Eggs Zachtly wrote:

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.

my years of experience with growing produce have taught
me, consider the projected weather conditions regarding
availability of and frequency of rain. if the projections
are for a dry year then I flat bed so I can retain water by
trenching the rows. the technique slows the drainage and
reduces the need for manual irrigation. in years when there
is lots of rain I use a Farm implement known as a bedder to
bring up rows 8 to 10 inches in height to create better
drainage.

building the raised beds being discussed here is not practical
when your garden consist of an acre or more.

http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/t...2007-gard.html
http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/t...arden2005.html

these were both what I call flat bed gardens and both were
during drought years.



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,

cedar, I call it the wood God made to last. there are fence
post on this Farm still standing long after the barbed wire
rusted broke and was removed. while standing next to one
of those old cedar post I can get a visual of great granddaddy
telling one of his boys how to dig the hole and it just might
have been granddaddy he was telling. nostalgia, yea it happens
when your family has occupied the same track of land for six
generations.

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.

aren't nails just the temporary fastener used to hold things
together while the screws are being inserted?




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

and a good [hope that helps] it was Eggs


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best 2U