Raised Veggie Beds

DH and I put in raised beds this year for the veg garden. I have no clue how they'll do but so far...so good.

Sledder...now THAT is a pretty site!

Looks SO nice! I really think ya'll are gonna enjoy that garden!

Ya done good! ô¿ô

What materials did you use?

I agree that looks great!

Neater than mine I have nocarestrightitis so I started with a little this way little that your method forces neatness. What is between the boxes red bark or rocks? Mine are crooked but they out produce the ground and I am sure yours will to.

I had a dg guest this spring who made his out of concrete block so he could raise it up as he gets older one block at a time.

Good job enjoy for a long time. Ernie

sledder - thats looks nice and neat.although i have "good dirt" the idea of a raised bed sounds good. it looks like you just put down 2 x 4's but i guess its more envolved that that. would really like to learn how to do this the right way. thanks

Thanks everyone!! Considering I had 2 broken bones in my foot whilst we were doing all this it's not bad at all. :) We filled the beds with mixed top soil and mushroom compost and so far the plants are doing well. The sides are simply 2 x 6 with mulch between them. Each bed is 8 ft long and only 3 ft wide so we can reach across to weed. My only concern is that they aren't deep enough. Guess we'll cross that bridge if we need to. We sure the boards will warp but it's okay......

Thanks again!! :)

Hi Sledder,

If you've any kinda soil under the 6" at all the plants will do fine and the good layer will be a little deeper next year. You'll have to add compost every year as it breaks down and is used but you probably knew that already.

Chris

6inches is ok for most stuff long as you dig deep to loosen the soil underneath but my 12 inch ones I built the next year produce better. I think its because they warm faster than the six inch ones. These are easy to water and care for hope you enjoy. Ernie

Uh... Look at this!!!

drew n corinn - that is what i would like to do. what are those white things you have running the length of the raised bed?

They are my watering system, every 4 inches a no.57 drill sized hole on the bottom and each side of the pipe. it is a zone on my sprinkler system... No bending over, spent 20 minutes chasing down caterpillars to squash on my Cabbage tonite, no back pain!...

Drew... Now those are RAISED BEDS, LOL!

Your sprinkler system loks great too.

I just love this idea about raised beds. I am considering this idea also. I am hoping to find enough cinder blocks to start with. I have some collected already.
So is the twelve inch depth a good depth to start with? I have wonderful soil and use composted horse manure and leaves and grass clippings too in my compost in my gardens.
The bermuda grass is my biggest problem with my veggie garden. It can also be a problem in my flower beds.
Would the raised beds help to keep the grass out of them? Robbie

I agree, those are some fantastic raised beds. I've use concrete blocks from the beginning and have tried going to 2 block high but decided it wasn't worth it at that time. Not saying I won't do it later for higher walls to sit on. I love that sprinkler system. I use a lot of those black rubber seepy hoses.

12 inches is more than adequate... Yes weeding even in 12 inched is a peice of cake because the weeds are growing in loose easy to work in soil, If you go to growfood.com they have a bunch of books on it. Mel Bartholemews square foot gardening is good as well but it is more attuned to family gardening while the Mittleider approach is designed for super high production. I use a combination of both. They both talk about preparing beds and do not advocate 3 foot high beds. Just 12 inches.

Here are some more shots a little later Taken today June 18th

And Another

And Another Of Cukes/Canteloupe/Zucs

Woops same as the first one...

This message was edited Jun 19, 2004 12:15 PM

Another

drew n corinn...your beds look great...are you doing that 'square-foot-gardening' method?...or are the squares just for uniformity, etc...?

Kinda a cross between the Mittleider Method and SQFT Gardening, I like the strings but next year we are going even more heavily towards Mittleider. (Still with strings just to get spacing right... it makes it easier) Just works better, more production per foot than anything I have seen, see www.growfood.com...