Alternate growout raised bed garden?

[Shea]

I'm just throwing ideas out at the moment. Trying to plan ahead for the grow outs I will have come spring.
I have an empty raised bed in my garden 4'×10' in size. The neighbor let a scrub tree grow up that shades it out too much for most veggies. Since it has been sitting farrow anyway I was thinking of turning it into a grow out/finisher.
If I plant it heavy with a variety of forage plants, split it into two sides and rotate the grow outs from side to side as the plants recover and supplement with hay or other feeds. Does this seem feasable?

Dandelions, beets, radishes some type of clover maybe, chard or kale, maybe peas? I know I have some hairy vetch seed floating around. What else am I missing?

 

[MaggieJ]

You could certainly use the raised bed as a grow-out pen if it is secure from predators and the tree is not a toxic species. Your plantings, however, will soon be decimated. I don't think there is anything that can grow faster than the buns will mow it down.

 

[Shea]

Hmmm yeah maybe with a few more to alternate with, the plants could keep up. Maybe Ill just plant it as a cut and feed area then.

 

[Homer]

Hmmm yeah maybe with a few more to alternate with, the plants could keep up. Maybe Ill just plant it as a cut and feed area then.

Plant a ton of cilantro for them. You can start early and grow late in the year. The stuff is impervious to cold. (good to about 15 degrees) Rabbits love it and bugs don't bother it. To harvest just cut with a sharp knife about 1" above the ground and it regrows. Radish tops are good to but bugs are an issue once the tops get much size to them. Put the two side by side and mine will go for the cilantro every time.

 

[Shea]

Anything else that is a quick growing cut and come again? Cilantro is good to know, it just happens to be one of the herbs that I can not stand the taste of. That and rosemary.

 

[Rainey]

Hmmm yeah maybe with a few more to alternate with, the plants could keep up. Maybe Ill just plant it as a cut and feed area then.

We've been reluctant to put our rabbits (meat mutts) on the ground, but gardening and rabbits go well together. We cut rabbit food from our cover cropped beds--clover, oats, buckwheat, mustard) The rabbits also get tops from radishes, turnips, and carrots. We plant extra kale for them. And have an area planted to forage chicory, borage and self seeded kale that we cut for rabbits, letting weeds such as dandelion, wild carrot, etc grow instead of pulling them out. And adding the 'bunny berries' to the garden beds has increased fertility and having more organic matter helps the soil hold water. Took us a while and we're still working on it, but rabbits and garden work well together for us.

 

[MaggieJ]

Rainey raises a valid and important point about having rabbits on the ground. I know people who have done it successfully, but usually in very large, almost wild enclosures. Coccidiosis can soon become a problem and render the pen useless for rabbits. They are better off on wire or in a deep litter system that can be cleaned out entirely as needed. I don't know where my head is at today to suggest it would be okay. :shock: :x

I'd use the raised bed for a forage garden for the buns and house them elsewhere.

 

[Homer]

Anything else that is a quick growing cut and come again? Cilantro is good to know, it just happens to be one of the herbs that I can not stand the taste of. That and rosemary.

Spinach is another one that comes back fast when cut but usually will bolt out when the temps of summer arrive. Kale and parsley are other ones that return pretty fast.

If you don't like cilantro, (nor do I), it just means more for the bunnies.