Author Topic: Raised Bed Gardens  (Read 39138 times)

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Dorine

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #40 on: August 22, 2012, 04:38:13 PM »
They are not from a saw mill. These are wood chips that my husband and I gathered along the highway after a tree trimming crew went through and cleared all types of trees away from power lines.

The chips to use on a garden are a combination of hardwood, and softwood with all the needles and leaves with it.  I planted my garden first this year and then added the chips.  But as you can see by the picture of the fall planting I just pulled the chips aside, exposing the ground and planted. I will do the same next spring. As the seedlings grow I will keep pulling the chips in around the plants adding more chips as needed. The most important thing is to not work the chips deep into the soil. Keep them on the surface. Some of the chips get mixed in with the surface soil but that's ok. The worms have already started breaking down the chips.  To keep the weeds down the chips should be 6-8 inches thick.  My garden is much healthier this year and I think it's because the chips have kept the soil evenly moist, and weed free.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Richard Myers

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #41 on: August 22, 2012, 08:33:14 PM »
You bed is beautiful, Dorine.  And your tomatoes!!!   You must feed the deer and elk in another area of the garden!

Alfalfa works really well also.  I tried mulching one year in a regular garden and the bermuda took over. Mulching is like fertilizing bermuda grass! :( 
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Dorine

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #42 on: August 23, 2012, 05:09:41 AM »
We have been so blessed with not having problems with wildlife with a couple of exceptions....a groundhog that ate off my spring lettuce. I managed to persuade him to move on. Now I have a cute little chipmunk that loves to dig deep holes around the roots of my strawberries. We have deer that pass through our property from the woods behind but never come into the garden.

Tell me more about the alfalfa. Is it a ground cover or in hay form? I do not have problems with Bermuda grass but I do have to pull out what we call wild pea vines and sometimes wild raspberry vines occasionally.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Marelis

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #43 on: August 25, 2012, 03:12:29 PM »
Dorine, I do really enjoy seeing your gardening photos. You have had great success with wood chips.  It is wonderful to read the gardening threads and to learn from each other.

My raised gardens are very deep because I put up boards around pre-existing double-dug gardens and then added all of my own compost and sugar cane mulch on top, so they are now no-dig/lasagne beds.

Putting up boards is time-consuming and costs a bit by the time you buy brackets, screws etc.  I have one spot left for another garden bed.  I may try a round mound built up on the earth in alternating layers of alfalfa and homemade compost.

If I had timber I would love to try a Hugelkultur bed:http://carrotcache.com/innovations/innovations-2011/hugelbeds/index.html
"Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."  Ps 16:11

Richard Myers

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #44 on: August 25, 2012, 04:48:45 PM »
Dorine, you have deer that pass through and keep going?  :) God loves you!!   

The alfalfa for a raised bed that I have used and seen, is hay or pellets. Hay, like your chips contain the moisture and keep the weeds from growing. But, they add a great deal of nutrient as it decomposes. Alfalfa is very rich in nutrients including nitrogen.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Dorine

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #45 on: August 25, 2012, 05:16:48 PM »
Yes Richard God has been very good to us. We have been amazed that the deer have not been interested in our garden.

I will have to find out about a source of alfalfa hay nearby. I would like to try that when my pile of wood chips run out.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Marelis

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #46 on: August 25, 2012, 10:13:36 PM »
Dorine, you have deer that pass through and keep going?  :) God loves you!!   

The alfalfa for a raised bed that I have used and seen, is hay or pellets. Hay, like your chips contain the moisture and keep the weeds from growing. But, they add a great deal of nutrient as it decomposes. Alfalfa is very rich in nutrients including nitrogen.
I paid $18 for a bale of alfalfa hay and $10 for a straw bale. I have a 20 ft x 3.5 ft new raised garden bed along a fence that whose soil is like gravel and dirt but in a fantastic location (facing north, in full sunshine.) I know how to bring it to life now!
"Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."  Ps 16:11

Richard Myers

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #47 on: August 25, 2012, 10:22:04 PM »
Yes, and we remember your worm farm!  :)    My beds are not very deep, but I use none of the native soil. I brought compost in.  All of the crops I have planted have done well. I am sure that the nutrient level has to be maintained with new compost regularly with out much depth.  I know you said you double dug the ground below your bed. I, too have done the same, but I do not think my plants are going through my poultry wire into the native soil. I had mixed sandy loam and clay so that the plants could reach into it, but so far I do not see it happening. 

