What to fill my raise beds with?

Hello, my sweet husband just built 2 great raise beds that I need to fill up with compost. I got some seedlings already started and need to plant my cucumbers ASAP. My question is how to cheaply fill the beds, I kind of want to keep it organic, I was wondering what would be the best mix. Also I read about the lassagne gardening method and it looks interesting, have any of you tried it, and if so is there good results? Thanks. Carmen

Carmen: Watching this thread curiously, as I'm going to be making an above ground bed myself out of concrete blocks, stacked two high. I want it deep for asparagus, onions, beets, and plan on planting some carrots in there too.
joy

Hi Joy, that sounds great! Mine are made of yellow pine definetely not as strong as concrete but it will definetely do for us, they are actually 18 1/2 inches tall, I too want to grow carrots, beets etc... I love asparagus but my husband hates them so I wont be doing any of that. Hopefully I'll have some answers soon. My idea was to do some sort of lasagne method, I wanted to place some cardboard boxes all flattened up on the bottom and get them extremely moist, I was told that worms love wet cardboard, then alternate manure with some sort of straw and also peat moss, but I am not sure if this method will work or not. I have some worm compost ready but I will have to add that once I am ready to plant my seedlings. I just purchased a composter as well but it will be a while before I get homemade compost ready for the garden.

carminator: I was going to plant asparagus; but, then started reading up on it, and decided it wasn't for me where I am, I notice you are in Pensacola? Let me know how yours turns out neighbor ok? I'm in Crestview! 65 miles from you. That lasagne idea sounds great, can you explain it all to us? That cardboard thing sounds good and I can probably get cardboard really easily, maybe weed cloth then cardboard on top of that? The cukes are all going the end of this month to make room for my pumpkins, as my melons probably won't be done til September. I gave away 2 cherry tomato plants today also (both chocolate cherry), gave my bigger tomatoes more elbow room, now if I can just find another garage sale table I'll be happy.
joy

Joy I think from what I'v read it best to put cardboard in direct conntact with the soil..Esay acees for worms..

Tubby

Yes Joy, the cardboard has to be in contact with the soil, it will eventually deteriorate, and be composted into the earth. About 5 years ago I built a smaller raised bed in my small townhouse using the square foot gardening method, he does recomend the weed cloth in the bottom so that way you don't have to be pulling weeds out all the time, funny thing is that I got weeds regardles, they always make it to the box. I started reading books and looking in You tube and I believe that if you want a good population of worms in your box you have to leave the weed fabric out and just place the cardboard, unless you want to purchase the worms on the internet and then you can add them yourself to the box. There is a book that will explain the lasagna method it is called: Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding! by Patricia Lanza, I do not own it but wish I did. All the info that I am getting from this method I am getting through you tube, you just have to type lassagna gardening and you will have tons of videos regarding the subject. Some people go as far as placing vegetable matter in the beds and then putting cow manure or compost on top so it eventually deteriorates. Yesterday I went to my raised beds and started to take the grass underneath off so I only have the soil exposed, I found about 20 ugly grubs underneath the grass so I know I will have some problems with those in the future. I don't think this is necesary in the lasagna method but I wanted to see what type of soil I had underneath plus I wanted to give the beneficial worms an easier access to the box, but we will see. I also ordered over the internet Kelp meal, Bone meal, Fish meal , this way once I fill the boxes up I can give it a little boost with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potasium, this are all organic methods of how to amend your soil. Something else I read is you can plant a cover crop of legumes in your bed wait for the legumes to grow but don't let the flowers to form, once the leggumes plants are big you can chop them and mix them with your soil, this is what is called green manure, leave it for a couple of weeks, place a clear plastic on top of your raise bed for the green to decompose faster then take the plastic off, wait a day or so for the soil to cool a little and plant your vegetables. Since I only have 2 beds right now I will wait to do this part until my husband builds me a couple of more beds, then I will probably alternate this method, I will plant in my 2 beds then do the legume method in my other 2 and just alternate it. Hope this helps a little. :)

Carminator: That is why I'm not into the worm farming, grubs I don't have right now and don't want, cause when you get those, you get moles and voles and then you have a problem. All I want is a garden with as few pests as possible, a dream that is an impossibility I know . LOL I just know it seems impossible for the root veggies to grow in EBs and HEBS and the reason for the weedcloth just isn't weeds but in FL we have nematoids also and they stunt the growth of root veggies.

