Market Farming

[Allan Balliett <igg AT igg.com>]

> Thank you all for responding to the raised bed question.  I've been
> inspired!
>
> For those who make permanent raised beds, do you "box" them in with
> anything?  Wooden slats, concrete blocks, stone?

I gravitate to the 'chinese-style' raised beds. No boxes or frames. I 
found that , besides being expensive and labor intensive,  frames are 
undesireable because the area where the soil touches the frame 
becomes a hiding place for slugs and other undesireables - and it 
promotes the overwintering of many pests.

I set up several 'cut and come again' salad green gardens last 
summer. These essentially have custom soil mixes in them. I put these 
in scrap wood frames and pay special attention to keep the soil 
worked up when I see shrinkage near the frames. Frames can be nice 
because they make adding fixtures for cloches, etc to much easier.

However, in real biointensive raised bed work, we just 'lift' the 
soil up and work it until we have a nice, slightly concave planting 
surface.



> If you don't, what prevents them from eroding?

If your organic matter is where it is supposed to be, and the surface 
of the bed it kept open through proper cultivation, there s.b. no 
erosion.


> Also, how do you treat your pathways?  Do you mow them, mulch them, weed
> them, nuke them?

I'm dreaming of growing white clover in mine, Rose. Currently, they 
are feedbags covered by municipal woodchips.



> Rose
>
>
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