This first post is kept up to date by whoever has time. It gathers what four years of replies below have agreed on. Argue in the replies and we will fold the outcome in.

Making the bed

You do not turn the ground. You cover it, feed it from the top and let the worms do the digging. The whole method is patience and a great deal of cardboard.

What you need

• plain brown cardboard, tape and staples removed;
• ten centimetres of finished compost for every square metre;
• a plank to stand on, so you never tread on the bed.

A note on timing

Autumn is best: the card has rotted by spring. When you report results, put your plot in the title the way the forum does, for example [clay, north, 180m], so that others can compare like with like.

Hattie Brook wrote

Ten centimetres of finished compost for every square metre.

Half that worked for me on sandy ground, provided the card went down double. I would not try it on couch grass.

First bed went down in October on rough pasture. Slugs found the card within a week, but the garlic is up through it and looks better than the row I dug. Thank you all.