This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy was my first dog and he thought the garden was his, even though I did all the work. Now Suzie and Charley follow in his footsteps. We're located near Boston (USDA zone 6A). I have a community plot, a backyard vegetable garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, chickens, and bees. I use sustainable organic methods and do my best to grow all of my family's vegetables myself.
Monday, February 08, 2010
raised beds warm the soil
As the snow melts, I noticed it has melted first from my raised beds while paths are still frozen. I guess raised beds do make the soil warmer!
I went to a "grow better veggies" class taught by Ed Hume recently and he said that raised beds are 8-15 degrees warmer than the ground. Since I have 16 raised beds I thought that was pretty cool.
Nice to see the soil showing. We still have about an inch covering the ground. The sun has been so nice and warm but the cold air pushing down from the north has been way to cold to melt anything. The coldframe window is even still covered in frost.
And the higher you raise them... I raised a part of my bed even higher at the end of last year. It is where I planted my garlic. That is the one spot in my raised beds that has melted out. The rest of the beds are still under a light covering of snow. I think the sun being able to hit the wood on the side heats it up more. The sun just reflects off of the snow, but the wood absorbs it. My other beds just aren't tall enough to raise above the snow to see the sun.
I'm very happy with the slight southern grade in my garden. Its just a little bit trellised to the south. I notice that most plots in the BVG Gardens are still covered with several inches of snow. Those with a little southern slope like mine have more melting. Like Daphne says, the sun can get in there and hit the wood longer, especially with those exposed south facing edges.
wow i'm so impressed! i'm a big fan of your blog but unfortunately haven't been reading it for some time. The last few posts i read were when you were just starting to put these beds in. They look fantastic!
Just catching up on your posts. Awesome to see such a distinction between the beds and the paths. Was looking at stuff on raised beds earlier... would be nice...
11 comments:
I went to a "grow better veggies" class taught by Ed Hume recently and he said that raised beds are 8-15 degrees warmer than the ground. Since I have 16 raised beds I thought that was pretty cool.
Wow - 16 ! You are lucky. (I have 15.)
Nice to see the soil showing. We still have about an inch covering the ground. The sun has been so nice and warm but the cold air pushing down from the north has been way to cold to melt anything. The coldframe window is even still covered in frost.
I sure wish it would warm up!
The warmth is coming -- snowdrops have emerged (though not blooming) in a southeast facing sheltered bed in Concord, MA!
Great! I will watch for snowdrops here too.
Raised beds are awesome!
And the higher you raise them... I raised a part of my bed even higher at the end of last year. It is where I planted my garlic. That is the one spot in my raised beds that has melted out. The rest of the beds are still under a light covering of snow. I think the sun being able to hit the wood on the side heats it up more. The sun just reflects off of the snow, but the wood absorbs it. My other beds just aren't tall enough to raise above the snow to see the sun.
I'm very happy with the slight southern grade in my garden. Its just a little bit trellised to the south. I notice that most plots in the BVG Gardens are still covered with several inches of snow. Those with a little southern slope like mine have more melting. Like Daphne says, the sun can get in there and hit the wood longer, especially with those exposed south facing edges.
wow i'm so impressed! i'm a big fan of your blog but unfortunately haven't been reading it for some time. The last few posts i read were when you were just starting to put these beds in. They look fantastic!
Margaret
Just catching up on your posts. Awesome to see such a distinction between the beds and the paths. Was looking at stuff on raised beds earlier... would be nice...
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