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market-farming - Re: One (or 2) more questions...Re: Permanent 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: One (or 2) more questions...Re: Permanent Raised Beds
  • Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2000 12:19:15 -0500


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






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