[permaculture] Walls for raised garden beds

Keith Johnson keithdj at mindspring.com
Mon Apr 6 21:46:33 EDT 2009


I too have been using basically permanent raised beds for at least 30 
years for all the reasons listed. I rarely use constructed walls though 
most of the suggestions for materials seem quite reasonable and 
practical for many circumstances. In the heavy clay soils that I have 
presently raised beds mean the difference between getting crops in early 
or waiting for the "swamp" to drain. I just took a bunch of pix of the 
garden during a heavy rain yesterday. If it wasn't for the contour 
raised beds my crops would have washed away.
Keith

Golden Love wrote:
> Brad Lancaster, in his book "Rainwater Harvesting," explains how creating
> earthworks to harvest rain in arid regions like the Western US is an
> efficient way to water. I am also using this idea to water my fruit trees
> and other crops (excluding baby salad greens that are close to the surface)
> with graywater. 
>
> I have been using raised beds for over 25 years and this is a big change for
> me....it really makes sense. John Jeavons was the first person to get me
> going on that path.
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Walls for raised garden beds
>
> Raised beds can help you get two weeks (or more) from each end of the
> growing season.
>
> They can also help you to create micro climates.
>
> Raised beds are extra, extra good for those that have soil that is too wet.
> Or for those with no soil at all!
>
> Raised beds help you to have a planting area that nobody ever walks on and
> compacts - thus having exceptionally fryable soil without tilling and
> without tilling, you can accumulate soil structure and OM.
>
> I think if we tried, we could probably come up with two dozen reasons to
> have raised beds - this is just what popped into my head this moment.
>
> I guess the moral of the story is that the one time work pays you back for
> decades into the future.
>
> Can you think of a time when it isn't worth it?  I've heard that in some
> super hot places, they actually do the opposite:  trench gardening.

-- 

Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
(812) 335-0383
- Permaculture Activist <http://www.permacultureactivist.net/>
- Permaculture Trading Post <http://www.permaculturetradingpost.com/>
- Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting 
<http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html>
- Permaculture & Regenerative Design News Blog 
<http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/>
- APPLE (Alliance for Post-Petroleum Local Economics) It's a small world 
after oil. <http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington>

- Transition Indiana <http://transitionindiana.blogspot.com/> - Blog 
<http://transitionindiana.blogspot.com/>

- Transition Bloomington <http://transitionbloomingtonind.ning.com/>
- Association for Regenerative Culture <http://www.arculture.org/>
- The Gardeners' World Blog <http://theecosystem.blogspot.com/>
- Renaissance Farm and Permaculture Center 
<http://bloomingtongrowers.locallygrown.net/growers/show/212>
- Bloomington Permaculture Growers Cooperative 
<http://bloomingtongrowers.locallygrown.net/>
- Bloomington Permaculture Guild Blog 
<http://bloomingtonpermacultureguild.blogspot.com/> - Calendar 
<http://my.calendars.net/bloomingtonpccal/>
- Continental Bioregional Congress Blog 
<http://bioregional-congress.blogspot.com/>
- Switch to Solar Power the Easy Way 
<http://www.jointhesolution.com/KeithJ-SunPower>




More information about the permaculture mailing list