Narrow ridges. Harvest on smart beds

Almost every gardener strives to get the largest possible and, of course, healthy harvest on his site. At the same time, the majority gives their garden a lot of physical strength and time. It is hard work in the garden that discourages many from engaging in farming, and children, looking at the torment of adults and the uninteresting process of tillage, do not want to participate in this.

Therefore, it is necessary to approach agriculture wisely, to do it as simply as possible for yourself, as convenient as possible, observing the laws of nature. One way to simplify work and improve results is to arrange narrow ridges OK.

Vegetable growing in narrow beds was developed by the American vegetable grower Dr. Jacob Mittlider and began to be used in our countries. In his method, mineral fertilizers were widely used in growing vegetables, but organic cultivation ensures rich, healthy and tasty crops.

A narrow bed is formed with a width of 50 cm (in a humid climate) to 100 cm (in a dry climate) of arbitrary length, and the aisles in narrow beds should be wide: from 60 to 100 cm.

Advantages of a narrow garden

Why is it that a narrow bed will be favorable for plants and why such wide aisles?

The fact is, plants that grow on a wide bed receive insufficient lighting, obscure each other, stretch out, become weaker, and only the extreme ones develop much better than those that are in the middle of the bed.

On a narrow bed, plants are planted in 2-4 rows in a checkerboard pattern and they all turn out to be extreme, and free space - wide row spacing contributes to their better coverage, which has a positive effect on development and health.

Plants in narrow beds also receive the necessary nutrients from the space of the bed filled with organic matter, while the space between the beds also does not “walk” - mulched or sown with a lawn, it retains moisture on the site, and the bottom layer of mulch is processed into fertilizer earthworms and soil microorganisms. In addition, on those covered with sand, sawdust, hay, straw ... unnecessary weeds will not grow.

In order not to waste energy on the formation of new beds from year to year, they are made stationary - they are protected by any available materials- logs, boards, bricks, slate, stones. Wood materials are best pre-treated to protect against decay - proliferate or paint with water-based paint.

If you have an arid, hot climate, the soil level in the garden bed should not be much higher than the ground level between the rows, and if the climate is rainy or water spills into the gardens, it makes sense to make beds - boxes. In beds raised above ground level - boxes during prolonged rains, the plants will not get wet and will not be heated.

The walls of the beds - the boxes rise 20 - 30 cm above ground level and it is better to make them from durable material, for example, from brick, which is more durable and more practical than boards or logs.

High bed - box

How is it done high bed? It is laid as follows: leaves, hay or straw are placed in the box at the very bottom, thin twigs can be used, they are covered with compost or humus from above, and then - at the very top - fertile soil. To maintain fertility in the beds, you can add compost to them or grow green fertilizers - green manure, which can be sown in early spring and autumn.

On narrow beds, tall and spreading plants that require a lot of space are grown in two rows in a checkerboard pattern - cabbage, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes ..., and more compact ones that will not interfere with each other - in three or four, taking into account the norm of distances between them - onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, beets, lettuce ...

It is worth noting that for better and uniform lighting, all the beds are made stretched from north to south, when the Sun rises, illuminates one side of the plants before lunch, and the other in the afternoon before sunset.

Also, do not forget about the combination of several types horticultural crops on one bed, for example - in the center tall, along the edges - undersized, root crops.

Advantages of narrow beds

The disadvantage of stationary beds is the labor cost and financial expenses on materials for the walls of the beds in the first year of their foundation. However, the construction of stationary beds has many important advantages that are justified a hundred times:

• reduction of the cultivated area of ​​the soil;
• beauty and order on the site, the absence of dirt in the aisles;
• tillage and care for such beds becomes more convenient;
• no need to form new beds every year;
• ease of irrigation and less water consumption;
• nutrients are not washed out of the fenced garden;
• a high bed prevents flooding and stagnant water;
• the bed contains and retains a sufficiently large amount of nutrients and moisture;
• a mulched bed will retain moisture and the growth of weeds;
• the absence of weeds in wide aisles eliminates the need to deal with them in a large garden area thanks to mulch;
• does not require constant fertilization - sowing green manure replenishes nutrients in the soil of the bed;
• an organic bed does not require digging, only loosening with flat-cutting tools;
• the rapid heating of the raised bed in the spring allows for early planting;
• a narrow bed and wide aisles provide plants with not only good lighting, but also free air movement, which enhances the air supply of plants and prevents the development of fungal diseases during wet times;
• Raised narrow beds are easier to cover from spring and autumn frosts or to pull sun protection nets over them in hot summer.

