"SteveB" wrote:
We are ready to till up our garden, and want to raise it in beds or
platforms so us old people don't have to bend over so much. �

I assume you mean a vegetable garden.

For tilling you'll still need to get up into the bed.

Is it practical
to raise them to desk level, or is just a foot or two sufficient? �

I think a foot or two is more practical, especially if you want more
than a teensy vegetable garden.

The general formula in how-to books is to construct raised beds so
that they are no higher and wider than you can comfortably reach to
the center from each side... for most folks 24" X 30" high and 4' wide
works well... if you make them sized so you need to do much stretching
then you've defeated your purpose... with raised beds less is more.
Keep in mind that many plants grow taller than you can reach were they
planted at ground level, planted up in a raised bed you will need to
climb into the bed... I think you'll be spending a lot of time/energy
climbing in and out of raised beds

I honestly don't see the benefit to raised beds unless all you want is
one or maybe two very small gardens as a fancy schmancy landscape
feature but I don't think they are practical. There really isn't much
bending with gardening anyways except for weeding. Weed block cloth
takes care of that easily and costs far less than bed construction.
And for harvesting low growing crops I find sitting on a small stool
works fine, I have an assortment; one of those reversable kneeling-
siting benches, a contractor bucket with swivel seat, a cheap
Rubbermaid plastic step stool, and a few ordinary foam type cheapo
kneeling cushions. I prefer to get in there with my plants and I
don't like having to crowd plants because of limited space.


I would
think that whatever you made the raised bed from would rot from water and
gook within a few years. �And then, if you use cinderblock or cement, you're
talking high cost and a lot of skilled labor.

Treated lumber works well and lasts many years, square fence posts are
perfect... design your bed to accomodate standard length lumber, ie.
make your bed 4' X 8", not 5' X 9'. I wouldn't suggest masonary if
you live where the ground freezes, it will heave and crack. Also
before you begin decide if you will need your bed fenced to keep
critters out, if so regulation-type raised beds may not be what you
want because any fence that keeps critters out will keep you out too.
For my 50' X 50' vegetable garden I used real RR ties laid flat on the
ground, even though used I'm sure they will outlast me. The ties
really just delineate the garden, keeps the amended soil in and the
yard soil out, keeps outside weeds from encroaching and gives me a
solid base for attaching a sturdy deer fence, and a gate for me...
also gives me an inside walkway around the entire perimeter.

Before you get too involved and begin buying construction materials
give this raised bed idea a lot of consideration and reconsideration.

I used plain old fashioned RR ties:
http://i34.tinypic.com/2wp6ukz.jpg

My next door neighbor is a little fancier:
http://i34.tinypic.com/2dvsvvc.jpg

g'day steve,

why till at all if you are going to do raised beds?

you can make them as high as you like almost, maybe for you around 2'
to 3' tall depending on those who are going to use them.

keep the beds to about 3' wide.

we have pic's on how we do our beds on our site they may give you some
ideas?

corrugated roofing makes for good sides not sure what roofing you have
over there but any metal shet roofing might do, but you could use any
materila you may get locally look in the demolition yards maybe? the
beds probably aren't going to be cheap to set up due to the height you
want but once done that is it then. the corrugated stuff is popular
over here seems to last quiet a while.

the ones here are all premade beds just sit them on the ground and
fill them, but for me i'd prefer loose sheets and galvanised star
pickets, so if a sheet did corrode out then it would be easier to
eitehr replace or fit another sheet over it.

blocks will cost because you need to lay a foundation first so they
don't fall over.

On Mon, 3 Nov 2008 15:43:16 -0800, "SteveB" toquerville@zionvistas
wrote:
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

len gardener wrote:
g'day steve,

why till at all if you are going to do raised beds?

I wouldn't call yours raised beds, they're more like largish window
boxes, flower pots if you will, filled with what's essentially potting
mix.

Most folks who construct raised beds on top of real topsoil and fill
with real topsoil till twice a year; fall and spring. Soil compacts
and needs to be aerated and how else to amend nutrient depleted soil
but to blend in fresh composted organic matter. I know that there are
many lazy methods to revitaliz depleted soil, like spraying liquid
fertilizers or sprinkling fertilizer pellets, but that doesn't make
soil very much more productive than had nothing been done... perhaps
with potting mix that method is better than nothing. Anyway it's no
big deal to rototill a raised bed, with soil that's already been
broken up it shouldn't take more than ten minutes each.

corrugated roofing makes for good sides
http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

Nothing wrong with corrugated metal sides where you live but what you
built won't work where winters are severe, the ground will freeze,
heave that corrugated out of the ground and buckle that tin so much
that come spring it will need to be hauled to the dump. It's
important to realize that in gardening and construction what works
well in one climate probably won't work at all in another.

In article
,
Sheldon wrote:

Omelet wrote:

I've also built two raised beds with unmortared cinderblock 3 bricks
high, and that hardly takes skilled labor. ;-) ?I like them


You live where the ground doesn't freeze.

Wanna bet?