I was planning on lying ply wood down on the floor of my greenhouse and in some spots in the yard where I plant cukes in my EBs and melons and pumpkins in my lay flat coconut coir bags. That way they have a clean area to sprawl on once I cover it with weed cloth or a tarp.

I think maybe I might consider using a mixture of jungle grow and coconut coir in the raised bed and adding compost and manure to it along with lots of dolomite lime and epsom salts and some fertilizer, from what I'm reading they are suggesting 20-20-20 for some of the veggies and ammonium sulfate. With me being new to gardening, all I can do is read and go by what others suggest. I've read where worms do keep the soil loose and that enhances things for the veggies and flowers; but, grubs like worms and moles and voles love grubs, so that is a continuous cycle you can get yourself into there that I'm not sure if my inexperience would be able to handle right now. LOL I'm going nuts with the birds and the bad bugs, lately. Have thought about lady bugs and praying mantis' and also getting something to attract bees to the yard; but other than that I don't think I want to jump too far out there yet.
joy

Carminator1,
I did this last fall with a small root bed I planted the week of Thanksgiving (turnips, beets, carrots, and some lettuce).

I had a very small homemade compost pile that had broken down over the course of the previous year. It was made up of grass and leaf clippings, confetti shredder paper I get by the bagful from my job, spent coffee grinds I also get from the coffee bar at work, and my veggie peels. I started layering with the shredder paper, then alternated the grass, leaves, coffee grinds, more shredder paper, sprinkling in each layer with the hose spray. Then, I pulled a few trenches (about 10-12" deep) open from the front to the back of the pile and tossed in my veggie peels. I covered the trenches back and patted them down, making sure all the peels were buried deep in the trenches, so no scraps or smells could escape. This is what attracts rodents/small foraging animals. Then, a final watering in.

Started out with a few scrawny worms, and ended up with prize-winning beauties (if there were prizes being given!)

When I did the little root bed, I too was looking for a cheap, organic way to fill it for my root crops. Voila! I started the bed with a layer of newspaper to block the weeds/grass (like you would do with your cardboard), Then, I got a sheet of 1/4-1/2" wire mesh screen and SIFTED all the compost from the pile right into the root bed! Sifting caught all the branches, rocks and material that wasn't completly broken down yet. This went back into the pile for additional breakdown.

That veggie bed was BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, with finely rich organic matter that looked like flaked Folgers Coffee! I supplemented the organic compost with 2 bags of Miracle Grow potting MIX (never soil or dirt!!!!), and 2 bags of Black Kow Composted Manure. The material was very fast draining, too. I built the bed with a gentle slope from front to back, so water would not pool around the plants, but drained away to the back of the bed, which was a simple square, outlined by two layers of bricks.

Once the compost and amendments were all mixed in, I sowed my seeds for the turnips, carrots, lettuce and beets, and kept the bed moist for the next two weeks or so, until the seeds sprouted. I had beautiful veggies in that bed!

One word: I did run into a problem with pillbugs and other tiny crawlies teeming in that bed and once the seedlings took off and the leaves started growing, the pillbugs liked to munch on my greens. I've since inquired and have been advised that pillbugs only munch on organics that have not completely broken down (duh...) and don't usually attack the plants. Evidently, my pillbugs didn't read that part, cause they tore up my turnip tops and my bell pepper leaves!

I've been advised that Sluggo Plus will take care of the pillbugs in the compost pile. I am getting ready to repeat this whole process in that small veggie bed. From what I learned last time here's what I will do differently, for my next fall sowing:

1) Expand the length of the bed and decrease the width, so I can reach the plants from all sides (it was too wide)

2) Expand the depth a bit more. I had about 8-10" depth. Will go to a foot minimum and build up the sides. I may use a simple lumber frame, simply standing up some 1 or 2 x 12 boards braced with short lengths of rebar pounded into the ground. This is quick, easy, and effective, especially if I need to reposition the bed for some strange reason. Easy put up, easy take down!

3) Add the Sluggo Plus immediately after putting in all the filler, but before I sow the seeds, to handle the pillbugs and crawlies

4) Lay CHICKEN WIRE on top of the veggie bed after I sow my seeds to deter CATS! who see this wonderful, empty box and think it's their litter box! They don't like walking on the chicken wire and it makes them not want to scratch the soil. The seedlings can grow up through the chicken wire. Also, I will COVER the bed with an additional sheet of wire to keep the CATS! off the soil altogether, until the seedlings start to come up through the chicken wire laying on the soilbed.

5) Plant the seeds a bit deeper. My turnips grew almost on TOP of the soil, and the roots didn't go deep enough.