Narrow beds - boxes will make your site beautiful, caring for plants is an interesting activity and will allow you to get a rich, healthy harvest!

Every gardener wants to know how to harvest high yields of vegetables. One of the methods is based on natural agricultural technology. And narrow beds have long needed to be done on the site.


Read carefully, and bring to life the experience of experienced gardeners. They are already harvesting large crops of vegetable crops.

Reasons for poor harvests

Today, soil fertility is declining catastrophically. The land in the plots is gray because it becomes dense and depleted.

Fertility falls - yields decrease. And if we add to this the use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers, the picture is rather unsightly. Soil, water, air, food are contaminated, and so are the diseases of people, which are less and less curable.

But the problem can be solved quite easily if Natural Farming is applied. It will preserve and restore soil fertility.

Natural farming practices, especially minimal tillage, nutrient recovery, protection against temperature changes.

Smart garden beds

On ordinary beds, and even densely planted vegetable crops especially in the middle, they get sick and often rot. Plants develop poorly, give small fruits and are stored for a short time. It is difficult to process and weed such beds. And for pests, weak plants are food and a place where they lay offspring.

Have you ever noticed that the plants in the outer rows are much healthier than those in the middle. So you need to make narrow beds so that it is easier to process them. And if you combine two technologies - narrow beds and agricultural technology of natural farming, you can get a harvest. It's business, learn how to make your own compost, and only once arrange narrow stationary beds.

Further, instead of mineral fertilizers, which spoil the taste of the fruit, making it unnatural, use humus, grass, manure, ash. In short, organic fertilizers. At the same time, we note that, nevertheless, mineral fertilizer is not a poison, but it is good in reasonable doses.

Plants need to be fed, but not overfed.

How to arrange narrow beds

To build boxes for narrow beds, you need to maintain their width from 50 to 100 cm. We take an arbitrary length.

1. There is a gap of 60–80 cm between the beds. You should not think that the earth in the aisles is useless. No. She works. Vegetable box = this is a high bed. Its walls are made of different building materials: slate, boards, stone, brick, etc.
2. The beds should be located from north to south, and the passages should be mulched.
3. The box is filled with organic matter. Leaves, grass, straw are placed first, then manure or compost.
4. The contents of the beds should be shed with herbal infusions.
5. From above they fall asleep with earth, which is removed from the aisles. The box is full.

This is how a smart bed is obtained, because only two rows of vegetables can be placed on it and only in a checkerboard pattern!

This geometry hides a huge productivity. After all, plants will receive enough light and space for development and growth. On a smart garden, they will all be extreme. Here, wide aisles help, providing space and light.

As a result, a small area of ​​organic matter will yield much more than a large area of ​​soil.

With narrow beds, the garden becomes well-groomed and beautiful. Pleasing to the eye and planted vegetables that are not clogged with weeds.

Planting vegetables in narrow beds

On narrow beds, vegetables are planted as follows:

• in 2 glad, observing the staggered order - cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, etc.
• in 4 or 3 rows, observing a checkerboard pattern - garlic, onions, beets, various salads, carrots, radishes, etc.

There are disadvantages of the method - in the first year material costs for the construction of narrow beds. There are also advantages - a smart garden bed will work for many years, bringing high yields.

Caring for narrow beds

They require constant filling with waste, foliage, grass, plant residues. After harvesting vegetables, it is advisable to sow the beds. When seedlings are planted in the holes, rotted manure or compost is not introduced into them. The bed is the compost.

Fences will not allow to be washed out by humus. Thanks to the large aisles, vegetable crops receive enough air and light. The beds are easy to water and the water does not stagnate.

Less fertilizer is used, both organic and mineral. If the bed is mulched, then hilling and weeding will disappear.

Narrow beds are not dug up, but only loosened to a depth of 7 to 10 cm. In the spring, they warm up faster, so they can be planted earlier. Crop rotation is also convenient: onions grew last year, and carrots and cabbages are sown this year. Tubers and roots of vegetables are clean and without signs of disease.

It is convenient to set arcs above the beds. They are sold in specialized gardening stores. It is only necessary to drive in two pegs on both sides at a distance of 1 m and put on arcs. So, they do along the entire length of the box. You can cover with foil from frost.

The best top dressing for smart beds

These top dressings will help to simply, cheaply and practically restore soil fertility and increase yields.

