Raised Beds

[Homesteader33]

Ok so I have been looking for a design for raised beds and have told you all I would post some pics when I got one done, her it is!

We used thin tin but supported it vertically in the back of the "L" every 3 feet, in the front it is more like 42 inches between vertical supports. With the thickness of the tin (or thinness rather) the 42" sections did bow slightly when it was filled with dirt and watered thoroughly but not enough to be concerned about to me. I will use more screws on the next one to see if that alleviates that slight bowing. Each leg of the bed measures 12 feet long from the back corner and 3 feet wide, the top is covered with a treated 2" x 6".

We are going to use a gravel road mesh and place the mesh around the bed and then cover the ground with small river pebbles. We will probably have a truckload of river gravel brought in and dumped once we put the road mesh down and spread it with my tractor.

 

[Dutchs]

That's VERY COOL! Nice work 33. Very impressive. I would be very interested in seeing your progression growing stuff in them!

 

[Amish Heart]

Fancier than the stock tanks I drilled holes in and put on blocks. Very nice. It'll save your knees!

 

[Homesteader33]

That's VERY COOL! Nice work 33. Very impressive. I would be very interested in seeing your progression growing stuff in them!

I will keep this updated, I am a little concerned about the strawberries we put in there they were not the best looking roots and may have been bad already. Time will tell!

 

[Meerkat]

. Good job. But won't it get really hot?

 

[Terri9630]

. Good job. But won't it get really hot?

It would here but further north it may be helpful.

 

[Homesteader33]

. Good job. But won't it get really hot?

well i hope not, this is something we will be monitoring. They are in a part of my yard so they wont get much late afternoon sun but this is something we will be watching.

 

[Caribou]

well i hope not, this is something we will be monitoring. They are in a part of my yard so they wont get much late afternoon sun but this is something we will be watching.

If this becomes a problem get a rattle can of high gloss white paint and paint the metal. Alternate, put a white panel on the outside with a gap at the top and bottom for circulation.

 

[Meerkat]

well i hope not, this is something we will be monitoring. They are in a part of my yard so they wont get much late afternoon sun but this is something we will be watching.

I'm sure you know what your doing and it sure does look neat.

 

[dademoss]

Very nice, My garden has bed envy

 

[Homesteader33]

I'm sure you know what your doing and it sure does look neat.

Not sure if I would say that but if I find out I don't know what I am doing I will for sure learn from it and share here!

 

[Meerkat]

Got behind this year ,many reasons.
So just threw some seed into one end of raised beds in late April.

 

[Homesteader33]

OK so I am late updating this but and this pic is from about a month or two ago, the bed on the left was zuchinni and the right is strawberries but we put some basil and other herbs in there until the fill in. Well they have filled in too, I will get a updated photo and post it. Zuchinni performed excellent, no heat issues and no lack of moisture issues. The strawberries are spreading like wildfire to the point I have began to pull/pluck runners in some areas. We will be building a lot more of these in the future, the Mrs loves them! Ignore the mess around my barn, I just added 30' in width using that lumber stacked there. That's my puppy there to, he is part wolf/siberian husky and he's my buddy.

 

[Meerkat]

OK so I am late updating this but and this pic is from about a month or two ago, the bed on the left was zuchinni and the right is strawberries but we put some basil and other herbs in there until the fill in. Well they have filled in too, I will get a updated photo and post it. Zuchinni performed excellent, no heat issues and no lack of moisture issues. The strawberries are spreading like wildfire to the point I have began to pull/pluck runners in some areas. We will be building a lot more of these in the future, the Mrs loves them! Ignore the mess around my barn, I just added 30' in width using that lumber stacked there. That's my puppy there to, he is part wolf/siberian husky and he's my buddy.View attachment 9078

Homestead, your place is beautiful and the beds look like they worked great.:green man:

 

[Homesteader33]

Homestead, your place is beautiful and the beds look like they worked great.:green man:

Thank you Meerkat, lot of work...never ending!

 

[Sewingcreations15]

@Homesteader33 those garden beds look fabulous and a lot of work has gone into them. This will be something we will do when we buy our own home as we are going to move to mostly raised garden beds.

This is a similar design to what we were thinking of doing so it gives us some insight on how to build them.

 

[Homesteader33]

@Homesteader33 those garden beds look fabulous and a lot of work has gone into them. This will be something we will do when we buy our own home as we are going to move to mostly raised garden beds.

This is a similar design to what we were thinking of doing so it gives us some insight on how to build them.

