Our raised bed project (pics)

[SewingDiva]

My husband built raised beds out of Trex (the deck material) and they turned out really well:

He also installed plastic pipe on each side of the beds; and the white hoops (also plastic pipe) go into them. The bed in the front is made from pine - that one is for asparagus, which I ordered today (Jersey Giant).

I think I may end up painting this bed a color to constrast with the Trex. Our driveway is right in front of this bed, so after the spears are harvested we'll have a nice living screen for the summer.

Under the row cover are early spring veggies: broccoli di raab, kale, mesclun mix, Nero Tondo radishes and scallions. The garlic went in last fall. Heirloom tomatos will go into this bed when these are done. The black pipe you see is for irrigation that my husband wants to hook up to our rain barrels, which are just a few away behind the garage. He's still working on that!

There is still alot to do in this part of our yard. The rest of the project will be to install pavers bwteeen the beds and all around. Our house is on the left just outside the frame, and the garage is on the right (also just outside the frame.)

~Phyllis

 

[S0rcy]

Those Boxes Look Fantastic. I'm not joking. I'm impressed! I wish I had the money to buy that material now.

Good luck with the planting, it certainly does look good!

 

[PennyinOk]

The beds look so nice! You are very lucky to have them.

 

[SewingDiva]

Thank you! I am lucky - he worked most of last summer on them. Weeding is very easy, but one big challenge will be maintinaing the soil quality; alhtough I did idscover that I can trench compost right in these beds.

Last fall I did an experiment where I ground up kitchen scraps with water in an old blender. The mush was laid into a trench on each bed and I kept covering each layer with soil to keep out insects. Thes beds are warm enough that the mush completely decomposed by this spring into beautiful compost.

~Phyllis

 

[OCMG]

I am so glad you posted thes beautiful pics since I am going to use the decking magterial myself. I was worried how they would look and they look great!

I have a lot to make so I am going to start with maybe two boards and add as i go along. The cedar wood was way to expensive so i decided on composit instead. Wood is a waste of time since it will rot in a few years and I am getting too old to have to replace the beds every few years.

Thanks that is fantastic!

 

[Dilly Girl]

Absolutely Beautiful.

How deep are your beds? How wide? Can you please give me some ideas of what grows well with what. I have never gardened and making some boxes and going to give it a try. I went to your site and see that you are a seed grower as well. I am so impressed.

I am in Calfornia, Northern if that makes a difference as to what grows best.

I was told it is too late for lettice. Strwberries etc. Can I do aspargus, if so why did you make a pine box for that?

My husband said he would prefer to use the deck boards as you have. Do you have bottoms in your beds?

When you mentioned putting in the blender mix, do you just pour into the box and mix?

Thanks so much in advance.
Dilly Girl

 

[pjkobulnicky]

The beds are gorgeous. My compliments.

I do wonder if you want to rethink your use of a bed for asparagus. It really gets no benefit from a bed and may actually do better in the ground. It makes a beautiful border by the way. I have done raised beds for 35 years and I have done asparagus for the same time ... in the standard trenched row. I just wouldn't waste good bed real estate on it.

Paul

 

[Dilly Girl]

Hi Paul, As you might of read I am completly new to this. My dirt is awful, decomposed graite really. So I guess I will need to use the beds.

Do the beds do better with no bottom? I will line with hardware cloth to keep the gophers and moles out. I just wonder if a wooden bottom or deck bottom would be better in the long run?

Any suggestions for a newbie on planting ideas?

 

[SewingDiva]

Gardening is wonderful thing; there are many life lessons to learn from it!

How deep are your beds? How wide? Can you please give me some ideas of what grows well with what. I have never gardened and making some boxes and going to give it a try. I went to your site and see that you are a seed grower as well. I am so impressed.

