Vegetable growing - are you a fan of raised beds or....

[NKF]

...do you go for the strip method? Does it make a difference? Does one method look better than the other? Do you care?

well, I do raised beds because I find them easier to get my head round - this bed beans, that one broccoli, the bit inbetween mowed. But I do think strips look satisfyingly serious/Yorkshire Allotment and raised beds look a bit Islington.

I recently heard someone speak approvingly of the raised beds at her nearby allotment. She saw it as a definite sign of allotment gentrification.

It can also depend on your soil; if you have heavy clay-type soil then raised beds will help with drainage. On our allotments those with plots next to the brook tend to have raised beds for things like asparagus as they need help with the heavy soil.

I feel rather feeble that I've never been able to create proper raised beds. All around me there are perfect rectangles while mine is a bit of a hotchpotch.

we're on clay so im planning raised beds. i figure theyll be easier too. and we also have millions of rabbits andim sure theyd devour anything i put in the ground in seconds, despite best attempts to keep em out (buggers)
plus im lazy

I have clay soil and I have raised beds. Also the 4 raised beds are surrounded by an area of bark chippings - which seems to deter slugs etc

ah (re slugs) . i also figure raised beds will be easier to protect with mesh or fleece or whatever... my strawbs get eaten by wasps and i would like to plant out as eary in the season as pos...

In favour of the strip system, there is a nice blank canvas feel about it. I put in as much or as little as I fancy. It's the mowing between beds that always spoiled my bed system. That plus lack of even basic carpentry skills.

I've got four raised beds that are used for carrots/salad stuff and the rest is good old fashioned strips. I like the look of them better and it's always easier to find a little bit of extra room if need be. I find the boxes dry out quite quickly too. We're on a bit of a slope so we don't have a big problem with drainage.

I use a bed system on my lotty to cut down on the amount of clearing we have had to do & also so the bit we walk on is always path & so the soil we plant in doesnt get compacted. Each bed is 4ft wide so all the bed is within my reach (just) from the paths.

...but they arent raised yet...all weve done is cut out bed from the grass & planted in them. We havent got any money for timber etc.... & as we havent had the plot long the beds havent had much organic matter added to them yet to raise them...but we hope to gradually raise them over the next few years and maybe use boards or other methods to mark out the edges & hold the soil in as they rise.

MaloryTowers - are the slabs permanent or do you change the strips around year by year?