Hello by Billp53

[Billp53]

Just wanted to say Hi
I started my first raised garden this past spring and even though I am not new to gardening I am to doing a raised bed type. So I thought joining a forum like this would help me prepair for next year and maybe avoid a few mistakes I made this past season. The boxes I built are kind of portable so as things die off I empty the contents into a compost area in the back of my yard and stack the boxes near by with plains on expanding a lot more next year. So I will be looking for advice and help from time to time and maybe even give a little help in return. Looking forward to being a member and sharing with others here.
Billp53

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

Hi Bill,

I'm giving serious consideration to going to all raised beds next year. Between the ABUNDANT WEEDS from tilling over old pasture, and the alkaline soil, I don't know if I want to continue with the challenges of level ground gardening. I'm still wondering, though, if I should buy a truckload of compost and carry on as usual, so no final decision has been made yet. I'll be watching the site for pros and cons of each method.

 

[journey11]

 

[catjac1975]

Do you believe there will be less weeds in raised beds or that they will just be easier to get to?

Hi Bill,

I'm giving serious consideration to going to all raised beds next year. Between the ABUNDANT WEEDS from tilling over old pasture, and the alkaline soil, I don't know if I want to continue with the challenges of level ground gardening. I'm still wondering, though, if I should buy a truckload of compost and carry on as usual, so no final decision has been made yet. I'll be watching the site for pros and cons of each method.

 

[Smart Red]

Do you believe there will be less weeds in raised beds or that they will just be easier to get to?

My veggie garden is made up of 12 (soon to be 15) 10 X 5 foot raised beds. I love them! (Although I'd not recommend beds wider than 4 feet, I'm not telling DH he did me wrong) So easy to work the soil. "Digging" spuds by sinking a hand into the soft ground. And, yes, there will be less weeds in raised beds after a few years - certainly not right away, but as the old weed seeds germinate and get removed there will be less and less weeds.

And yes, the weeds are so much easier to get to. Imagine a garden you can walk through right after a rain - or even during a rainfall without mucking up your shoes or sinking into the furrows. The easiest time to pull weeds is right after a rain and it's so easy.

With raised beds I can garden intensively rather than planting everything in rows. I can put water exactly where it is needed instead of wetting the pathways between rows. I just LOVE 'em.

Big welcome to the site, Billp53! Glad to have you growing with us!

 

[catjac1975]

I find no less weeds in my raised beds that I have used for 30 plus years. It is however easier to weed at that height. I have sandy loam and find weeding when it is dry much easier. Though weeds are a pain I think they are a sign of good soil health.

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

If we go with raised beds, we will build and place them this fall, then fill them with a mix of compost and good garden soil from a reliable local company. We have some heavy old tarps, so we will water the soil once it's in the raised beds, then cover with the tarps for a few weeks in order to germinate and smother any weed seeds. It's not a perfect plan, and we still haven't decided on it for certain, but it's bound to have fewer seeds and weeds than we do now.

At the moment, our 'garden' is completely covered in calf-high clover, and the clover is completely covered in honey bees and bumble bees, not to mention lady bugs, preying mantis, butterflies and other delightful garden creatures. (I am studiously ignoring the grasshoppers, as they are not numerous and they haven't caused much of a problem so far.) I know we will still get some weeds if we go with the raised beds. The winds get going pretty good here in the spring, so between the birds and the wind, there's always going to be weeds. The current crop of clover got inadvertently planted when we tilled an area that was used for horse pasture by the former owners. I let it go for a few days when I was busy with a project (I work at home), and by the time I got out there, it was too late to do anything about it. I can see the melons and pumpkins through the clover, but I have to shuffle around to find the zucchini and squash and peppers. Thank goodness the tomatoes and cucumbers are climbing up trellises, or I'd never find them!

 

[897tgigvib]

to the forum Billp!

Raised beds will get you fewer weeds, especially depending on what you put in them. I use forest compost, so my weeds for the first year in a bed consists of forest plants, wild pacific dewberry, wild mushrooms, a lot of those little crucifer family weeds, our wild forest daisy. Yes, they are much easier to get to, and the lush way the vegetable plants grow, many of them that get past my weeding are stunted by the vegetable plants. After a couple years, the main weeds in my older beds are things like the Amaranth that dropped seeds from the year before. Yes, it is real nice to be able to sink your hand all the way down. I actually add some of the native clay soil, just enough to color the soil in the bed with red clay, so it holds more water. In one bed I had aphids, so I was actually able to put 12 pounds of diatomaceous earth, a form of clay soil, to an area around 100 square feet. It seems to be working, so far.



:tools

 

[Carol Dee]

Hello, good to have you here. It is amazing what I have learned around here. And made a friend or two along the way. I LOVE our raied beds. Since we have the room, they are 30 ft long and 2 foot wide. I really like being able to reach all the way across when I have to. And love walking in mowed paths and not dirt/mud. Good Luck

 

[vfem]