Raised bed questions.

Hello its been a long time since I posted anything, mainly due to the fact that this year has been a horrible year, growing wise. Thanks to Daves Garden I became hooked on vegetable gardening, and I have learned a lot. I decided to make a small vegetable garden in the back of my townhouse, since my space is limited it had to be a little one. Well I planted some beautiful tomato, cucumber, pepper, watermelon plants, I was able to raise them from seed thanks to my grow lights (last years Christmas gift). Once they were big enough I planted them outside in my new area ( which by the way I fenced so my dogs and other animals could not get in it) I thought I was all set, and that I was going to have so much produce that I would even have to give some away to friends,neighbors etc... like so many of my fellow gardeners here in DG. Boy was I wrong, I was only able to consume 4 big tomatoes from my bigger plants and not even a dozen of my little maters, the peppers did terrible and the watermelon only produced 2 melons, after all the $ and time spent I was almost going to give it up, thinking that I was just not good at it and that my thumb was definetely not green but brown, very brown. Anywho, after researching for months the only thing that I can think went wrong is the fact that my backyard does not get enough sun or perhaps not enough hours of sun. Since I live in a townhouse community I am kind of hesitant of planting anything up front where all the sun goes due to the fact that anybody could steal my precious veggies. Now my question is, I was thinking of putting a fence, a nice one that separates my property from the others , that way making it harder for anybody to steal veggies if I am to plant any up front. Also I was thinking about making some raised beds that way it would look nicer and neighbors don't complain. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a raise bed system, I have checked online and some of them go for $200 to $600 so my question is, Is there a way of making an inexensibe raise bed system? Also what are your imputs on raise beds, do they work good?

Any imput would be greatly appreciated.

Carmen

Carmen, I think raised beds are the best way to garden, they allow for excellent drainage, and they're easier to tend. I don't know what rocks cost in your area, but a bed outlined with big rocks, compost and soil added in the middle would work.

Thank you fly_girl:

I have some briks in the backyard, although I am debating whether I want to used them for the raise beds or whether I should buy some treated lumber and try to build it out of that material. I have heard that raised beds are the way to go when you have limited space like myself and also it makes the garden area nicer looking.

Thanks again for the info.

Carmen

I'd do some research before using treated lumber for a vegetable garden. I believe that the chemicals used to treat it are less dangerous than they used to be, and there's always been controversy as to whether those chemicals leach out into the ground or not, but - as I see it, it's putting poison very near my food, and if there's a controversy, I'm going to lean toward safety. There's also the issue of disposing of the scraps, sawdust, etc., all of which contain the poisons used to treat the wood. And someday there will be the issue of disposing of the wood.

If you do use it, I would make sure that you get the necessary data sheets, to ensure that you know how to work with it safely.

If it's just a bed or two, you could consider springing for redwood or that plastic wood stuff instead, or using the bricks. If those don't seem right, you could try just ordinary cheap wood and see how many years it lasts - we had raised beds last for four or five years before they really needed replacing.

But absolutely, I agree that the more sun you can get, the better, and that a raised-bed vegetable garden can look really, really nice.

Burnet

Carmen, since you are in Florida, where the heat and humidity will rapidily affect untreated lumber, I'd go with a cinder block frame for the raised beds. Treated lumber DOES leach chemicals into your soil. You can fill the holes of the cinder blocks with soil and plant herbs in them to surround your crop.

Carmen, you sound like a perfect candidate for square foot gardening!

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

It's a very excellent way of getting the most out of small spaces .. I used to grow veggies that way, its very simple, efficient and once its set up only takes a few minutes a day to maintain.

X

Thank you all so much for your imputs. Yes I think you might be right about treated wood, you never know how many quemicals they spray in the wood itself to prevent it from rooting away, I was also wondering about the plastic wood material, it looks like real wood but it is made of tough plastic and can last a lifetime, I just have to check the prices, I bet they are expensive. As far as cinder block goes, I don't have any, what I have is small red bricks the kind you use to build pathways or patios from, they are very nice but they are kind of small, my husband was hoping to use them in the future to build a patio in the backyard that way we can set the barbeque and a table with some chairs. Waterver I use has to be decent looking stuff that way neighbors can't complain. Also I am hoping to move out of this house in the future and get a bigger yard and a single type house, my husband and I are working towards that goal,and I am sure we will accomplish it, so I was also thinking that watever I use I would not like it to be permanent, that way I can take it with me wherever I move next.
Wow I was just looking at the site squarefootagardening it looks promising. THank you Xerantheum.

