Good day of Prepping....The Garden!!

[Miketodd]

Spent the whole morning and early afternoon prepping the garden. Got the rototiller out to start moving and breaking up the soil in preperation for tilling in some cow manure I found locally and for free! Also starting some things out from seeds for the first time instead of buying the plants from the green house. Sorry for the glare but the seedlings are on a shelf under the window. Can't wait to get the garden going this year!

 

[Cameramonkey]

I hear ya. I increased our raised bed garden by 50% or more today. Just this afternoon I finished removing the sod by hand and using my tiller attachment on my trimmer to work in some peat moss to tame the clay a bit. going to dump in a couple bags of composted manure and some topsoil to clean it up a bit to be ready to put in the peas, lettuce, and onions next weekend. Normally I'd have them in by now but as cold as this year has been I dont trust it just yet.

I already added half a yard of 50/50 topsoil/manure. Need another half to a yard to be happy, but dont have access to the FILs pickup for a while. I think I'll just splurge on some bagged stuff and get the bulk again in the fall to get it more raised.

Before (kinda... the raised part is the old garden with the extra half yard of 50/50 piled on.)
If only the child labor was as effective as it should be...


After (Kinda... the sod shown below is what I finished off today.)


Maybe this year I will actually have enough veggies to actually cook. My kids are freakin locusts... they like to stand out there and eat the stuff raw as fast as it comes off the vine. Not that I'm complaining mind you. I did the same as a kid.

 

[Miketodd]

Very Nice! We have talked about doing raised beds, but just can't justify it right now. I hear ya on the kids, they eat the cherry tomatoes like they are candy! We are doing our backyard garden for the things we eat on a daily basis, the MIL and FIL have 40 acres they have moved on where we are doing a large family garden (Them, My wife and I and her sister's family) where we will be canning the majority of the harvest for winter stores. Also we will have our beehive out there and might start some chickens, if we are feeling peckish.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Very Nice! We have talked about doing raised beds, but just can't justify it right now. I hear ya on the kids, they eat the cherry tomatoes like they are candy! We are doing our backyard garden for the things we eat on a daily basis, the MIL and FIL have 40 acres they have moved on where we are doing a large family garden (Them, My wife and I and her sister's family) where we will be canning the majority of the harvest for winter stores. Also we will have our beehive out there and might start some chickens, if we are feeling peckish.

Raised is cake. As you can see its something you can grow into. I think I spent $75 on lumber and hardware. $10 of that was for hinges... I needed a solution for the odd angles, so the two weird angles on the left are held together by cheap hinges!

Anyway, build your frame, and then slowly add in soil, compost, and manure over time. From the looks of your soil you probably wont benefit much from a raised bed. In my case its to get the stuff up and out of some pretty heavy clay. Those boards are 2x10s but I dont anticipate getting but maybe halfway or 2/3 of the way up. Just raised enough to get some better soil for increased yields.

 

[Darral27]

I went to Home Depot today to get some landscaping timbers for a start on a raised garden. They had them on sale for .99 for 8'. Can't beat that deal. It is still a bit too wet in my backyard today but getting close. I am hoping by tomorrow afternoon I will be able to start getting some boards down and maybe break up some soil a little bit. It is going to be a new hobby for me so I am hoping it goes well.

 

[jfw46544]

Something that you may want to consider when building your raised beds. I believe that I used Douglas Fir for the wood instead of treated lumber. I had read that the arsenic used in treating the lumber may leach into the soil.

 

[Cameramonkey]

You are correct but ac2 treated stuff now uses a copper base. Not arsenic. I still use untreated and expect to replace every decade or so. Still don't want ANY stuff leaching.

 

[TGUNTER]

Looking good I spent time this weekend and last also getting the garden ready. The wild onions close to the house are growing pretty good already. My wife just cuts the tops of and uses them for cooking we don't dig them up. It usually gives us enough for the year in a space that is about 2x3 feet. Lately anything extra I have I just dehydrate mix them together and use them for soup. The dried veggies last for ever plus I make packs big enough for us them seal them in plastic bags. Last year even tried Turnip greens and they worked out pretty good. I think I will also try one raised bed garden this year and I did not know about the treated wood. Glad I read this thread.

 

[indychad]

Since permaculture is being talked about in another thread here, The Art and Science of Making a Hugelkultur Bed - Transforming Woody Debris into a Garden Resource | PermacultureNews.org is another source of a neat idea. I too have raised beds a this year have reworked them to contain "logs" mixed in under my soil. To me this is a forehead palm....duh. I see what it looks like in the woods and think that I can gain a "water bank" for the dry times. Just one benefit.

 

[Cameramonkey]

when I was a kid I would grab a handful of the wild onion tops and much. Loved the subtle flavor.


Reminds me I need to venture out to see mom and dig up some to bring here.

 

[Balinor]

Changing from containers to a raised bed

 

[MT60]

I've gotten my seeds ordered, but haven't actually gotten into the garden yet. Most of it is still pretty wet. We have some 23 (I think) raised beds and two open garden plots, plus raspberries and a some field stone terraces next to the house that will get herbs and strawberries this year. We like the raised beds for some things because you can plant a bit closer together and have an easier time with weeds. Also, as I get older having things that need a lot of 'love' over the summer up a little bit helps keep the back in better shape.

 

[Scott26]

Got my garden tilled today. It dried out quicker than I thought

 

[Scott26]

Looks like my Montgomery Wards tiller will make for another year

 

[Chase515]

I got the idea from another post and got a wild hair up my and went to menards and bought 9, 2x12x8's for a raised garden. Had several treated 4x4 posts behind the garage that needed using and youtubed the idea a little more. I decided to build a self wicking garden bed, 4ft by 8ft and 36in deep. There was 35ft of left over 2in perimeter drain in the garage that would work perfect in the bottom for a water basin. The lumber may or may not be pressure treated but after assembling I lined the inside of the bed with landscape paper. I will be adding a 1in layer of sand to level out the interior and then placing a pond liner with 6in of river stone and a additional layer of landscape fabric before adding the fill. My wife stopped me from making the bed 3ft tall in favor of building a second one and she sent me back to menards today to get the lumber to build the second one. I have been taking step by step photos and will post a how to on a self wicking bed if anyone else is interested.

 

[Katana1]

Something that you may want to consider when building your raised beds. I believe that I used Douglas Fir for the wood instead of treated lumber. I had read that the arsenic used in treating the lumber may leach into the soil.

I believe that since 1992, you cannot buy new arsenic treated lumber.