Raised beds almost in.....

[tanstaafl72555]

After playing around with some pallets and figuring the height, I made one box 30 inches high. I liked it because it was higher and required less bending over, but the amount of work was exponentially higher. I used a sawzall to cut out the slats on the ends of the cut off 2x4 and then nailed them back together at 30". I found it MUCH easier to just cut them on the outside of the center bar.

I also found that obsessing about getting them square is a waste of time. I pull a string and get them "close" and then just sink posts into the ground (wooden stobs, actually). I use braces internally to keep the walls plumb (a lot of weight on them from the soil, pushing outwards), and then just cap them. The caps make them "look" perfectly square and perfectly plumb. I am putting hinged doors on the short side of the rectangle so that they fold out. I plan to just change out the soil every year, as it gets burned out if you get too many crops per year (I plan to make some PVC high tower tunnels for extending the growing season).

Some of you guys who have been doing this forever have me beat a million miles, I know, but I am VERY excited about this. Not only is raising your own veggies tasty, and very emotionally satisfying, the act of doing the physical labor outside, and observing what is coming together, is good for my soul.

Not sure why, but the act of doing it brings a kind of peace, an ability to think about things other than the jangling, buzzing, jarring world of electrons flashing off a screen.

 

[chiefjason]

Makes sure you build your soil. Do not use topsoil. The difference in the 2 is night and day. I’m in a multi year process of working stuff into the topsoil I used to loosen it up. It worked great but it’s not as loose as building the soil.


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[tanstaafl72555]

Makes sure you build your soil. Do not use topsoil. The difference in the 2 is night and day. I’m in a multi year process of working stuff into the topsoil I used to loosen it up. It worked great but it’s not as loose as building the soil.


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I was planning on using a 33% mix of compost, sand and topsoil. Any reasons I should avoid this mix? Tnx in advance

 

[dman24]

I love having a garden, we didn’t have one last year with to much going on and never got it in the ground. In the past we’ve used a raised bed but this year we’ve got a plow and harrow and are going to work it with the tractor. Takes some fun away, but hopefully more productive with the little time available. Also something you could look into is growing in hay. I’ve grown tomatoes and melons in square bales. Might be cheaper in the long run than replacing soil and after the season is over should be able to compost the hay.

 

[chiefjason]

I was planning on using a 33% mix of compost, sand and topsoil. Any reasons I should avoid this mix? Tnx in advance

Depends on what you want. Screened topsoil is mostly a lie. I'm still digging rocks out of my beds and I was told it was screened. It also hardens up like yard soil, only slightly less so. If you use it, use less than 50% in the bed. Maybe even 30% to keep it loose.

If you want looser soil look at mixing potting soil, plant compost, cow manure, and chicken manure in pretty even percentages. Add in some coconut husk or moss to hold water. I also add lime and Azumite as minerals to mine. In the beds where I did this I could dig the soil out with my hands. This link is pretty close to how I did mine. My peppers did phenomenal in this last year. The only issue I had was with the soft soil, when they got top heavy some wanted to lay over.


https://www.weedemandreap.com/best-soil-combination-raised-garden-boxes/

 

[tanstaafl72555]

Depends on what you want. Screened topsoil is mostly a lie. I'm still digging rocks out of my beds and I was told it was screened. It also hardens up like yard soil, only slightly less so. If you use it, use less than 50% in the bed. Maybe even 30% to keep it loose.

If you want looser soil look at mixing potting soil, plant compost, cow manure, and chicken manure in pretty even percentages. Add in some coconut husk or moss to hold water. I also add lime and Azumite as minerals to mine. In the beds where I did this I could dig the soil out with my hands. This link is pretty close to how I did mine. My peppers did phenomenal in this last year. The only issue I had was with the soft soil, when they got top heavy some wanted to lay over.


https://www.weedemandreap.com/best-soil-combination-raised-garden-boxes/

Thank you.

 

[rdinatal]

I was planning on using a 33% mix of compost, sand and topsoil. Any reasons I should avoid this mix? Tnx in advance

You will need some of the dirt to use as a base. As @chiefjason said no more than 30% at first. You can always add some later.

I found that Meck Co has a great compost mix they cook from the yard waste collected. By itself it's no good but mix it with the dirt/clay around here you'll get a good base. Then add what you want as needed.

 

[Mirac]

I was just out the other day turning up our beds. Hoping to get some cold vegies started this next week or two.



We used some " Supersoil " from a landscape supplier with some of the dirt around the yard. Using weed cloth after the plants were up really cut back the weeds from the home dirt taking over the beds.