Scott Hildenbrand said:

Just wondering what you all think of raised beds for vegetable gardens
as opposed to ground level gardens.

I moved all of my vegetable gardens into raised beds two years ago, and
wish I had done it sooner.


It's a good time of year to get all that planned out and in place so
looking for input.

My thought is that the raised beds will be easier to maintain and to
work in. My thought on that is more for the wifes sake since she has
back trouble that acts up from time to time.

I was thinking of just using treated 2x8s or so, standard toe nailed
framing with braces in the corners. Also thinking of stapling plastic
sheeting along the inside just to minimize the dirt to wood contact factor.

I'd go (I went) with cedar, as opposed to treated lumber. Unless of course
you feel comfortable with that sheet of plastic protecting you from
leeching chemicals (I wouldn't).


So, any thoughts on this, tips or tricks, etc?

Sink 4x4's as corner posts and bolt the side rails to them. I wouldn't
trust nails to hold moist soil.


Also make life easier where soil prep is concerned, no? That way I can
just dump in bags of good soil and compost as apposed to working with
the brick solid clay around here.

I purchased quality garden mix, from a reputable, local company. It's much
cheaper than bags. ($20/yard. Mix consists of 50% river-bottom topsoil,
screened 3/8", 25% composted manure, screened 1/2", and 25% compost, also
screened 1/2".) It gets ammended each year, from my compost bin.

Spring prep was almost too easy. I was used to tilling and other manual
labor to get the garden ready, but prep now consists of blowing a few
leaves and sweetgum balls out of the beds, and raking them. I did that at
the time I would normally have tilled, and then went nuts waiting for the
temps to warm up, heh. The waiting was the hardest part. Though, the beds
heated up fairly well, as compared to the old garden.

HTH
--

Eggs

-Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.