6) THIN, THIN, THIN, those root crops to the recommended growing spaces! Beets and carrots were entirely TOO crowded, and could've gotten a lot larger had they been spaced properly.

Keep me posted on your progress. I'll be watching this tread.

Here's a picture of my little veggie bed.

Linda
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This message was edited Jul 15, 2009 11:31 AM

Wow Linda, your beggie beds are so beautiful! Thank you for posting this, it is great and encouraging to see that this method seems to work, at first I was a little taken back by it, but after reading various books, posts, you tube etc... I think this is the way to go. I did end up in Lowes this past weekend though and bought some composted cow manure, organic soil and peat moss, I was trying to get some free horse or cow manure in my area but since I am new I did not know where to go or turn, so when I saw that Lowes had some manure and organic compost for $1.40 per bag of 40 lbs I could not resist. I did get some free cofee grounds for starbucks though. So far I only have laid the cardboard boxes down ( this were from our move to Mobile) then I 've place some grass clippings, last sunday I mowed the grass so I decided to put it in my boxes instead of in my Biostack composter, then I am thinking of putting some compost and some manure, then cofee grounds then peat moss and then adding more compost and manure. I am thinking of buying some straw as well but I am not sure just yet. I have started some tomato, peppers and cucumber seeds indoors, the cucumbers really need to be planted out soon but the peppers and tomatoes have a while to go, I am hoping maybe by the end of August I'll be able to plant them outside. I do have some worm compost that I will use once I plant all the veggies outside. I do have a question though, I have some red wigglers that my husband bought me last year for my birthday, if I was to place a couple of them in my raise beds will they die or will they reproduce and make more castings? I am not sure if red wigglers are the type of worms you usually see outside or not.

Thanks

Carmen

Carminator1,
A worm is a worm is a worm! Although, I have been told that your red wigglers will work the compost faster than my regular old garden-variety earthworms. But, I still love my SLOW earthworms. They're doing what I ask them to do!

Looks like you're right on track with what you bought. Just put a border around your bed, mix it all in and water it down. I think you bought the same 40lb bag of manure from Lowe's that I did. $1.40/bag was the right price!

You're good to go. Now, get to it!

Zone 8a should be good to go for a 2nd crop (fall season), so you're burning daylight! Stop thinking about it, and DO it!

Here's another pic for you. A simple box design of a raised bed. Just screw the ends together and brace the sides with either some stakes or steel rebar, to keep them from bowing out from the weight of the mix.

(PIC is Property of AGGIE_GRL, all rights reserved. Thanks Aggie_Grl!)

Enjoy!

This message was edited Jul 15, 2009 2:00 PM

Thank you Linda.

Sometimes I do need the kick in the butt so I can start doing and stop thinking about it. :).
I am going to send you some pictures of my boxes as well, my DH build them out of yellow pine, so far I only have 2 but he intends to build me at least another one.

Carmen.

Welcome. Just call me Barnabas!

Good to see the trellis again, GG.

Did you get the EB frames made?

Gymgirl: those are some nice looking raised beds and I like your trellis too. That is fabulous, or should I call them a staking system?
joy

Its a bean trellis, Joy, and BubbaMOcity made it for me. One day soon it'll have beans all over it! No Bubba I haven't put it together yet. Getting close though. Been thinking about asking the DH to come sit out on the patio with a cool drink and just watch while I construct. If he could sit for moral support without saying anything that would be great. If I run into a snafoo then I'd ask for help. I think I mostly just need someone there while I build, and I could put the whole thing together by myself! Been running in from work getting my new potting area organized for the are sowing party I'm supposed 2 B having this weekend. Don't EVEN wanna think about trying to sow seeds in total disorganization! Have pulled out all the containers I'll use this fall. Still need 2 empty and clean out the EBs. But, making good steady progress. Have 20 tomato cuttings I'm babying through this July and August heat. If they make it through August, I should have a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes n the Thanksgiving table! Linda.

Linda: You are way ahead of me there. I just got my cheddar cauliflower seeds, spinach seeds and bio sponges today. I have a coconut coir for one starter kit left also. Have a freezer full of sliced peppers and okra already. Just one melon coming along though (groan). I have plenty seeds for everything else, except the broccoli, onions, beets and potatoes, those I will buy as plants from Ace's Hardware most likely. Bubba MOcity did an excellent job; but, so did you, hey I would give lots of moral support for you to do some of that great looking stuff in my yard too. LOL
joy

Thanks, Joy!

