The Berry Field

Ok, so it mightn't be a field as such, but since we're heading into Spring I thought that it would be a good time to tidy up our raspberry patch.

I bought our first raspberry (Heritage) around 2 years ago, and keep getting good harvests from it. It started to run in the first year and I was fortunate to be able to propagate a second plant from one of the runners. The patch that we had these plants in though was starting to get a little overgrown.

To tidy it up a little, I thought it would be good in a raised garden bed. Our soil is a heavy clay and raspberries really prefer a deep rich soil. The raised bed allows for a no-dig or lasagna type garden, and by using the besser blocks I can grow strawberries around the outside. Now we shouldn't have any issues with berries this summer!

To start the no-dig garden, you place a layer of newspaper down. This will stop most weeds growing into the bed. While I'm intending to remove the turf because it is Kikuyu it is near impossible to completely remove. The newspaper makes one extra barrier to at least help control it a little. I've placed the besser blocks on the newspaper simply to stop the grass growing into where the strawberries will be planted.

Next up is a layer of mulch to help with drainage and a little aeration. I'd trimmed back some hedges this afternoon so they were conscripted in for this. I also added a layer of fresh chicken manure and charcoal. The charcoal had been soaked in some worm castings and should help with the delivery of nutrients to the garden.

At this point you then start alternating straw and manure in layers of around 10cms/4in. Because of the size of my bed, I probably went a bit smaller but I've not had any issues in previous years with this.

I topped it off with a layer of mushroom compost to plant the raspberries into (rich soil, but not too rich like the raw manure would be), and a layer of pea straw as a mulch to keep it all moist. The strawberries around the outside were simply planted in potting mix.
Last year we did reasonably well with our raspberries, although lost a few (and almost all our strawberries) to birds. With the rich soil and a bit of netting for protection, we should have a bumper harvest this summer!