Raised Gardens
 

Hi my name is Ed and im new to this group.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have a small yard. I want to put in
a couple of Raised garden beds. I would appreciate any advice on
growing vegetables in raised gardens and any ideas on plans for raised
gardens.

Ed wrote:
Hi my name is Ed and im new to this group.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have a small yard. I want to put
in
a couple of Raised garden beds. I would appreciate any advice on
growing vegetables in raised gardens and any ideas on plans for
raised
gardens.

In a nutshell,

0) location, location, location. Full sun, even if the soil is poor.
You can always make good soil by adding tons of compost. And as close
to the house as feasible.

1) you need bed edges. I think the simplest option is cinder blocks,
buried a few inches to discourage weed rhizomes from coming in. You can
fill the holes in the cinder blocks with soil and put a plant in
there.The blocks will gently lime the soil.

2) you need paths between the beds, else you will have weeds in there
constantly coming into your beds. Simplest thing is lay down some
plastic sheeting, tucked under the cinder blocks, and cover with
gravel. This will also keep your boots relatively clean.
Path width should be so that you can maneuver a wheelbarrow with ease.

3) bed size. 4 feet is the standard width, and for multiple pickings
(say, peas or tomatoes) you should not exceeed it, if anything, go
lower. For single pickings (like, cabbage) you can go wider than 4 ft.
Length can be anything but unless you can get very organized, you may
end up spending a lot of time walking around the beds. I suggest 20 ft,
or longer with a stepping stone in the middle for quick changes of
sides.

4) bed height. variable because you will be adding organic material
continuously. Start with at least two inches of manure, if you can get
it.

Soil: start with a soil test to get an idea of what is there and what
is missing. Then if P is missing, add bone meal or phosphate, etc. If
the soil is too sandy or too clayey, expect the soil to improve over
two or three years, with overall addition of organic matter of order
one foot (will compact down to a few inches). In my beds I put wood
chips, manure, leaves, composted kitchen scraps, cardboard for
smothering last year's surviving veggies, and wood ash. Good soil is
not made in a day.

Existing vegetation in beds: smother with cardboard or newspapers
tucked under cinder blocks. Remove larger shrubs, including roots.

Irrigation: drip strongly recommended, unless you enjoy spending time
with a hose in your hand. Believe it or not, it is not difficult to
install.

Fencing: as needed, once pests are recognized. Do not go incremental,
or you will train them. If you decide you have groundhogs, put up a
partially buried fence with electric wire on top. You need to stop them
cold. Put up only a fence, and they will learn to scale it, or dig
under.

Then buy one of many excellent books about organic vegetable gardening
out there and start experimenting. Depending on sun exposure, climate,
and soil, not everything will grow well on your site. Learn to
appreciate what grows well if you want gardening happiness. I am now
very fond of red cabbage and beets, though I used to hate them. In your
area, winter vegetables are an option, so that you can have veggies
continuously through the year (I need poly tunnels over the beds to
make it happen).

"Ed" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi my name is Ed and im new to this group.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have a small yard. I want to put in
a couple of Raised garden beds. I would appreciate any advice on
growing vegetables in raised gardens and any ideas on plans for raised
gardens.

I live in Vancouver, BC, so probably very similar climate. I built raised
beds last year. This year I'm tearing them down and building a retaining
wall around the entire garden area to raise and level my garden a bit. IMO,
if you have enough space to build as many beds as you want, then raised beds
are a great idea. But if, like me, you have a fairly limited area, then
raised beds and the paths between them seem to be a relatively inefficient
use of space. This year I'll be able to grow significantly more stuff, and
I'll have more flexibility in layout.

Larry Blanchard wrote:

I'd use lava rock instead of plain gravel. The sharp edges
discourage
slugs (a biiiiig NW problem) and even the neighborhood cats don't
like
to walk on it.


I used to have a big slug problem. But with a yearly scattering of
sluggo in May they are mostly gone. Garter snakes, recently very
abundant at my site, may have helped too. In fact, I have not even
tried methods I saw posted here, like hair of some sort around the base
of the seedling, wood ash, or the now very popular coffee grounds as
poison. Lava rock tip duly noted.

In article .com,
says...
2) you need paths between the beds, else you will have weeds in there
constantly coming into your beds. Simplest thing is lay down some
plastic sheeting, tucked under the cinder blocks, and cover with
gravel. This will also keep your boots relatively clean.
Path width should be so that you can maneuver a wheelbarrow with ease

I'd use lava rock instead of plain gravel. The sharp edges discourage
slugs (a biiiiig NW problem) and even the neighborhood cats don't like
to walk on it.

Other than that, I agree with the response.

