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market-farming - Re: Raised Beds

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  • From: Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Raised Beds
  • Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 17:11:00 -0400


I have 65 double dug beds. They're "raised" from the addition of air
space in the soil from the hand tillage (not by the addition of more
soil or compost).

I raked these into slightly rounded mounds for the physical stability to
resist them collapsing due to hydraulic pressure from any heavy
rainfall. The addition of finished compost and managing the soil water
has resulted in the soil life building an excellent structure which
resists erosion and hydraulic slumping. The slopes on the sides of the
beds must be gentle or excess water from heavy rain will run off the bed
fast enough to take topsoil with it. This design of raised beds works
well with a hand based agriculture.

There are a couple of disadvantages to using material to contain a
flat-top raised bed. The main one being that you can't plant along the
very edges of this kind of bed- soil drying out along the border will
shrink, a crack will open up and the roots will have no room and be
killed when exposed to too much air. Another disadvantage is the time
and expense of material to contain the beds.

An advantage of sided beds is that they're easier to work in- not as
much bending and/or squatting.

For raised beds with a tractor, use a bed former after tillage to shape
them- I would make the sides a 45 degree angle. A farmer in Georgia has
mounted plates for a bed former on the back of his spader to shape as he
goes- one pass. Another farmer in Indiana uses a tool bar with tines to
cultivate and has a pair of discs mounted at the bed width to cut and
shape the edges as he cultivates.

Judy & Ernie Duckworth wrote:

> List What would be the best way the build permanent raised bed.

--
Alex McGregor
Walden Farm






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