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Dec 10, 2009

Raised Beds - It is Cost Effective!

Raised beds incorporating design to maximise planting areas and reducing energy input was developed by the Permaculture movement.  At DQ, we have added a small innovation, i.e. to make it expandable.

The expandable raised beds are now producing their third harvest:

bayam pasir on raised beds Web.JPG

This is bayam pasir again.  We rotated the bed used.

 

 

 

 

 

sawi bunga Web.JPG

And this is sawi bunga, a brassica chinensis var. It will be ready for harvesting cum thinning in a few days time when the flowers emerge.

 

 

 

 

There has been no purchased input and minimal on-farm produced inputs.  When we replanted, we just top up with some compost, seed the beds and add mulch.  We of course rotated beds.  Once a week we spray some herbal extracts and our Teh Qi (compost tea) spray.  That's about it. No weeding at all was necessary.

If you click on the pictures for a close-up, you can see minimal insect damage.  And the plants are sweet and aromatic.

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The office staff and their children came to help themselves to the vegetables and herbs, and to have a picnic at the farm.

 

 

 

 

The next bed that we will expand to, will be used to plant a herb, most probably basil as companion plant.  In this way, we will reduce even further insect problems. 

Here are some pictures of raised beds elsewhere in the farm:

pegaga on raised beds Web.JPG

Lush gotu kola or pegaga raised bed.

 

 

 

 

 

pumpkin plants on raised beds Web.JPG

Healthy pumpkin plants under the mid-day sun on raised beds.

 

 

 

 

 

watermelon plants on raised beds Web.JPG

Watermelon plants on raised beds.