Starter culture for organic infusions

In a barrel of 200 liters put:

• herbal or wood ash - 1 shovel;
• litter or manure - half a bucket;
• leaf litter or rotten straw - one bucket;
• garden soil or compost, or humus - 1 shovel;
• sand - 1 shovel;
• curdled milk or whey - 1 l;
• mash - 3 l.

Mash recipe

Taken not chlorinated warm water- 3 l and sugar is added to it - 5 tbsp. spoons and yeast - 1 pinch.

Two or three days should wander and be added to the tank with top dressing. The mash is kept in the refrigerator until it is used so that it does not turn sour.

How to prepare feed

1. In the tank, everything is infused for a week and periodically mixed. The infusion is diluted exactly twice.
2. In a barrel of 200 liters, a weed is laid on 2/3 of the grass, ash is added - 2 shovels. Fill with water and cover with foil. Two weeks insist and breed 1:10.
3. A 200-liter barrel is filled with fresh manure by a third and filled with water. After two weeks, apply, diluting 1:10.
4. Put in a barrel chicken manure a third and fill with water. After two weeks, dilute 1:20.

Pro100ogorod is always ready to share experience and knowledge.

Hello. country moms! I want to show how we made narrow beds. I have quite a lot of experience working on such beds, but this year new house and a new site. Therefore, it is possible to show "from the wheels" what is being done and how. Maybe someone will benefit from our experience. I must say right away that I am not convincing anyone to switch to such gardening, I am simply sharing my experience. So, we have a piece of an abandoned site, on which all the grass was pulled out in the fall. we outline on it beds 45-50 cm wide of arbitrary length. It is desirable that they be located from north to south. But we have mountains, a plot on a slope, so we planned it the way it worked.
From the place where the bed is planned, we remove the sod, and transfer it to where the passages are planned, but there is no grass! Passage width from 70 to 90 cm.
If possible, we immediately sew up the bed with boards, slate, etc. material. Our task is to fence off the garden from the passage. Grass will grow in the aisles, which we will mow and walk barefoot. And the garden bed is a place that we NEVER step on! We dig up the earth in the garden with the introduction of what you have: compost, straw, manure, sand ... our task is to make the soil loose, because it digs ONCE and never digs again! In subsequent years, the soil in the garden is only loosened with a flat cutter.
In the background are beds 80 cm wide. They are intended for potatoes and watermelons. This is what they looked like in April. If you have nothing to sew up the beds, you can simply dig them up, and fill the aisles with sawdust (for example) We didn’t have enough turf, we designed part of the site differently
.
Something like that. ) Narrow beds are often scolded for wide aisles. But the passages WORK for us! Let's calculate how many tomato bushes we plant in a "nested" way: given a distance of about 50x50, we get 4 bushes. If after 60 cm - even less. When planting tomatoes on narrow beds in one line, they are planted at a distance of 25 cm. If the bed is 45 cm + 70 cm, we will plant the same 4 bushes per square meter. BUT! With the traditional planting in the tomato bed, we don't plant anything else, because everyone needs to put a stake! In narrow beds on both sides, we can plant low crops. In our case, every centimeter is sown with carrots. Well, we love to make juice out of it! ) That is, about 40 carrots are added to 4 tomato bushes. Considering that it grows from the edge of the ridge, it grows by no means less than 200 grams each. Well, even if 150! That is, for 8 tomato bushes, we have at least 6 kg of carrots with square meter. And a minimum of work.

Given the specifics of the south, we plant tomatoes in trenches. Carrots are sown much earlier. Therefore, first we make a trench for future tomatoes, and then we sow carrots on the top (on the sides of the ridge). When the tomatoes are planted, everything is mulched with straw, grass, and uprooted weeds. This is how sotra "buffalo heart" tomatoes are blooming now. The width of the "bed" is 15 cm. Curly beans grow in the background, gladioli in the center, garlic from the edge, which I plan to pull out in a month for the first jars. And these are cucumbers. At 7 meters with a width of 45 cm, 8 cucumbers were planted in the center. A plastic mesh is stretched over them. vertically. This is done so that the sun reaches both sides of the garden, because lettuce grows on our left, you can see how the onion sown with seeds has already grown stronger on the head. And on the right - radishes, dill and beets. Let's calculate that we will be given these 3.5 m2. From 8 bushes of cucumbers planted in this way, last year I salted 56 (!!!) liters of carnishons. + dill + onion + radish + dill that no one counts all season + about 5 kg of beets. Let them throw a slipper at me if they collect the same amount from a standard bed of 1.5 X2 m! So this year we planted strawberries. Garlic sits in the center, and beets sit between young bushes.

