  Fill with rubble then you don't need so much soil.  No digging required as it doesn't get compacted.  Easily kept weed free, and my son is hopefully going to leave enough room for him to build me a few with old pallets before he deposits his 20 foot boat in the back yard!

[RUSTYME]

Yes they are fine if you have the stuff to make them with , and then to fill them with Annie .
But mine will be about 40'x10' or more , so ground level it will be.
I will only be digging new bed as and when i feel like it . They will be in pots and old buckets etc , till more bed is ready.
  I have made loads of raised beds in the past , and must say they have lost any apeal they may have had .
They look ok and for many, serve a purpose . But they need making and then maintaining and watering ! Plus my veggie plot is in the corner of a field . Everything has to be carried to it . Just digging is the easiest option lol.

[Sandy]

I would love to know more about herbs etc, my brother often tells me stuff and what properties they have. I like growing little amounts in pots and over use them some times, also wild stuff is great.  How about making the plot into squares and doing a bit at a time or better still, drawing up a treasure map, selling the squares off and the one that find the "treasure" takes it as a prize, a little flaw is you have to find something you can give away and it has to be good enough for others to want it, then they can come and dig thier bit and you all can have fun and hopefuly get it all dug and some money too! I doubt it will work but an idea..lots of people do treasure hunts now!!!     I would just spread a rumar that something not good is burried there and  some one may well get it dug for you 

[doganjo]

I would love to know more about herbs etc, my brother often tells me stuff and what properties they have. I like growing little amounts in pots and over use them some times, also wild stuff is great.  How about making the plot into squares and doing a bit at a time or better still, drawing up a treasure map, selling the squares off and the one that find the "treasure" takes it as a prize, a little flaw is you have to find something you can give away and it has to be good enough for others to want it, then they can come and dig thier bit and you all can have fun and hopefuly get it all dug and some money too! I doubt it will work but an idea..lots of people do treasure hunts now!!!     I would just spread a rumar that something not good is burried there and  some one may well get it dug for you 

[RUSTYME]

I just bought a really nice book about herbs , Jekka McVicars 'complete herb book' , for 1p lol , good ole amazon. I also have an exellent book by Mrs M Grieve , 'A modern herbal'. That can be a bit pricey to buy , had my tatty copy for 20 odd years now .
Plenty of books about !  James Wong has a good book about using plants for remedies 'Grow your own drugs', just waiting to find a copy cheap !

I moan about digging but don't really mind it ?.
 I try to keep as low a profile as possible on the land Sandy ,  so loadsa people down there, wouldn't really work for me . Plus no access for cars , only 4x4 , 350 yard very muddy, overgrown track , and no parking on the road , just how i like it ! lol .

[Sandy]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! better forget the group dig by the 

[RUSTYME]

Will most likely be growing some hops in the herb bed , about 20 , and plenty of other tall plants . Another reason that a raised bed won't be needed . 
Got a picture in my head of the hops along the back , and the front and sides edged with a lavender collection , about 100 or so .
Hollyhocks at the back , in front of the hops , along with dill , anise , fennel , evening primrose , plus all the usual suspects , pot marigolds , lemon balm , mints , sage , rosemary , thyme etc.
 I can see me needing a bigger herb bed already !
 The planned sunflower bed may have to go elsewhere . That is set to be about 40'x10' . Not sure how much oil that will provide , they should yield about 1/2 lb of seed each at least , and 1/3 of the weight of the seed is oil , so enough oil for my cooking and preserving needs .