How we prepare beds for the next crop - in pictures

Here's a little pictorial overview of how we get our wicking beds and pots ready for the next crop. If you are wondering how to keep container gardens fertile from season to season, then read on...

Climbing beans chopped up and laid in the pot.

Step 1: The first thing we do is chop up as much as we can of the previous crop. To minimise soil disturbance you can actually just cut the last crop off at the base (instead of pulling it up) so that, as the plant breaks down, the decaying roots open up spaces in the soil for the next crop. This 100 litre pot contained purple climbing beans and a zucchini. This technique is called 'chop and drop' - we are returning some of the nutrients that the previous plant used up back into the bed. (Unfortunately the zucchini was completely covered in powdery mildew so that went into the compost to avoid having too many fungal spores around for the next round of seeds.)

​Step 2: water well to help this layer break down. 

Water well - especially if your soil has dried out a bit.

Step 3: Add some of your preferred fertiliser. As well as bagged products, you can use manure, your own compost tea or worm castings/liquid here if you prefer. We added some organic pellets and blood and bone because the soil in our beds was fairly depleted when we started so it still needs some amendments to get things growing. Then water this in well too.

Step 4: add some fine soil or potting mix for planting into - the seeds would struggle if you planted them straight onto the prunings.

Adding some more potting mix.

Levelled out and almost ready for planting!

Step 5: Ensure this layer of soil is nice and wet, then sprinkle on the seeds and, very gently mist them to make sure the seeds are good and wet.

Step 6: Now we need to cover the seeds - we used a very light sprinkling of coarse sand (because we have a lot of it at the moment) but you can use fine seed raising mix, or sieved good quality garden soil or compost if you have it. To ensure everything is nice and wet we do another misting with the hose. Then we use a bit of old netting to protect the seeds from birds and to create a milder microclimate for the seeds to germinate in (it's getting chilly out there now so the net should also provide a degree of frost protection).

And the seeds we planted were coriander seeds! Coriander is an excellent winter crop because they seem to cope fine with frost, and the cold weather slows down its growth so it doesn't just rush off to set seed (bolt) like it does in hot weather. We tend to use coriander as a winter herb and basil in the same bed in summer. Now that it's May it's getting a bit cold to sow coriander (germination will be very slow) but you can still plant broad beans, peas and snowpeas, and Mesclun salad mix during May and June.

Covering with a light sprinkling of sand to keep seeds moist.

Gentle misting over the sand.

Cover with a fine net - we have found old bits of dark-coloured tulle netting to be remarkably resistant to UV degradation.

Use a few clothes pegs to hold net in place and you're done!