Alfalfa is getting expensive. But, it is worth the price to get the nutrients into the soil. I am getting bermuda into my beds, so I can't mulch, but am considering alfalfa pellets.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Marelis

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #48 on: August 25, 2012, 10:51:31 PM »
The native soil may soften and improve over time, do you think?
Alfalfa is expensive. I have a bag of inoculated seeds to use as a green manure. This would have to be the cheapest way to get nitrogen into the soil. I bought the alfalfa hay to kickstart this bed as a one-off treatment for the garden.
"Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."  Ps 16:11

Richard Myers

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #49 on: August 25, 2012, 11:48:16 PM »
Absolutely! With your compost, worms, and alfalfa it has to improve!  :)  Are you adding any kind of soil to the raised bed?  Since you are going to be higher than the native soil, and because you have gravel in the soil, you may want to bring some soil from elsewhere in your yard. Exchange some of the gravel soil for other soil where you may be walking between other beds.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Mimi

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #50 on: March 07, 2013, 08:16:36 AM »
Photos of raised bed designs: Here
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Richard Myers

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #51 on: March 07, 2013, 08:39:12 AM »
Wow!!! A picture is worth a thousand words!!!

A thought after looking through them.  One of the important benefits with raised beds is that the soil is not compressed by walking on them. If spacing is not provided to access the whole bed, then that benefit is lost.  Keep a suitable pathway so that the whole bed can be easily reached.

Also, remember to place a barrier such as poultry netting in the bottom of the bed if you have little creatures that are hungry.

And, in seeing many beautiful beds placed in a lawn setting, remember that some grasses will invade the garden. If you have no experience with creeping grass that spreads like wildfire, take heed, that you know what you are getting into when placing raised beds in a lawn. We have Bermuda grass. It is a great lawn for dogs and kids, but is something that the garden, any kind, sees as the enemy. It will win in the end.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Mimi

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #52 on: March 30, 2013, 08:23:42 PM »
I got started on the raised beds and had to stop for an entire week. The business of life simply took over and they were placed on the back burner. But, it is still early in the season especially at this elevation. We have had some unusually warm weather so I am encouraged that it will be warmer in May than usual so I can actually plant the squash I started too early.  :-\ They are at the 3-leaf stage and are really making me nervous. Soon, they will take over and it will be a little house of horrors until the ground is ready to receive them. Anyway, the plan this week is to finish the boxes, screen the bottoms and get them as well positioned as possible.

  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Mimi

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #53 on: May 16, 2013, 04:22:56 AM »
I am such an amateur but even that is not going to stop me while going forward.  ;D While in town yesterday, I saw two huge spools of row covers at the nursery, both thin and thick. $1.19/yard and $3.50/yard respectively. With that find, I will be able to finish the little hoop house for the raised beds. And with May 15 behind us, it will be full steam ahead. May God bless my feeble efforts!   
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Richard Myers

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #54 on: May 16, 2013, 09:59:07 AM »
He will!!
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Dorine

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #55 on: May 16, 2013, 11:58:07 AM »

This is a raised bed of bell peppers, sweet basil and yellow eyed beans. Not one weed all summer.


Note the difference in a bed of sage with no wood chips. Could not keep up to the weeds.


My tomato patch was the same. Not a weed.


Some fall seeds planted between rows of wood chips.


But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Mimi

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #56 on: May 16, 2013, 02:06:57 PM »
Did you move or change them within photobucket? That would be my first guess.
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Dorine

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #57 on: May 16, 2013, 02:45:00 PM »
I do not remember doing anything to my photobucket. If I did, I didn't realize what I was doing.  Is there a way you can delete my post or a way I can put them back into the same post?
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Mimi

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #58 on: May 16, 2013, 03:24:54 PM »
Yes, I will delete the links. You can copy what you wrote and put it in a new post. After it is all situated, I'll delete the first one.  :)
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Mimi

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Re: Raised Bed Gardens
« Reply #59 on: May 16, 2013, 03:27:54 PM »
Dorine, I looked at other posts with your photos in them and they are gone, too. Something is up with your photobucket. If you cannot get it figured out, e-mail me your photos @ mimi@remnant-online.org and I will post them for you.
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89