They are 2 feet tall, 3 feet wide and the longest one is about 25 feet. The big square bed is 6 feet on each side - that one is a bit of a trick because I really can't reach to the middle of it, so I'll use it mostly for flowers and big vegs that sprawl such as squashes.

Mostly - grow what you like to eat. If this is your first forway into veg gardeing, I'd go with plants from your local garden center. Garden center plants are slected for your local climate, and you'll be able to spend the first year getting the hang of caring for growing plants. Most garden center plants are hybrids, but even they will taste 100% better than any hybrid vegetable you see in a supermarket. Tomatos are the classic first gardener plants to try, and bush beans are also suerp easy and almost foolproof.

I start seeds because I'm into heirlooms and special varities such as black Nero Tondo radishes, and we also grow crops we like that are expensive in supemarkets (broccoli di raab, kale, etc.) Seed starting is not hard, but it does require organization, planning, and documentation. Trying to start seeds on a window sill is not really a good idea; best results are obtained with grow lights, a timer to keep the lights on 18 hours a day, and heat mats to speed up germination.

I am in Calfornia, Northern if that makes a difference as to what grows best.

Your local climate and soil conditions are the biggest factors. You have a warmer climate and many more frost free days than I do here in Massachusetts. Hopefully a gardener from CA will jump and with some ideas of extension services in your state. CA is a huge agricultural state so there must be plenty of them, often they are part of state university systems.

I was told it is too late for lettice. Strwberries etc.

I don't have any experience with strawberries actually, and our current conditions right now are ideal for lettuce. Lettuce is a cool weather crop, and while it's been warm (Low 70's) this week our nights are still quite cool, 40's and 50's. So again you local conditions will dictate when it's too late/too warm in your area for lettuce. You may be able to grow it in the winter when there is nothing but snow on the ground in my state!

Can I do aspargus, if so why did you make a pine box for that?

Probably you can. Aspragus is cool weather, early spring crop and also a perennial (almost all veggies are annuals) so it needs a permanent spot in a garden because it lives for many years. It's sold as a live rooted plants (I believe it has a rhizome root system so it will spread) and the varities available from seed companies are widely adapted. I got mine from Seeds of Change because they're certified organic. My husband made that bed from pine because I think he's just tired of woking with Trex! We'll see how long it lasts

When you mentioned putting in the blender mix, do you just pour into the box and mix?

Kind off. I used enough water to blend the scraps (veg peelings, citrus skins, egg shells, coffee grounds - no meat!) into a mush. Then I dug two parallel trenches about 12 inches deep on the long sides of each the bed. I'd lay the mush into the trench and cover it with 2-3 inches of soil and each day I'd wok down the bed, The after that trench was filled in I'd lay another layer on top. In the early March I turned over the topsoil about a foot to mix in the compost.

A good way to begin the learning process is to order a free catalog from Johnny's Selected Seeds . It's a gold mine of information on germination, cultural information, transplanting, pests and diseases. I keep mine and use it all year as a reference tool. Johnny's sells high qaulity seeds too - I germinated some Brandywine tomaotes seeds from 2004 and the germination rate was like 95%!


~Phyllis

 

[SewingDiva]

The beds are gorgeous. My compliments.

I do wonder if you want to rethink your use of a bed for asparagus. It really gets no benefit from a bed and may actually do better in the ground. It makes a beautiful border by the way. I have done raised beds for 35 years and I have done asparagus for the same time ... in the standard trenched row. I just wouldn't waste good bed real estate on it.

Paul

That's good advice Paul - thank you! We do have one challenge with this bed because there is electrical service running 18 to 24 inches under the bed, and my husband didn't want me dig into the ground.

I have a question for you: Do you think it won't thrive in a raised bed because of it's cultural needs? I could move it to another location in the yard, although I also wanted to have it there as a lving screen (Our driveway is right int front of that bed and it faces the street.) I was planning to carefully soil test this bed on a regular basis and apply lots of compost each year.

But of course waht I really want to do the best thing for the aspargaus!