Carmen.

PS: I just purchased the book from amazon, I am going nuts, this will be my third book this week along with organic gardening and The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control, my DH is going to kill me, but is all for a good cause Right!

This message was edited Nov 5, 2006 5:20 PM

Carmen~ I made 4 raised beds this year out of Cinderblocks. Each bed cost me about $150.00 to make and I love them. These garden beds are so easy to take care of and weed. I really like how I have a place to sit while I tend the garden. I have a bad back and it is great for that. I think it is the best way to garden. You don't stand on your soil and compact it. Cinder blocks don't rot and warp like wood can!! It has been the best thing for my back yard too. I think it really looks nice and neat.

Lissy

Lissy, your beds look nice. How high are the cinderblock? Any special techniques for setting them up?

I used two layers of cinder blocks that are 8" tall and glued them together with cement glue. I put pea gravel in the holes to give the blocks more stability. After I glued on the cap stones, I sealed all of the cracks with a caulk made for cement blocks and then painted the whole raised bed with a good quality cement paint. I hope that my drawing make sence. I drew it on my graphics program to help me visualize it as I was trying to build it.

I really like how much space this garden plan gives me. You get about 4 ft. wide by 13' long of garden soil to work with. I put really good soil in the bed and it is about 15" deep of REALLY good soil. Just like I said above the soil stays really nice because you aren't stepping on it. You can reach in and weed while sitting on the top of the cinderblocks. I sure am a fan of this type of gardening.

Lissy

Very nice, LissyJ - thank you for sharing it. It helps a lot!

I built raised beds with untreated, rough milled 1x6. They are 24" h x 72" x 36". I built them high thinking I could use them as blockades from the dogs into my "dog free zone" but so far some of the dogs just jump over/into them. Still modifying the plan.

Lissy, WOW! those beds look magnificent, thank you so much for sharing your pictures, it really is nice to see the picture that way you don't have to try to visualize it. Actually I would have thought that those raised beds would cost more than $150 each. This is another idea to add to my list of ideas. By the way what are you growing on those raised beds?

Thanks again

Carmen

Carmen~ Thanks!! They really aren't that expensive to make. I think they look good too. This year I planted 24 tomato plants, tons of Jalapenos, and green peppers. I also had one of my beds full of salad greens. carrots. radishes, cilantro, and onions. As you can tell, I made tons of SALSA!!! 72 pint to be exact. It was fun! I can't wait until spring to start all over again.

Lissy

Congrats, Lissy. Those are the best cinderblock beds I've seen yet. (Love the caps and the paintjob on them!)

Care to tell us what kind of "good soil" you used? Was it something you made up from raw ingredients or were you able to find a source of good stuff and have it delivered?

Again, great job!
Shoe.

PS...Carminator, if you made nice beds like Lissy I think that would add value to your property and encourage an easy sell (especially if potential buyers showed up when your garden was lushly growing with tomatoes, peppers, etc!).

A nice thing to do with cinderblocks is plant moss roses in them. Makes a beautiful border for whatever you've planted, and they LOVE the heat.

Edited to say, oh, yeah, I meant to remind you to look at your deed restrictions if there's a chance the neighborhood will make you tear it up after you've spent all that time and money doing it. If you have to present it to some sort of association committee, make sure it looks like it belongs in your condo area.

This message was edited Nov 13, 2006 12:21 PM

Shoe~ Sorry it took me so long to answer your question. I was gone all weekend and yesterday, I was collecting leaves in the neighborhood. I was one of those crazy ladies asking people if I could rake their lawns so that I could have all of their leaves for my compost piles for next spring. I even have some neighbors dropping off bags of leaves. My DH thinks I am weird, but hey, I will have great soil for doing this.

