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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

My beds are various sizes.  I started out with 4'x16', then went to 3'
width beds to make it even easier.  I used old metal siding, pretty
thick gauge of steel, which I cut to length with a sawzall. I used scrap
pieces of 4x4 that came from construction debris nearby, and using a
chainsaw, sharpened up one end.  Then, using a sledgehammer, I drove in
the 4x4 spikes on the corners and the middle.  We thought about screwing
the siding into the 4x4's, but since the 4x4's were just driven in and
not in cement, we decided to use the air nailer instead.  So, the siding
is toe-nailed to the 4x4's.  It took me about 10 minutes to drag the
siding close to the workshop, 5 minutes to setup the drop cords and get
the sawzall ready, about 20 minutes to cut it to length(measure twice,
cut once), about 5 minutes to crank the chainsaw, 2 minutes to make
stakes of the 4x4's, 10 minutes to move the compressor and hook up the
nailer, and about 5 minutes to nail it together.
I had the wire for the bottom(to prevent moles and voles), so I laid it
in there(another 5 minutes), then about a week of picking up rocks to
weight the wire, adding drainage.  Add a day of picking up sticks and
windfall limbs, toting them over on a tarp(jumping up and down on them
to break them to lay flat)...Then I started raking up waste hay from the
pasture-all the stuff near the hayring, including horse poop which took
maybe another week.  Then prepared compost on the top-another week of
shoveling and hauling. I usually put a thin layer of mulch on the top,
too. Now, every chance I get, I just top off the beds with whatever I
think it needs...cut grass, rabbit poop, garden spoils, old plants and
suckers, waste hay, compost, shredded paper and newspaper, kitchen
compost, etc. etc.  Everything composts in place in layers.  I was
pleasantly surprised to find an earthworm near the surface of one of my
newest beds this past summer, approximately 2 feet above grade.
My oldest bed is 3 years old now, and while it needs more fill right
now, the broccoli in that bed is awesome looking.  I have onions in
another bed.
Since the beds are better than knee high, it makes it easy to tent them
to protect things from the cold, or to water them, or to fertilize them.
 I take fencing and bend it into a curved halfpipe and sit that over the
top of the beds and that keeps out stray chickens or turkeys or whatever
might decide that my plants look like lunch.

Bev

waayupnorth wrote:
> Bev wrote:
>
> "In my monster raised beds(2.5 feet tall sides made of metal 
> siding/roofing)..."
>
> Bev, how do you keep the metal walls in place? Are the opposite walls
> tied together somehow?
>
> Jerry NW MN
>
>
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--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.