10. SOME TIPS FOR GARDENING NARROW RIDES

1. Do not try to raise the surface of the beds above the surface of the passages. The surface of the ridge between the side ridges of the earth should be at the level of the surface of the passages. Otherwise, during hot periods, the soil of raised ridges will dry out faster and require frequent watering. It makes sense to slightly raise the ridges only in places with a very high occurrence ground water. In the same places where the occurrence of groundwater is low, the ridges growing from the introduction of compost in spring and autumn will even have to fall apart in 5-6 years, leveling the plane of the garden. Of course, this will need to be done in the fall, after harvesting, and the ridges should be left in their original places.

2. Don't be tempted to sow and plant crops in a narrow bed of more than two rows. It is possible to place a third row in the middle of the ridge only for very early crops, for example, for radishes, which will be harvested 25-30 days after sowing and will not compete with the main crops in the future.

3. If the soil of the site is very dense and heavy (clay), then in the fall, before adding compost to the ridges, winter rye seeds can be sown in them. Only one plant of this culture creates in the soil during its growing season a root system with a total length of more than several hundred kilometers. Soil organisms, eating these roots, loosen the soil to a greater depth and make it looser. You do not need a shovel or a plow for this. In the spring, one and a half to two weeks before the sowing or planting of crops, compost is introduced into the ridge, right along the rye seedlings, the entire ridge is loosened with a Fokin flat cutter and watered with a solution of the EM preparation. No need to try to cover all the green rye in the soil, it is even useful for some of it to remain on the surface.

4. The earthen ridges along the sides of the ridges can collapse for various reasons. They regularly need to be restored by pouring earth from the aisles.

5. Weeds that appear in the passages must be cut with a flat cutter at soil level and cleaned in compost heaps. Cutting at soil level inhibits the root system of the plant, and it dies after a few cuts. Cutting below the soil level leads to damage to the roots, from the cuts of which then not one weed grows, but several. You need it? Some weeds, such as dandelion, secrete phytoncides that protect cultivated plants from pests and diseases. It is desirable to cut such weeds at the beginning of their flowering, but no later than the formation of seeds.

6. When planning a garden on narrow ridges, you retreated from all edges of the garden plot by 100 cm. It is advisable to occupy this area with aromatic and medicinal herbs- mint, lafantome, lovage, parsley, coriander, calendula and others. These herbs with their phytoncides will protect the garden from many pests.

7. When planting garlic cloves, orient the edge of the clove to the north or south. The tops of garlic are deployed in one plane in the form of a fan. This fan will be oriented with its plane from north to south. At the same time, each leaf of the fan will receive the longest possible daylight solar lighting, the plant will be able to take more food from the soil and air and will pour out larger teeth and a head.

8. Peduncles of garlic, when they come out of the axil of the upper leaf by 10-15 cm, must be cut off. Then the teeth and head will pour larger. Cut flower stalks can be pickled, salted, canned. It is necessary to leave 5-6 flower stalks on the ridge, they will give a signal to harvest the garlic. This must be done no later than a week and a half after the wrapper of the peduncles bursts. If you remove the garlic later than this period, then the bulb wrapper may burst. Such garlic does not store well, and when harvesting, some of it may remain in the soil. Bulbs of inflorescences can be used to rejuvenate garlic culture. For this, they need to be sown in the soil at the same time when the teeth are planted. In order for the bulbs to fill up larger, the garlic plants need to be dug up and hung with the inflorescence down in a place where they are not exposed to direct sunlight. Bulbs should be divided on the day of sowing.

9. It is useful to soak cloves of garlic, bulbs and seedlings for 25-30 minutes in the solution before planting blue vitriol(1 tablespoon of vitriol per bucket of water). It will protect planting material from the effects of putrefactive bacteria, which are always present in the soil.

10. When selecting potato tubers for planting, select them from those nests where there were more tubers in number. Select those that have more eyes. The size of the tubers should be approximately equal to the size of an average chicken egg.

11. In order to ensure good winter storage potatoes, harvest it no later than August 20. As a rule, after this period, the development of late blight begins, the potatoes infected with it are poorly stored. The tops of potatoes harvested before August 20 can be used for laying in compost heaps.

