Market Farming

[Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>]

Rose,

Glad we have inspired you.

Rose & Fred Lieberman wrote:

> For those who make permanent raised beds, do you "box" them in with
> anything?  Wooden slats, concrete blocks, stone?

I don't have "containers" for the beds. I rake them into a slight arc across 
the bed.
This gives them a physical stability after tillage- keeps them from 
collapsing due to
hydraulic pressure (slumping) during a hard rain. The soil life builds a 
permanent
structure over time that resists this.

Also, without the material around the edges, you can plant right up to the 
edge of the
bed without restricting the growth and production of the edge plants. with 
edging, you
want to plant back away from the edge because the soil will shrink and there 
is usually
an air space there and roots won't grow on the edge.

Another advantage is that this curved bed has a greater surface area than a 
flat top bed.
You get about a 10% increase in surface area. I've had some students question 
if this is
significant enough to mess with. My answer is to ask them to send me 10% of 
their
paychecks, since production equals paycheck for farmers.

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

The low slope across the bed doesn't give the water enough energy (slow 
moving) to carry
soil with it. But, the physical structure from proper tillage, followed by 
the structure
built by the soil life, allows all the rainfall to soak into the soil, not 
run off. The
only erosion we've ever had was when we got 2" of rain in 1 hour and over 6" 
(My gauge
was topped off) in 8 hours the same day. We lost about 1 foot length off the 
ends of 2
beds from water movement down a sloped path. Our soil conservation agent was 
here for a
meeting the next day and was amazed at the lack of erosion. She signed on at 
that point
to support our workshops.

And the paths- we go over them on a regular basis with a collinear hoe- about 
5 minutes
to circle a bed- on a regular basis. When I could get free pine needles we 
used those to
mulch.

I hope this clears up some confusion. BTW, I'm not a bed purist. I have 
reached the
conclusion that some crops are easier in rows.

Happy Growing,
Alex