New to Raised Bed Gardening

[TnAndy]

I also built a strawberry planter on casters late last summer and transplanted a lot of my strawberry plants into it. I'll be curious as to how it does this spring.

I tried a couple of strawberry barrel planters 2 years ago. The barrels hold 52 plants each (48 pockets + 4 in the top). Was WAY less than impressed with the production, but it may have been the variety. So last year, I dumped one out and replanted with a different variety to see. Didn't do much better, and if they don't come on this year, both will get dumped and we'll call that experiment a failure.

This pic is a few weeks after setting plants in the barrels. The legs, 2x4 bolted to the barrels, didn't last out the first year.....knocked the off and set the barrels on 24" pallet with casters. I set the barrels out in the yard most of the year, and move them into the hoop house only in the winter to protect the plants.

For irrigation, we use drip tape when needed in the garden. We end up using it about every 2-3yrs, depending on rain. Most years, we have enough rain (or even too much), and don't use it.

Drip tape is nice....you run a 3/4" header line down the rows, punch a connector with a shut off in that line for the tape, then the tape (like a flattened out hose) had built in emitters every 12" or so (you can buy different tapes with different spacings and GPH size emitters).

We also raise our climbing things (tomatoes, beans) on cattle panels as you can see. Picked up that tip from some Menonite folks near here.

 

[forgeblast]

I built a few new ones last year, bought galvanized sheeting 3' high by 8' long and then made them 2' wide. I also put hardware cloth under them to keep the voles out. I then put in logs and dead wood leaves etc and covered with compost. Was going great until the electric fence shorted out and the ground hogs ate it all.
I trapped 4 out there are still more to take care of.
I am thinking of moving the garden closer to the house and putting it on a pad of gravel and paver stones solving a lot of the groundhog/vole issues. Plus it would get full sun.

 

[farmer2009]

Subscribed. Hopefully I'll get to do some raised beds this spring.

 

[2ndhalf]

Our "hobby" provides us with most of what we eat (we also raise and home process our beef, pork, chicken and catfish + eggs).

I suppose providing yourself with what it takes to live instead of working for someone else to earn money, supporting a host of govt weenies with taxes taken from it, then buying inferior food trucked thousands of miles is considered 'odd', but to each their own I guess.

Some of our other hobbies include cutting all the firewood off our place needed to heat our home, putting up an 11kw solar power system that supplies all our electrical power needs instead of buying a bass boat and drowning worms is also odd, but what the heck, huh ?

I firmly believe that growing your food the way you do will pay you back in healthcare costs in the long run. Have you priced those lately. I don't look at it as a hobby either. It is a way of life... A healthy one!

That said,... my fictional budget for this year is about $500 which I'm trying to decide how to cheaply get my beds build.. I have soil and now access to horse manure. I didn't think about the chemicals coming out of the treated wood but it does make sense.. now I have another delima and I'm leaning back toward block.

 

[kryptzard]

I use to do raised beds, ... until I watched this video by Paul Gautschi,

, it changed the way I gardened and caused incredible abundance with growing everything!! We do not have to use any chemicals...this is 100% organic.

I did do raised beds and I always started with 18" wide by 8" high, BUT I stopped that, there was too much wasted space. I started doing a wood chip method gardening 3 years ago, it is a no-till method, no fertilizing, no manure (although I do add a few things on occasion like lime, seaweed, peat). I never use manure, I just don't have access, to free manure. Watch this video... If you are not a bible thump-er, have patience as Paul brings common sense debunking the world of man-made doctrines and methodology for farming.

I get free wood chips from the power companies, they drop truck loads on my property for free (I just spread 16 loads this past week. These are chipped tops of trees add all the nutrients to the soils naturally.

 

[kryptzard]

The raised beds will be great idea, you do lose space but if you get rain like you say, then it is going to prove effective. I did raised bed here in Connecticut, one year in particular I recall we had so much rain that most gardens were drowned, but not mine...
I love the cattle panels idea!! I'm definitely going that route this year! Thanks for your tutorial!

 

[2ndhalf]

I use to do raised beds, ... until I watched this video by Paul Gautschi,

, it changed the way I gardened and caused incredible abundance with growing everything!! We do not have to use any chemicals...this is 100% organic.

I did do raised beds and I always started with 18" wide by 8" high, BUT I stopped that, there was too much wasted space. I started doing a wood chip method gardening 3 years ago, it is a no-till method, no fertilizing, no manure (although I do add a few things on occasion like lime, seaweed, peat). I never use manure, I just don't have access, to free manure. Watch this video... If you are not a bible thump-er, have patience as Paul brings common sense debunking the world of man-made doctrines and methodology for farming. View attachment 458000

I get free wood chips from the power companies, they drop truck loads on my property for free (I just spread 16 loads this past week. These are chipped tops of trees add all the nutrients to the soils naturally.

I have seen this and I expect it will work.. my big reason for raised bed is that I don't want to be on the ground. I see no reason why you couldn't do this method along with raised bed. It would just be higher. In fact, I'm going to use some of this method on at least one of my beds. My sister sent me a link to his methods last year.

 

[TnAndy]

I love the cattle panels idea!! I'm definitely going that route this year! Thanks for your tutorial!

Yeah, we've found it to be a real time saver. Drove some big spike nails in the fence posts to hang the panels on when not in use.

Couple tips/tools you'll want to get.

1. A little rebar tying tool like this:

2. A bundle of double loop wire ties. I spent a little extra for galvanized ones, because the plain steel tend to rust and are nasty to handle. You need 8" length ones. You have to buy a bundle of 1,000 or more depending on where you buy them, so one order will last a LONG time....BUT the good side is you'll find yourself using them lots of places if you put up temporary (or even permanent) wire type fences. They install in a split second, and we just cut them off when taking down in the fall.

3. A T post puller: (Harbor Freight, etc)

 

[kryptzard]

I have seen this and I expect it will work.. my big reason for raised bed is that I don't want to be on the ground. I see no reason why you couldn't do this method along with raised bed. It would just be higher. In fact, I'm going to use some of this method on at least one of my beds. My sister sent me a link to his methods last year.

Yeah, we've found it to be a real time saver. Drove some big spike nails in the fence posts to hang the panels on when not in use.

Couple tips/tools you'll want to get.

1. A little rebar tying tool like this:

2. A bundle of double loop wire ties. I spent a little extra for galvanized ones, because the plain steel tend to rust and are nasty to handle. You need 8" length ones. You have to buy a bundle of 1,000 or more depending on where you buy them, so one order will last a LONG time....BUT the good side is you'll find yourself using them lots of places if you put up temporary (or even permanent) wire type fences. They install in a split second, and we just cut them off when taking down in the fall.

3. A T post puller: (Harbor Freight, etc)

This is awesome... thank you, Harbor Freight is around the corner... could be my favorite browsing store! OH and I did do the raised beds with wood chips... I like rows of parsley, basil and herbs high!

 

[2ndhalf]

Ok, I have considered all that I have read and you have posted. I have decided I'm doing this... see pic.. I have access to a lot of dead ash trees and will most likely use that. I'm still planning on leaving the ends open on my garden.