12. It is useful to plant several plants of garlic, onion and dill between the plants of tomatoes and cucumbers. By periodically cutting off the feathers of these crops, you will saturate the greenhouse atmosphere with phytoncides of these plants, which will protect the main crops from certain diseases and pests. Peppers do not like the presence of any aromatic herbs and vegetables nearby.

13. To disinfect the soil of greenhouses, it is useful to sow mustard seeds in it in the fall after harvesting. And then proceed in the same way as it was recommended when sowing winter rye.

14. Even in the Bible it was said: "Do not sow your field with two kinds of seeds." It has been noticed, for example, that if two potato tubers of different varieties are planted side by side, then one pea will be in one nest or in both nests. Plants different kinds(varieties) badly influence each other. Plant and sow different varieties of potatoes and different varieties of other crops in different ridges.

16. It is useful to take one row of a narrow ridge with carrots, and the second row - onions. These plants will protect each other from carrot and onion flies. They are not antagonists and grow well on the same ridge.

From the book Family Vegetable Growing on Narrow Ridges. Experience of using the Mitlider method in Russia author Ugarova Tatyana Yurievna

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VEGETABLE GROWING METHOD IN NARROW BEDS A systematic description of the technology of vegetable growing in narrow beds is given in sections 2–6. The purpose of this section is to provide a first introduction to the method, its principles and

From the book Vegetable Growing Course according to Mittlider author Mittlider Jacob R.

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From the book ornamental shrubs. Features of cultivation, haircut, care author Zvonarev Nikolai Mikhailovich

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From the book Do not disturb the garden with a shovel and a plow the author Annenkov Boris

1.6. Yields of crops on narrow ridges To say that the yield of vegetables on narrow ridges is high is to say nothing. Any gardener, switching to this technology, can count on yields close to potentially possible. Yields are often estimated at

From the book Miracle Harvest. Big Encyclopedia garden and orchard author Polyakova Galina Viktorovna

4. CARE OF PLANTS IN NARROW GRID open ground seedlings or young plants sprouted from seeds will grow quickly, develop properly and give a bountiful harvest if they are constantly supplied with sufficient nutrients, water and

From the book The Big Encyclopedia of the Summer Resident author Vecherina Elena Yurievna

5.1. The need of plants for nutrients. How the problem of nutrition is solved in narrow ridges As already noted (see section 1.7), plants need at least 17 elements, 14 of which they take from the soil: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn , Cu, B, Mo, Co, Cl Some of them are required

From the author's book

7. TIPS FOR GROWING SELECTED VEGETABLE CROPS IN NARROW RIDES The technology for growing vegetable crops in narrow beds is described in sections 1-6, and the information presented there is enough to get a high yield of any vegetable. For those just starting out

From the author's book

7.5. Vegetables grown on narrow ridges, mainly in the second half of summer These crops primarily include two new vegetable crops for us - daikon and Chinese cabbage. Of the traditional crops, these are turnips (Section 7.1.2), radishes (Section 7.1.3), swede and

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7.6. Narrow-bed perennial crops Narrow-bed vegetable growing technology was specially created for intensive use of the land, for growing more than one crop in one growing season on one ridge. At the same time, the attraction

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9. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING YOUR NARROW BEDS A pen and notebook are as indispensable tools when growing vegetables in narrow beds as a shovel and a rake.

From the author's book

LECTURE 3 CREATING NARROW BEDS AND PREPARING THE SOIL After mastering this lesson, you will be able to: 1. Properly Prepare garden plot for the construction of narrow ridges.2. Understand the methods of construction of narrow ridges.3. Prepare narrow beds for planting. CLEARING THE SITE Make your garden

From the author's book

LECTURE 9 VEGETABLE GROUPING IN BOX-BEDS After mastering this lesson, you will be able to: 1. Prepare a garden plot for the construction of boxes-ridges.2. Describe the operations for the construction of boxes-ridges.3. Mix artificial "homemade" soil.4. Prepare seedbeds for sowing seeds

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Some advice for gardeners Hedges can be cut or free-growing according to the way they are kept. Based on this, plants are chosen for her. When choosing plants, you need to imagine how they will change throughout the year. Deciduous shrubs, although

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11. THE BASIC GARDENER'S TOOLS FOR WORKING ON NARROW RIDGES 1. FOKIN'S FLAT CUTTER LARGE - it loosens the soil of the ridges in spring and autumn, removes weeds from the passages, mows out excess raspberry shoots, collects garbage from the passages, spuds potatoes and cabbage, in separate

New and old - why is this topic so painful for us? Some use new techniques and get fantastic results, others look at them with envy for years, but they are in no hurry to say goodbye to the old days ...