Wish I had the time to help you more, GG, but waaay to busy with existing projects. The farmhouse now has some projects scheduled into 2012 - lol.

I know you can do the assembly on your own. Just remember - safety first - then (it's only wood - if you mess up a board, you can always get more). The messed up piece WILL be used on some other project.

You saw my scraps and how handy they were.

BTW: I have an 8" tall basil going to seed - this heat and no rain - AARRGGGHHHH!!!

Bubba!
I went on a wood foraging mission yesterday evening, and I'VE GOT WOOD!

The interior of a vacant home just a few houses down from me was gutted, and the wood's been sitting out on the front lawn for weeks. I finally ran into some people yesterday evening who told me to just take what I wanted!

Well, my BIL happened to be at our house with his TRUCK, and some free time on his hands, since his FIL was busy with my DH working on hooking his new workroom up to the breaker box. Well, you know the rest of the story!

I got several great pieces of 2 x 12 to reconstruct the trellis bed, longer and narrower. I'm just gonna anchor the boards upright with rebar pounded into the ground.

I got a coupla 1 x 8? 10? to put together a work surface to do my potting. Could become a table.

I also got a bunch of 2 x 4 pieces, so the NEXT wooden cage ought to be relatively FREE!

And, 8 concrete squares for either borders or stepping stones!

It's been a GREAT week! Looking forward to the weekend!

Should be a bit cooler this weekend in Houston area - highest percentage of rain we have had in weeks.

Gymgirl: I'm gonna have to forage the neighborhood more often, I found a tall perfectly good wooden shelf out by the road, I stopped and knocked on the door and the guy said he was throwing it out and agreed to let me have it, and that was just 2 blocks from my house, I grabbed my neighbor and his truck and away I went, I am looking to make 2-3 yard sale tables out of it with just a quick chop here and quick chop there.

See:

Hi Linda:

Well the project is finished, finally filled the raised beds, and planted some veggies, I am so excited! I practically put about 30 bags of cow manure with organic compost the bags they sell I think at Home Depot for $1.40 per bag, then some cow manure ( Black Cow) really good stuff I can tell, then some mushroom compost, then some peat moss, some grass clippings and some coffee grounds, then I planted some cucumber plants that were outside hardening, they were not looking too good so I decided to move them to the raise beds. I dig holes and put some worm castings I had ready from my worm compost bins and place the little plants on top, then fill them up with dirt, then I watered the plants with some compost worm tea mixed with water. I've also planted from seed some Black seeded simpson, some mesclum salad, some chard, some kentuky wonder bush beans and some beets, I did leave some space for my tomato plants but they are not ready just yet.
Attached is a picture of my new beds.
PS: My husband is already thinking about building a 3rd bed and placing it in between the 2 beds.

Wow, Carmin!

All that from just a gentle nudge! Imagine what you'd have done if I had given you a swift kick!! Those boxes look great! Tell your DH he did a wonderful job.

Keep us posted on your growth progress.

Just a tip: If you don't already have one, please consider starting a garden journal to track your progress of what did and didn't work. Then you'll have a record for next time. And, you can share your findings with the rest of us.

Linda

Carmin: Those beds are beautiful and deep also, might I ask how much it cost to make them? And how deep are they and the measurements? My handyman is coming out Tuesday and I am thinking about planting more corn; pulling up the tomatoes that don't look so great and replanting some more tomatoes also. The tomatoes will go into the topsy's and hanging planters again and I might put the corn in the ground this time, that will be a big brave step for me. LOL
joy

Hi Joy:

Let's see, the raise bed dimentions are 8x12. I had my DH build them extra tall about 18 inches so I could plant rooted vegetables if I wanted. The beds are filled halfway with a mixture of caow manure, organic compost, peat moss, few grass clippings, coffee grounds. I was able to find bags of cow manure mixed with organic compost at home depot for $1.40 per bag, I ended up buying 30 bags, then 2 bag of peat moss, 2 of cow manure, 2 of mushroom compost, total price for all the bags are about $55-$60. The beds are made of yellow pine, I'll have to ask my husband how much he spent since he was the one who bought the lumber.

Carmen

Carmen: He did an excellent job, I like the depth also, I had wanted mine deep when I get around to having them made, for the same reason you had yours deep. Thanks for letting me have the dimensions and all.
joy

My Dh said that he spent about $60 for both they are made out of southern pine, the lumber is 2x10's. But you can really make them out of anything, brick, blocks, I've even seen some people use railroad ties, just don't use any treated wood as the chemicals will ruin your plants.
Hope you post a pic when you are done with your raise beds I would love to see them :).

