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  • From: Emery Mitchamore <emitch@att.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Garden plans
  • Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:47:22 -0500

One thing that I've never been satisfied with is the material to contain
raised beds. I know some people (who have actual "soil"), just mound the bed
up in the middle, with no structural sides, but I need to raise the bed more
than that. BTW, how high should beds be? Others use scrap lumber, but I
can't drive vertical posts to support the sides (6" to Limestone), and I'd
hate to rebuild it every few years. Most other materials, like RR ties
(poison!!) and stones (expensive - have to buy), make an unproductive border
of 6" or so.

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.net



On Jun 10, 2010, at 11:37 PM, Tradingpost wrote:

>
> Great details on my pet topic, raised beds. Or permanent beds as I like to
> call them. You have the background and knowhow to make comparing notes very
> useful. I don't make progress by being satisfied. Lots of people can grow;
> growing a lot in small spaces and growing well with a minimum investment of
> time and money is a whole nother matter.
>
> It's late for me but I have to get in a couple things on this. My beds are
> on a slight slope, stepping down to the east with beds running north and
> south. I left 2 1/2 feet between for room to kneel transplanting and move a
> wheelbarrow between. They're 3x8 with four foot aisles running east and
> west, room to turn a wheelbarrow around in. I level the beds surface so
> water will soak in evenly, with hay mulch applied after transplanting or
> seeds sprouting, and use soaker hoses in most beds on top of the mulch. It
> cuts watering from once a day to about once a week in the hottest weather
> (arid climate, 5000 elev), and just by connecting hoses to the soakers in
> sequence I can get other jobs done while the beds soak. Saving time on
> routine jobs is the name of the game. Without some system I couldn't grow
> enough beds to make two markets worthwhile. Hope we can get back to this.
> Sunup comes early now.
>
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
>
> On 6/9/2010 at 7:17 AM Don Bowen wrote:
>
>> I will be putting in a new garden at a house we are moving to in the
>> Ozarks. Right now between packing and tossing I am planning my new garden.
>>
>> I plan to do what I did in the last garden with some changes. I made
>> raised beds that were 4X16, aligned E-W, with 2' separation. The size
>> was fine, there was plenty of room in a bed and walking around was not
>> too bad. If I were to shrink the bed at all it would be by only a few
>> feet.
>>
>> The major problem was alignment, there was a N-E slope to the land, one
>> bed was at grade while th opposite corner was 24" above grade. If I
>> were to do it again I think I would follow the contour of the land.
>> Where I am thinking of a garden location the ground is mostly flat.
>>
>> Next major problem was the 2' between beds. That was not enough for
>> some vine plants and working between beds. I would dump shredded xmas
>> trees on the paths to control weeds and that worked well. I think the
>> next garden will have 3' between beds and 4' between the ends.
>>
>> I also ran water to one corner of each bed and will do the same next
>> time around. I bought a shop sink at a garage sale and installed that
>> in one corner, very handy. One thing I always wanted to do was to build
>> a garden shed, a small space to store stuff with a small porch along the
>> front to provide a nice place to stop and watch the rain.
>>
>> I think the first step will be to till up a space for the bed. I do not
>> really know the soil there but I do know it has a lot of rocks. Once it
>> is tilled I would like to pay out the cardboard and build beds around
>> that. Put in some good soil, rotted sawdust, and manure to hold the
>> cardboard in place then plant some sort of cover crop. That would be a
>> good time to build the first fence for the chicken moat and let the
>> chickens have their way with the beds.
>>
>> The garden shed will be a long term project. I want to replace the well
>> shed as an early project. I have plans to make it a garden shed for
>> mower storage and the like. There will be an insulated box at one end
>> for the pressure tank and well head. I want to experiment with solar
>> heating and rain catchment with this little shed. In the box will be
>> water storage for rain collection and the south end will have a
>> collection box with one side Polycarbonite. The idea is that the sun
>> will heat air in the collection box which in turn will heat the rain
>> water as heat storage.
>>
>> --
>> Don Bowen KI6DIU
>> http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html
>>
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>
>
>
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