We used landscape timbers instead of 4x4's since they are about 40% of the cost of a 4x4 and serve the purpose. Cost of the 'L' shaped beds is around $400 because we bought the dirt in bags and we bought dirt specifically designed for raised beds to aid in moisture retention. We had to do some cutting on the tin but when I cut it I cut it so I could roll it inward to help prevent grass/roots from growing into the beds. Once I put the sides on we put a wire mesh in the bottom and covered it with weed block then put cardboard on top of the weed block before adding the logs/large branches. We then put logs from the ground that were dead fall in our back 40, we then put some dirt (clay) on top of that but the top 14-18" of dirt is from bags.

So in reality I guess they are kind of a hugelkulture bed but it is contained instead of free on all sides like most hugelkulture beds.

 

[joel]

Looks good.
My raise beds are double dug & at ground level.
They are 25 feet X 4 feet.
I know this is old school organic gardening from OGM, but that the way I learned as a teenager.
But the answer is does it work for you, if so go for it.
I did wire mesh for a friend's raised bed & it worked well.

 

[Homesteader33]

The plan for this year is to build several of these style beds, we will need a lot at this height and we will need some at a lower height. The taller ones for shorter crops like onions, garlic, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, radish, herbs, melons, etc.. the taller ones for taller crops like tomatoes, peppers, etc. We are going to build 3 short height beds for blueberry plants, 2 beds will be 20 feet in length and one will be 27 feet in length, height will be about 12-16" tall from ground level and 3 feet wide. There will be an 8 foot gap between these beds that will be in a line so we can get in between them easily with the side by side and these beds we intend to place 14 blueberry bushes in these 3 beds.

I am also considering planting a row of junipers to be a wind fence for this area since raised beds make plants more susceptible to wind damage by raising them off the ground. Also the soil in the raised beds is much less compact than the surrounding soil so it will not support them as much especially before they get good roots.

The end goal is to have the long beds with blueberries as mentioned above along with 6 beds that are 8 x 3 feet and 6 beds that are 12 x 3 feet. Once we get these built we will reassess and see if we need additional beds from there. I will pop in this thread and update as we move forward, between feeding cows, working on broken stuff on the homestead and traveling from work please be patient!

 

[Caribou]

I should be able to get a ton of wood chips for free from the power line clearing crews. Any input about using this as a deep bottom layer for raised beds?

 

[joel]

I should be able to get a ton of wood chips for free from the power line clearing crews. Any input about using this as a deep bottom layer for raised beds?

Good for you!
I think it should be a 2-4 inch mulch,maybe deeper if you have a lot of chips.
The mulch will need to be in a no till bed to keep the micros happy, but you could remove them to till.
But that a lot of trouble, so most gardener do not till.

https://www.reformationacres.com/2014/05/5-things-you-should-know-about-wood-chip-mulch.html

 

[Homesteader33]

Only concern with the chips is the dirt level will decrease when these start to decompose, other then that I think it is a great idea! I have piles of chips hanging out around here, they turn to the best dirt ever after about 3-4 years. However after 3-4 years the pile is 1/3 the size so make sure you plan for that! One of our beds has strawberries and i Intend to leave them there so adding depth afterward may be difficult. We are also going to make some of these beds for asparagus so adding to it afterward may be difficult. We intend to add a 2" layer of composted manure/chip mix every year to add to the beds. This is an experiment in progress here!

 

[Homesteader33]

I will post this as an update, sorry for already putting it in another thread.

This is a 20 foot X 42" bed we planted 6 blueberry bushes in, started 2 more 12' X 42" beds today should finish them tomorrow hopefully then I will post some more pics. I will also take a pic of the strawberry bed as they came back from wintering in the raised bed.

To answer a previously asked question, heat has not been a problem in the beds and we are in Central/eastern TN. Moisture has never been a problem either but we used a dirt specially for raised beds and moisture retention.

 

[joel]

Got behind this year ,many reasons.
So just threw some seed into one end of raised beds in late April.

[/Q

This what I call a raised bed, I have one that about 12 inches high, that I double dug added the top soil from the path between the beds.
I then mulched the path to start rebuilding the soil on the path.
I have had them 40 inches wide & 20 inches high, but they never stay that high, in a few years they work down to about 14 inches.
This is because I do not use a high frame with metal, that looks like a container to me.
I want a asparagus bed or strawberry patch look, I guess I am old school, like Organic Garden Mag. in the 70,s & 80,s.

