Go "No Dig", I've been doing this for a while now and can say it is one of the easiest and best ways to garden. To get started you need cardboard (or similar) and either buy in compost or work on making your own. Obviously, no digging is required. Simple as...

I highly recommend spending some time watching Charles Dowdings' youtube channel - he has books too, but the detail on youtube is all you need.

The soil I've developed with this method is so much better than I have ever had before, and I just don't find the need to use any chemicals/fertilizers. We buy very little/no vegetables now! The quality of our veg. has improved using this method too. (Shit, that almost sound like I'm trying to sell you something - I'm not... 😜)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Huh thats quite interesting. Would it work for beds that already have soil upto the top?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The small amount of compost, 3-5 cm you cover with each year, is pretty much all gone by the following year. So if I understand your question, yes, no dig works on raised beds as well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

A little big of digging on the first setup then I assume? Don't really have any space left over to add any additional.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can vouch for No Dig as well, I've been doing it for about 6-7 years. All you need is compost :) It's just too bad I can never make enough of my own...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s just too bad I can never make enough of my own…

Yep, it can be tough. I've got a shredder and quite a few trees which need trimming every year - pretty much anything I can put through the shredder gets turned into compost. Grass clippings get things really going. I've had temperatures above 70C in my compost heaps. Over time, you get so much more leafy green excess that your ability to make more compost increases.

Note: I have, at times, added urine to the mix - it sounds off, but it's actually good (unless you're taking a cocktail of drugs that don't mix well with plants/worms/bugs etc.).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I usually use grass clippings too. My normal issue is getting enough browns. All our trees and shrubs we've put in ourselves, so they're all small that pruning doesn't really create much material. Have to make do with newspapers and cardboard.

I've slowly started to incorporate permaculture concepts to my gardening, so I'm planning to grow more plants for mulching and composting but its a bit of a balancing act in our small section