Carmen: Wow, that is reasonable, I've been looking at the ones that are already built and they are too expensive for my pocketbook right now; but, that is really reasonable for these and they are fabulous with the depth and all. You be sure to post some pics when you get the plants in there ok?
joy

Sure will. Right now I 've just put some lettuce seed, some mesclum salad, beets, beans, swiss chard. Nothing happening just yet, I keep ckecking every day, I guess I am just impatient. :)

Hey Carminator! Here's what I've been up to.

Today I sifted a whole wheel barrow full of my homemade compost. It looks like flaked Folger's coffee! This is going in the new beds.

How gymgirl, that raise bed looks great! good job there. By the way what are you going to plant in your new raise bed.
My beds are doing good so far, the letttuce did not come out, I think I planted too early, they really like the cold weather better, my beans are already out but I have a catterpillat attack so today I sprayed them with BT, hopefully this will help kill those buggers. I also have little tiny swiss chard comming out as well, I thinned it today. My cucumbers are not doing so hot, the leaves are turning a little yellow, we've been having rain here in Mobile non stop for weeks, it rains everyday and I am not talking about a little drizzle but buckets of rain everyday. :( . I have some tomato plants that I am planning to set out in September, I am going to put it in the other raise bed and see how they do, they are not very big plants but I think I am going to take a risk otherwise I might not get any tomatoes before frost. I am going to have my DH build me another raise bed and put it in between the ones that I already have, I am planning to make that one my lettuce and greens raise bed. Please let me know how you do with your raise bed.

Hey Carmenator1! One bed will have purple top turnips, carrots, and romaine (hopefully) lettuce. The other will have chioggia beets and maybe some beans. Linda

Gymgirl: Please show us progress pics on the garden ok? I'm still a little shaky about starting one myself, thinking it is too much like real gardening, the EBs are simple and right now I want to keep it simple; but viewing your progress will help me lots in learning ok?
joy

Joy, I have 4 EB that I am planning on using as well this winter for my vegetable garden as well as my raise beds, it will be a great comparison to see wich one does the best.

carminator1: I will be watching closely especially with you being from where you are, you are close enough to be in the same weather zone, sorta, as I am, I'm an 8b, and the next state over, I could probably almost throw stones at the Alabama/FL border. LOL
joy

Hey, Carminator1 et al,
Here's the weekend progress report on those two beds. Don't have pics, cause it was late and looked like rain, so we had to cover the beds for protection from rain AND the cats. I'll take pics this evening.

Thanks to God, my handyman was standing on the curb when I pulled up from Church. When it was all over, he had finished filling the raised bed I started, filled the 2nd larger one, sifted my remaining compost, moved the excess soil into the now vacant compost pile, and the excess composted horse manure into a 40 gal container. Then we folded up all the tarps and cleaned up. 4 hours.

While he hauled soil, I retrofitted 6 buckets to the new one-bucket design and filled them with my homemade compost. These will be home to my cabbages, which love organic medium. I believe it took me 1-1/2 hours to construct and fill the buckets, as this was my 1st time. I had to lower the original bucket fill holes to the level of the top of the colander. The straw tipped upward otherwise. And, because I wanted a more centered growing space, I used scissors to cut the fill tube hole into the side of the colander so it sits closer 2 the side of the bucket. It was Sooooooooo nice to be able to pick up a single eBucket by the handle to move it!

Then I covered them with their lids and lined em up in the growing area, all ready for seedlings. This is going 2 B a very interesting growing season indeed! My only lament is not finding cheaper colanders. So far each eBucket costs $3 - $2 for the colander and $1 for the bucket lid. I'd like to get that down to $1-1.50/bucket since I estimate using at least 15-25 eBuckets this season. I can nix the lids by using plastic and Big Rubber Bands. Any suggestions on where to get $1 colanders in Houston would sure be appreciated.

Linda

Congrats Linda, please send us pictures so we can see them. As far as E bucket, I am clueless to waht this is.

My cover crop of mixed legumes is coming up great, I am hoping that in a couple of months I can chopped them down, and use them as green manure.

As far as m horse manure, I was supposed to go this Saturday to go pick it up but unfortunately it rained all Saturday and then Sunday we had friends over so I will have to pick it up some other time.

Linda: Please keep pics coming along with what you are doing ok? It helps us copy cats. LOL
joy