 

[Meerkat]

Joel that looks good,and whatever works is always good.:green man:

 

[Homesteader33]

Strawberry bed taken today

this is the new bed in front of the blueberry bed, one is finished but not filled yet we will fill them when we get the second one done.

 

[Meerkat]

Looks good.
My raise beds are double dug & at ground level.
They are 25 feet X 4 feet.
I know this is old school organic gardening from OGM, but that the way I learned as a teenager.
But the answer is does it work for you, if so go for it.
I did wire mesh for a friend's raised bed & it worked well.

Joel so are our raised beds on the most part 4X25'.

 

[Homesteader33]

The third bed on the right the posts are set now, the bed on the left is planted with Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach and leaf lettuce. the middle bed is planted with watermelons. Bed in the back is the blueberry bush bed (6 bushes) with onion, radish and chives planted between the bushes. The third bed will have zucchini planted in it when it is completed, still need 2 more tall beds and I need to build some shorter beds for okra, tomatoes and peppers. Also going to build 3 more 20 foot long beds for raspberry, asparagus and blackberries.
Edited to correct spelling error! Oops

 

[Homesteader33]

The plan for this year is to build several of these style beds, we will need a lot at this height and we will need some at a lower height. The taller ones for shorter crops like onions, garlic, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, radish, herbs, melons, etc.. the taller ones for taller crops like tomatoes, peppers, etc. We are going to build 3 short height beds for blueberry plants, 2 beds will be 20 feet in length and one will be 27 feet in length, height will be about 12-16" tall from ground level and 3 feet wide. There will be an 8 foot gap between these beds that will be in a line so we can get in between them easily with the side by side and these beds we intend to place 14 blueberry bushes in these 3 beds.

I am also considering planting a row of junipers to be a wind fence for this area since raised beds make plants more susceptible to wind damage by raising them off the ground. Also the soil in the raised beds is much less compact than the surrounding soil so it will not support them as much especially before they get good roots.

The end goal is to have the long beds with blueberries as mentioned above along with 6 beds that are 8 x 3 feet and 6 beds that are 12 x 3 feet. Once we get these built we will reassess and see if we need additional beds from there. I will pop in this thread and update as we move forward, between feeding cows, working on broken stuff on the homestead and traveling from work please be patient!

Change in plans above we decided to go with one 20 foot bed for blueberries for now and taller crops will have shorter beds with the side walls near 18". With the drop from the 18" to soil level this should be sufficient for tomatoes, okra, peppers and the like. Instead of 8 foot long beds we decided the shortest beds will be 12' since the tin comes in 12 foot lengths, we also decided a 10 foot gap between rows so we can get the compact tractor in between when we need to mulch, add compost and we can also get the polaris general in between rows for ease of harvesting. We will cover around all the raised beds with road mix gravel to help eliminate/drastically reduce weed growth.

Junipers as a wind break...decided against that since they are the prime source of rust spores that pass to fruit trees/bushes. Thank goodness I accidentally found this out because my apple trees were getting rust and I went to the local ext. office and they came out and told me it was most likely from a huge cedar tree that is 300-400 feet from my apple trees. I was going to create a huge problem all on my own!

 

[Homesteader33]

Here are some photos of the beds once I removed about 8" of roots/soil around and then filled back in with 'crush run' gravel. I did this to eliminate weeding, mowing or trimming around the beds. Getting ready to build 3 more 12' beds and that should put all of our garden except corn in beds. I will also eventually build 3 more 20 foot long beds for asparagus, muscadine and raspberries. I will make the area around all the beds gravel like this to make life easier.

The one photo shows how I have adapted a raised bed Hugelkultur style, this helps retain moisture and the wood will rot below the root zone so it won't starve nitrogen at least it has worked so far. At least that is my story and I am sticking to it! It has worked well for us for the 3 years we have been using this type of bed and it is easier on the back!

Edited to add this: I fill to about an inch above the wood I put in the bed then water it very well to let it soak into the nooks and cranny's then the top 12" of soil that goes into the beds is soil specifically for raised beds to help retain moisture, organic of course. That is the spendy part of it all is the soil, it's $8 per 2 cu ft bag and each bed takes about 10-12 bags per bed. We use compost to add to it but we don't have that much compost to do the initial fill, we probably could use composted manure if I didn't spread it on my fields for fertilizer. Composted manure is cheaper than field fertilizer at $325 per ton, so buying raised bed soil is cheaper than the 3-4 ton of fertilizer I didn't need for my fields and I prefer composted manure over chemical fertilizer anyways.