To answer your soil question, I went to the local landscape company here in Stansbury and bought some top soil that was mixed with nutrimulch. I have been doing compost piles and adding to my soil and it has been working out just great. The soil here in Stansbury Park is really alkaline and hard as a rock. I think it is the worst soil I have ever seen. It is even a sickly gray it is so full of clay. The only way I could garden here was to make raised beds.

I am doing an experiment though. I want to see if I can make the soil here fertile enough to have healthy plants. I have a garden plot that I am adding compost to so that I can plant corn. So far I have not had good success because the soil is so bad. I am going to keep adding compost and tilling it in and hopefully this Spring I will be able to plant corn that isn't sickly and stunted! This year everything I planted there really struggled. It was sad.

Thanks for the complements.

Lissy

Lissy, have you thought of running a worm bin for a while? I kept one in the pantry for several months, then dumped the whole thing into the compost pile. Now when I turn the compost, it's like worm heaven.

Great idea, brididlilly...I love my worm bin and their castings; I keep it going year round (and am often teased that, "Dad's out there feeding his pet worms again!").

Thanks for the info, Lissy. Sounds like you are definitely going about it the right way. I, too, used to collect leaves from the neighborhoods. (When I worked in town I'd always tow my trailer behind my truck on Tuesdays cause that was the day when people put their bagged leaves on the curb for pickup. I left early for work and went right down the neighborhood streets, picking up their leaves!)

Hope you get good crops next growing season. Remember to check your pH.

Shoe.

Brigidlily~ I have thought about vermicomposting( I think that is what they call it) I read about it on the soil and composting section and just haven't dared start. I am wondering if my DH would really think I fell off my rocker if I said I was going to start a worm farm in my house. LOL I think I need to read more about it and get some of my questions answered. I am definately interested in it.

Shoe~ Oh yes I have to check my pH out here. Some of the gardeners out here say that the water is alkaline as well so if you amend your soil and don't keep amending and checking it, then the pH will go back to where it was. I think that is one of the main reasons I started to compost this year. So far it has been really fun and I enjoy it. Just that added step has made me enjoy my tomatoes more because of all the work I put into the soil.

Lissy

Lissy, google "cheap and easy worm bin" and "worm man" and you'll get what you need if you want to start it up.

Lissy, most of the dry climates out west have alkaline soils and alkaline well water or municipal water. The water DOES raise the pH of your soil over time unless you balance it out with some amendments. I find the alkaline water more of an issue with my houseand office container plants than my vegetable/herb garden, since I am always working organic materials into the garden when we plant the next crop. The office plants seem to balance out if I water them with the cold leftover coffee on a periodic basis.

garden_mermaid~ Thaks for the tip on my house plants. Most of my house plants have not been doing very well, and now that makes sence. I didn't even think about that. I also thought that my water softner might be to blame so I have been watering my plants with filtered water. I guess I will have to start to try and balance out my soil for my container plants.

Also, it is good to know that what I have been told by local gardeners is true.

Lissy

Hi everyone,
I live in Austin, Texas and about to do my first two raised beds for veggies.
I want to go as organic as possible for the frames and really like the cinder block idea in this thread.
Have you guys researched what if any chemicals may be in the cinder blocks?
I want to go twelve inches high and was wondering about cedar or composit wood. Does cedar come in 12" widths at home depot or the like? Has anyone researched on this composite wood as far as chemicals go?
I have ruled out PVC vinyl so far...
Thanks for any help. I want to buy the material this coming weekend.
Have a great week everyone ...
Karen in Austin

Karen~ I have not heard of any chemicals found in cinder blocks. I used them for that reason. I also looked into composite wood. There are many people that use this with success but it is VERY expensive. My cinder block bed is half the price of the composite wood bed. IF money is not a issue, then I would go for it. Hope this helps!!

Thanks Lissy ...
I like the cinder block because of the suggestion of planting herbs in the holes.
Well, I plan to spend my free time this week researching ...
Karen

Oh, I forgot to mention I have one of those "Money Trees" in my backyard!
NOT!!!!!
LOL