You (the original poster) might want to look into square foot gardening.
I've used it (albeit not rigorously) in my raised beds and it does cut
down on the work.


--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description

g'day ed,

i'm in a different climate than you are but i have details and pic' on
my site in my garden section that shows how i do it.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you send.

I'm in Spokane and use raised beds. Built them from 2x12's and put a 2x2 in
eaxh corner to screw into then had a load of dirt brought in to fill the
beds. They have worked great, last year I added PVC hoops to them and made
mini-hothouses and was able to plant some of my veggies in early march and
start with a first harvest by mid April.


"Ed" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi my name is Ed and im new to this group.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have a small yard. I want to put in
a couple of Raised garden beds. I would appreciate any advice on
growing vegetables in raised gardens and any ideas on plans for raised
gardens.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
I'd use lava rock instead of plain gravel. The sharp edges discourage
slugs (a biiiiig NW problem) and even the neighborhood cats don't like
to walk on it.

The problem there is that *I* hate walking on lava rock, too.

GB

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
I'd use lava rock instead of plain gravel. The sharp edges discourage
slugs (a biiiiig NW problem) and even the neighborhood cats don't like
to walk on it.

The problem there is that *I* hate walking on lava rock, too.

GB

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:24:21 -0500, "GB"
wrote:

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
I'd use lava rock instead of plain gravel. The sharp edges discourage
slugs (a biiiiig NW problem) and even the neighborhood cats don't like
to walk on it.

The problem there is that *I* hate walking on lava rock, too.

I like walking bare foot in my garden.

Gravel or lava rock....ewwwww!

Penelope, weed paper and mulch in my garden paths.
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:24:21 -0500, "GB"
wrote:

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
I'd use lava rock instead of plain gravel. The sharp edges discourage
slugs (a biiiiig NW problem) and even the neighborhood cats don't like
to walk on it.

The problem there is that *I* hate walking on lava rock, too.

I like walking bare foot in my garden.

Gravel or lava rock....ewwwww!

Penelope, weed paper and mulch in my garden paths.
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

il Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:55:51 -0800, "Bob Clark" ha scritto:

I'm in Spokane and use raised beds. Built them from 2x12's and put a 2x2 in
eaxh corner to screw into then had a load of dirt brought in to fill the
beds. They have worked great, last year I added PVC hoops to them and made
mini-hothouses and was able to plant some of my veggies in early march and
start with a first harvest by mid April.

What sort of PC hoops do you use? Specially made or just pipes? I

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

Ed wrote:

Hi my name is Ed and im new to this group.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have a small yard. I want to put in
a couple of Raised garden beds. I would appreciate any advice on
growing vegetables in raised gardens and any ideas on plans for raised
gardens.

Hey, a fellow raised garden bed gardener here. I have 5 raised beds and
might add on this year. Mine are 8' x 10' x 8" and 8' x 20' x 20"; I
have 2 of the smaller beds and 3 of the deeper beds for a total of 5
beds. Last year was my first official year for raised bed although I
had smaller semi-raised beds in the past. Here's what I found on raised
beds from my experiences:

- raised bed take less room and less effort after they are established
- raised beds take less water yet provide better drainage
- productivity is increased significantly

I went organic and used the square foot method. The square foot method
works really well with raised beds.

They are lengths of 1" pipe. I used condiot brackets on the outside of the
beds and slip them down into those. I use 5 pipes for an 8" bed, use 3/4"
poly sprinkler pipe cut into about 2" lengths and split down the side as
clips to keep the plastic or netting on.

"Loki" wrote in message
...
il Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:55:51 -0800, "Bob Clark" ha scritto:

I'm in Spokane and use raised beds. Built them from 2x12's and put a 2x2
in
eaxh corner to screw into then had a load of dirt brought in to fill the
beds. They have worked great, last year I added PVC hoops to them and
made
mini-hothouses and was able to plant some of my veggies in early march
and
start with a first harvest by mid April.

What sort of PC hoops do you use? Specially made or just pipes? I

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

I'm not sure what you mean by conduit brackets. But I like your
system. I'm using clothes pegs at the moment. I'm just hopeful a
load of pipe will fall off a truck soon. ;-))


il Mon, 31 Jan 2005 11:34:14 -0800, "Bob Clark" ha scritto:

They are lengths of 1" pipe. I used condiot brackets on the outside of the
beds and slip them down into those. I use 5 pipes for an 8" bed, use 3/4"
poly sprinkler pipe cut into about 2" lengths and split down the side as
clips to keep the plastic or netting on.


What sort of PC hoops do you use? Specially made or just pipes? I

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Cheap is good, free is better... ]