Granted, not as bad as where you are, but it happens. I'll sometimes
tent stuff with old sheets and run a clip lamp out there when I get
freeze warnings.
--
Peace! Om

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." -- Dalai Lama

On Nov 4, 4:18�pm, Omelet wrote:
In article
,

�Sheldon wrote:
Omelet wrote:

I've also built two raised beds with unmortared cinderblock 3 bricks
high, and that hardly takes skilled labor. ;-) ?I like them

You live where the ground doesn't freeze.

Wanna bet?

Granted, not as bad as where you are, but it happens. �I'll sometimes
tent stuff with old sheets and run a clip lamp out there when I get
freeze warnings.

Where you live you'll get an occasional light frost that will affect
plants (really just dew freezing) but you don't get a hard freeze
where the ground freezes solid.

"len gardener" wrote in message
...
g'day steve,

why till at all if you are going to do raised beds?

you can make them as high as you like almost, maybe for you around 2'
to 3' tall depending on those who are going to use them.

keep the beds to about 3' wide.

we have pic's on how we do our beds on our site they may give you some
ideas?

corrugated roofing makes for good sides not sure what roofing you have
over there but any metal shet roofing might do, but you could use any
materila you may get locally look in the demolition yards maybe? the
beds probably aren't going to be cheap to set up due to the height you
want but once done that is it then. the corrugated stuff is popular
over here seems to last quiet a while.

the ones here are all premade beds just sit them on the ground and
fill them, but for me i'd prefer loose sheets and galvanised star
pickets, so if a sheet did corrode out then it would be easier to
eitehr replace or fit another sheet over it.

blocks will cost because you need to lay a foundation first so they
don't fall over.

On Mon, 3 Nov 2008 15:43:16 -0800, "SteveB" toquerville@zionvistas
wrote:
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

Thank you for another fine idea. I am going to pick up some 22 ga.
corrugated metal tomorrow from a local Fabral plant. I can get all the
scraps I want. Tomorrow, I will be picking up 8' lengths for a lean to
shade. But I can have them trim them to most any length, and a bunch cut to
length would be mighty handy.

Thanks again.

Steve

"Sheldon" wrote in message
...
On Nov 4, 4:18?pm, Omelet wrote:
In article
,

?Sheldon wrote:
Omelet wrote:

I've also built two raised beds with unmortared cinderblock 3 bricks
high, and that hardly takes skilled labor. ;-) ?I like them

You live where the ground doesn't freeze.

Wanna bet?

Granted, not as bad as where you are, but it happens. ?I'll sometimes
tent stuff with old sheets and run a clip lamp out there when I get
freeze warnings.

Where you live you'll get an occasional light frost that will affect
plants (really just dew freezing) but you don't get a hard freeze
where the ground freezes solid.

----------------------

Another case of geographical location specific advice. Quite common here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.
--
Dave

If it looks like fish, smells like fish, its not
a cantaloupe.

"Dioclese" wrote:
"Sheldon" wrote in message

...
On Nov 4, 4:18?pm, Omelet wrote:





In article
,

?Sheldon wrote:
Omelet wrote:

I've also built two raised beds with unmortared cinderblock 3 bricks
high, and that hardly takes skilled labor. ;-) ?I like them

You live where the ground doesn't freeze.

Wanna bet?

Granted, not as bad as where you are, but it happens. ?I'll sometimes
tent stuff with old sheets and run a clip lamp out there when I get
freeze warnings.

Where you live you'll get an occasional light frost that will affect
plants (really just dew freezing) but you don't get a hard freeze
where the ground freezes solid.

----------------------

Another case of geographical location specific advice. �Quite common here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.

Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly, what's with all
that broken English gibberish? You express yourself with baby talk,
may as well type goo goo gaa gaa. Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena, ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the
buffoon. If you are going continue participating with Newsgroups you
will definitely benefit from a remedial writing course.

I happen to know Omelet's location and climate but it's up to her to
post any particulars.

In a gardening group particularly if anyone cares to have their
queries taken seriously they need to post their location, clearly and
with a degree of specificity so that folks can reply in a utile
manner... it's never the responsibility of posters to search for and
decipher code.

On Tue, 4 Nov 2008 21:26:17 -0800, "SteveB" toquerville@zionvistas
wrote:

snipped

Thanks again.

Steve

keep us informed would like to see pics of the finished product.

maybe send e/mail for more chat?

With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

"Sheldon" wrote in message
"Dioclese" wrote:

Another case of geographical location specific advice. ?Quite common here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.

Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly, what's with all
that broken English gibberish? You express yourself with baby talk,
may as well type goo goo gaa gaa. Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena, ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the
buffoon. If you are going continue participating with Newsgroups you
will definitely benefit from a remedial writing course.
__________________________________________

Hmmmm. Great 'communitating' skills Sheldon.

On Nov 5, 12:11 pm, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:
"Sheldon" wrote in message
"Dioclese" wrote:
Another case of geographical location specific advice. ?Quite common here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.

Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly, what's with all
that broken English gibberish? You express yourself with baby talk,
may as well type goo goo gaa gaa. Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena, ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the
buffoon. If you are going continue participating with Newsgroups you
will definitely benefit from a remedial writing course.
__________________________________________

Hmmmm. Great 'communitating' skills Sheldon.

Hmmm, indeed.
You might brush up on the proper use of the semi-colon; you might
check
out run together sentences, too, Sheldon.
mle

In article
,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

"Sheldon" wrote in message
"Dioclese" wrote:

Another case of geographical location specific advice. ?Quite common here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.

Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly, what's with all
that broken English gibberish? You express yourself with baby talk,
may as well type goo goo gaa gaa. Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena, ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the
buffoon. If you are going continue participating with Newsgroups you
will definitely benefit from a remedial writing course.
__________________________________________

Hmmmm. Great 'communitating' skills Sheldon.
Not overlooking the fact that this is a gardening forum and not on
English grammar. Posters often take great liberties with the English
language without chastisement from self important little twirps, such as
you. Let's take a look at your little work of art.

"Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly (The sentence needs
a period or a conjunction)(Properly should precede construct, as it is
an adverb and sentence a noun. Otherwise, you sound like someone's
affected maiden aunt.) You express yourself with baby talk, may as well
type goo goo gaa gaa. (This is an event that took place in the past,
which requires a past tense: expressed. What did you just do, if not
express yourself in baby talk, and this is in reference to what
element/s of Dioclese's post?) Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena (This is freakin' USENET you idiot. You're lucky not to get
flamed;O), ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the buffoon (You
didn't build much of a case for your opinion, Shelly. Actually, it looks
as if you have indicted yourself.) If you are going continue
participating with Newsgroups you will definitely benefit from a
remedial writing course. (We would all benefit from a writing course,
but of what benefit is it, in this particular news group,except,
perhaps, to keep certain self-important, "toffee-nosed" gits away from
you?)
--

Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1248.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Sheldon" wrote in message
"Dioclese" wrote:

Another case of geographical location specific advice. ?Quite common
here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.

Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly, what's with all
that broken English gibberish? You express yourself with baby talk,
may as well type goo goo gaa gaa. Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena, ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the
buffoon. If you are going continue participating with Newsgroups you
will definitely benefit from a remedial writing course.
__________________________________________

Hmmmm. Great 'communitating' skills Sheldon.

Funny. I understood him perfectly. Does that make me as stupid as you
think he is?

Hmmmm. Lemmee see .......... yep, this is a gardening group, and not
alt.properEnglish ......

Steve

"Billy" wrote in message
...
In article
,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

"Sheldon" wrote in message
"Dioclese" wrote:

Another case of geographical location specific advice. ?Quite common
here.
All must read with a grain or more of salt to judge if such advice is
appropriate for themselves.

Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly, what's with all
that broken English gibberish? You express yourself with baby talk,
may as well type goo goo gaa gaa. Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena, ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the
buffoon. If you are going continue participating with Newsgroups you
will definitely benefit from a remedial writing course.
__________________________________________

Hmmmm. Great 'communitating' skills Sheldon.
Not overlooking the fact that this is a gardening forum and not on
English grammar. Posters often take great liberties with the English
language without chastisement from self important little twirps, such as
you. Let's take a look at your little work of art.

"Don't you know how to construct a sentence properly (The sentence needs
a period or a conjunction)(Properly should precede construct, as it is
an adverb and sentence a noun. Otherwise, you sound like someone's
affected maiden aunt.) You express yourself with baby talk, may as well
type goo goo gaa gaa. (This is an event that took place in the past,
which requires a past tense: expressed. What did you just do, if not
express yourself in baby talk, and this is in reference to what
element/s of Dioclese's post?) Dioclese, you should be ashamed of
yourself demonstrating so poor a level of communitating skills in a
public arena (This is freakin' USENET you idiot. You're lucky not to get
flamed;O), ridiculous sentence fragments make you look the buffoon (You
didn't build much of a case for your opinion, Shelly. Actually, it looks
as if you have indicted yourself.) If you are going continue
participating with Newsgroups you will definitely benefit from a
remedial writing course. (We would all benefit from a writing course,
but of what benefit is it, in this particular news group,except,
perhaps, to keep certain self-important, "toffee-nosed" gits away from
you?)
--

Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1248.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Kudos to you, sir.

Steve

"len gardener" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Nov 2008 21:26:17 -0800, "SteveB" toquerville@zionvistas
wrote:

snipped

Thanks again.

Steve

keep us informed would like to see pics of the finished product.

maybe send e/mail for more chat?

With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

Went to the next town today to pick up some 8' x 3' x 22 ga. bare steel
corrugated drop remnants to make a lean to shade. These rust evenly on
purpose giving them the aged look within six months. I got 22 of them for
free, and tipped the man $40 to take his SO out to dinner. I told him I
would like some more, so I will return there once I have the dimensions, and
he will cut the remnants to length.

They even loaded them.

Steve