The garden is better not to dig!

Five years ago, I came across a book by B.S. Annenkov “Give a shovel to a neighbor! Garden no problem. The title intrigued me and I bought this book. In it, the author very popularly explained why it was impossible to dig the earth. Another academician V.I. Vernadsky said that the German industrialist Krupp, by releasing all his weapons, did less harm to humanity than a man with a shovel and a plow!

However, until now, the Russian peasantry has not heeded this statement, AND TILL our days, it plows the fields with tractors, more than once a year and at least 35 cm deep with a revolution of the earth layer, destroying all life that is in the soil.

Since the 50s of the last century, farmers in most countries of the world have abandoned plowing and digging fields and gardens, switched to sparing and zero tillage and the use of organic composts. At the same time, they receive yields many times higher than those in the fields and gardens of Russia.

There the blockade of bad traditions was broken, but in Russia this is still to be done. Here is an article confirming this: I tried to plant only two acres in a new way using narrow ridges and immediately noticed the difference in the amount of effort expended and the harvest.

At first, I also broke permanent narrow beds only for vegetables, and planted potatoes in the old fashioned way. When the vegetables were just starting to grow, it seemed that there was too much free space left, and all the relatives condemned me for using the land so irrationally and planting vegetables so little, they were afraid that we would be left without a harvest.

By mid-summer, the picture had changed. Due to the narrow ridges and wide aisles, vegetables receive more light, grow well and eventually occupy almost all the free space. There was no more free land in sight. Cabbage felt especially good in narrow beds, the leaves grew large, and in order to water it, you even had to look for a place to step on. Accordingly, the harvest pleased - and so with all crops. Relatives no longer said that I started narrow beds in vain.

The next year, I already broke the entire garden (and I have 10 acres) into beds 45 cm wide with row spacing of 65 cm. We also planted potatoes in two lines on narrow beds in a checkerboard pattern. Surprisingly, it turned out quickly, they did it in two hours. And before?..

They planted it like this: synthetic twine was pulled on pegs on both sides of the bed, then they began to plant it: me and my son on one side, and my daughter and son-in-law on the other. First, the son dug shallow holes, about half a bayonet of a shovel. I put the excavated earth in the center of the bed, I then laid out the potatoes, sprinkling with a handful of ash. Next, the son-in-law, on the other hand, began to dig holes, and covered our holes with the excavated earth; his daughter was also laying out potatoes behind him. When they finished the bed, they moved the twine to the next bed, and with a rake they leveled the remaining holes with earth from the center of the bed. Due to the wide passages, the potatoes had enough light, and they did not stretch.

After landing a week later, I raked the beds with a rake, it was easy to do this, since the beds are clearly visible from the paths. After 10 days, when the paths were covered with a green haze of weeds, I walked along them with a flat cutter, capturing single weeds that had crawled out on the beds from both sides. She coped with the work several times (!) Faster than before, when landing in the usual way- after all, it was not necessary to weed each bush separately.

When it was time to spud, I stood on one path and with a chopper raked the ground with a roller to the opposite row of potatoes. Then she did the same, standing on the path from which she raked the earth, and spudded the second row in the garden. Previously, my daughter and I used to plant potatoes together, as it was hard for me to cope with this alone, but now I manage to do everything myself, without waiting for my daughter, although I am already 58 years old!

Is the habit of digging a vegetable garden stronger?

The harvest is also good. Even the neighbor looked with envy, although he continues to plant in the old fashioned way: he is already 70 years old, and, apparently, the habit is stronger than he is ... Now, thanks to the narrow beds, I can cope with the garden without outside help. Only potatoes are helped to plant and dig. Therefore, I advise you not to be afraid and transfer the potatoes to narrow beds - the harvest will please you, and much less effort will be spent on processing!

Since I switched to narrow beds, the earth has become better, earthworms have appeared.

If any “non-standard” comes across, or in the spring there is a crop unused over the winter, I do not throw them in the trash, but use them in compost. I take out only what does not rot in the trash: iron, glass, cellophane, etc. For cleaning, I have a separate bucket in my kitchen, where I put all the waste and egg shells, and everything into compost.

Somehow I came across the advice to cook compost in iron barrels, and I immediately took it into service, now it takes less space. So I advise everyone not to be afraid of the new, because in our magazine for more than a year people have been writing about narrow beds, and only good ones.