[bucketman]

Right defo going to grow more stuff here. So been looking at the veg we eat to grow that and spuds are top of the list. Google says you can grow them with a method called Lazy Beds has anyone on here tried this way. It does say thats how people round here and Ireland use to do it. So does it work. Will say the land we have is not the best and was thinking that this may be a way to start a veg patch.
Some people have said on the net that its hard work and not as easy as the name suggests.
Got another question but will put that in a different post

[Womble]

Lazybeds are somewhat ironically named!

They're what crofters use when there was not enough depth of soil available to grow crops. Basically you take a strip of soil up and lay it on top of the strip next to it, to give you a double thickness, and enough for the roots to take hold.

Not very lazy at all, and actually a hell of a way to have to scrape a living from the soil. Other lazier methods are available..... 

[bucketman]

Lazybeds are somewhat ironically named!

They're what crofters use when there was not enough depth of soil available to grow crops. Basically you take a strip of soil up and lay it on top of the strip next to it, to give you a double thickness, and enough for the roots to take hold.

Not very lazy at all, and actually a hell of a way to have to scrape a living from the soil. Other lazier methods are available..... 

No its not for it to be easy its to try and get some land in use. Dont think any one has ever grew stuff on the land. Its the sort of land you see in the North West Highlands (cofting country). I know how it done seen vids on Youtube was just wondering if any one on here had give it a go and had any pointers

[doganjo]

How about animal manure?  Have you got horses, cows, sheep, hens?

[pgkevet]

Sadly wondering if some of the growing I do is worth it. 9 x 30kg sacks of spuds last year. I used saved spuds for seed but still 4 hours of rotorvating and fuel, then the planting , earthing up, a couple of sprays wth bordeaux mixture, digging it all up took a few hours then letting them dry, sorting, sacking (depreciation on sacks) and carting to the barn. sorting out those that decay.  Currently 25Kg sacks spuds here are £3.95. So I was 'earning' less than £3 an hour and if I'd bought the seed potatoes it'd have been zero to a loss

Someone was selling onions at £3 for 10kg the other day... the time I spent hand weeding (i.e crawling) along my rows.. OK it ended up with 40-50kg at £1 an hour??

[Fleecewife]

pgkevet - You're not comparing like for like.  We have run out of spuds already and have had to buy some in - they're watery and tasteless.  Give me home grown, without chemicals, of varieties I've chosen, any day for taste and health.
It's a good idea not to grow too much of any one crop.  Work out how much you need and just grow enough, otherwise you're slaving away to produce food which will go to waste.

[Fleecewife]

Bucketman - I haven't actually used lazy beds, as our soil here is deep and fertile, but I'm very interested in it from an historical perspective.
I think where you have thin, weedy soil and plenty of manure available they will, as you hope, prove to be a way to get a veggie patch going. If your ground is acid, then spread a layer of lime where the beds will go, at least 6 weeks before you make the beds.     If the grass has got long before you make the beds, then mow it if possible, and place the mowings on top of the piece you're going to cover.  Add anything else you've got spare such as old straw, before putting your thick layer of manure on.  Then the spuds, then more old straw if you have it, then the top layer.  But you know all that.
A modern addition which I think would help, would be to cover the whole thing with well weighed down black polythene, then when you see the plants begin to push up, cut crosses for them to grow through.  The ground should be wet enough without needing to water.

If you keep the beds covered after cropping, right through winter, then you have slightly deeper, soft, friable soil to grow something else in the following year.
Please let us all know if you try this, and if you do, how it works. 

[clydesdaleclopper]

I'm gradually converting areas of very thin topsoil and weedy growth. I start by covering with thick layers of newspaper or cardboard. I then cover with at lest a foot of material - usually a bit of compost at the bottom then all the hay the goats and sheep waste over winter. I plant my spuds in this. By the end of the season when I harvest the weeds have gone and I have the start of a decent bed. I then just add compost on top and avoid digging as much as possible.

[suziequeue]

We are on heavy clay soil here. After number of attempts at various methods we opted for raised beds made from 2x10 inch planks and imported topsoil which I can keep topped up with compost and manure etc. It's permanently covered with Mypex into which we torch holes or strips to plant the veggies through. Can't be doing with weeding. We've given up all hope of planting directly into the soil which is infested with creeping buttercup etc.


We plant potatoes into old feed sacks with holes cut in the bottom and just roll up the tops as we earth up. Once the plants start dying back at the end of the summer we just cut the hallums off and move the sacks to a dark dry place (the composting toilet) and leave them there until we need them. Then it's just a case of upending the sacks into a wheelbarrow and having a bran tub with lots of prizes. It works really well for Charlottes. We had the last of them on Christmas Eve. Maris Pipers and whites we just get from the shops.

[Lesley Silvester]

I was going to suggest raised beds. You do have the work of building them but once they're in place, it's no different to using soil. I have very deep beds as I am disabled and can't get down to ground level. They are timber built but I would have gone for bricks if I could have afforded it. Once built they were filled with part rotted goat manure and left for a bit. I then scooped holes and filled them with potting compost before planting in case the manure was still too hot for the roots. Lovely fertile stuff as I proved by my wonderful crop of squashes this year.

[bucketman]

Right the lazy bit the research.
Will give it a go but another quick question or 2 considering we live in far north
1 Is there any variety I should go for or any to avoid for new potatoes and main crop
2 One of the web pages say use Super Nemoms on new ground what do you think

[bucketman]

As for raised beds trying to keep the cost down. Will have to put a fence round them to keep the deer of so the cash will go there

[Lesley Silvester]

That's going to cost a bit. Assuming they are red deer, they can jump a fair height.

[Fleecewife]

Right the lazy bit the research.
Will give it a go but another quick question or 2 considering we live in far north
1 Is there any variety I should go for or any to avoid for new potatoes and main crop
2 One of the web pages say use Super Nemoms on new ground what do you think

See what people grow locally.  The varieties that do best in any area and soil can vary across just a few miles.  We used to grow amazing Desiree when we lived in Edinburgh, but they were horrible grown out here.
I always grow several varieties, mostly tried and tested ones, but I usually try one new sort.
My current favourite is Setanta, which makes the most amazing roasties, but is pretty horrible as mash - for that I use Cara.

[pgkevet]

pgkevet - You're not comparing like for like.  We have run out of spuds already and have had to buy some in - they're watery and tasteless.  Give me home grown, without chemicals, of varieties I've chosen, any day for taste and health.
It's a good idea not to grow too much of any one crop.  Work out how much you need and just grow enough, otherwise you're slaving away to produce food which will go to waste.

How much to grow is a diffiult balance ..varying conditions etc and as you know if I;d grown minimums then the stray sheep that got in would have left me short. This is a weird mild year.. I still have onions laying on barn floors with green tops as well as the ones bagged. As for spuds going mouldy... it's not a  high percentage (yet) and I do have three sacks still..

I shall be cutting back..mostly age-related pains..