eight new raised bed frames

Yesterday my husband and I made eight raised beds for my new garden! Kind of a dreary late March day, but I am so happy seeing the beds all lined up! We made six 4x12 foot beds and two 6x15 foot beds.

To make the six 4x12 beds:
- We started with fifteen 2x8x12's, untreated pine.
- We brought a compound miter saw down to the garden area. (It was raining off an on so we used a canopy to keep it dry.
- To make the 4' edges, four boards were cut in thirds.
- To make 24 corner brackets, two 4x4x8 untreated fir beams were cut the width of the boards, 7.5 inches.
- We butted up the boards one edge at a time and attached them using wood screws.
- We then placed the 4x4 bracket beam piece in the corner and used self-threading lumber screws to securely attach from both sides.
- Then we placed the beds where we wanted them. We're still looking at the placement and it may take us a few days to get the positioning we want.
- Next steps, we will level the beds with brick at one edge since we are on a bit of a slope. Then we'll secure the beds in place by pounding in wood stakes on the outside of the beds, every 3 feet. Then we'll add DIRT and plant stuff!

wood for my new raised beds!

We bought a bunch of 2 x 6's for my new raised beds. 15 and 12' lengths for the long sides of the beds. With all this snow, it'll be a while before we can use them, but we're ready.

Skippy loves to pose!

late fall is a perfect time for new raised beds

I was walking my dogs this afternoon and noticed my neighbor has built a couple new raised garden beds. And she has a nice big delivery of dirt waiting to fill them. This made me think - why I am waiting 'til spring to build my new garden beds? This is a perfect time of year to start a new garden! Any fresh soil, manure or compost added now above tired or compact soil will help to refresh it over the winter. (Judy noted this in a recent comment.) The freshly added nutrients will work their way down over the winter while existing worms and soil microbes do their job aerating and mixing soil layers.

I have been thinking that I need to get a plan for my whole garden before I start. But an alternative is to start small with just a couple beds for now. Hmm.... A new thought.... Especially if the snow holds off for a bit longer.

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!

a new raised bed

My husband made a big new raised bed in the sunny spot next to our house. The soil was contaminated here so he removed 6 inches, built the bed, spread plastic and added new soil. The bed is 14 to 16 inches deep. About 8 by 10 feet. He recently added a board as a bridge/walkway and to reinforce the tall sides. Its not in these photos here.

We'll see how it is to work in such a wide bed. I'll add more boards as pathways. I'm looking forward to growing tomatoes, cucumbers and basil here!

new beds

I made a bit of progress on setting up my new raised beds yesterday. I like the way they look. Empty and ready for growing anything. Full of potential.

plot work - contruction of new raised beds

Saturday was a really nice day for garden work. My husband is working on a set of new raised beds for the garden. He cut and assembled about half of the beds. I'll need to prepared the soil before I set them in place. At the south end of the garden I need to do some leveling before they go down.

Tasks:
Finished the fence bottom.
More of the rock pile moved to line the fence.
Several more loads of compost brought to the plot.
Wire compost bin made in back corner.
Turned a little bit of the soil.

soil samples sent

I just mailed out my soil samples. Just so I remember: sample 1 is from the new plot adjacent to my house, sample 2 is from my old raised beds, sample 3 is from my new community garden plot. I think its likely the soil adjacent to my house will be contaminated with lead and I will need to abandon this plot. We'll see. The results should be back in 1-2 weeks.

topic: soil

turning the soil of my raised beds

My spring routine is to turn the soil of my garden beds. Today I turned three of my beds. I use a standard garden shovel and flip the soil over onto itself - the way my dad showed me years ago. If I have a cover crop, this gets turned under. This year I have a light cover of winter ryegrass. I like the wait a week or so, but sometimes right away, I smooth the soil level with the backside of a metal rake. Finally my irrigation lines get buried and the beds are ready to plant.

Tomorrow the skies are forecast to cloud over and rain is scheduled for the weekend. Once it clouds up, I plan to transplant my broccoli, kale, onions, endive and some lettuce seedlings into the garden. Exciting! My first garden transplants of the year. My pea sprouts are doing well and if I have time, I'll sow another row or two of pea seeds. Another sign that spring is here is that there is an endless amount of garden work now.

To turn or not to turn? I've recently heard that turning ruins the structure of the soil. I'll have to read more about this. To me, turning mixes in the cover crop, aerates the soil, and is a spring activity I look forward to. With only 360 sq ft, it doesn't take very long. Afterwards I feel like I've done some real work. I can throw my clothes in the wash, eat and sleep well, and look forward to planting.

topic: soil

sure signs of spring

raised bed design and construction

While I wait for more sprouts and planting, I'm posting some information on my raised beds.

My husband made the beds about 10 years ago from boards of 2x6 pressure treated lumber (oops! Don't use pressure treated lumber for your gardens, although the newer types may be safe. I'll add a link soon about the hazards of this in gardens). They measure 3.8 ft by 9 ft. I have five adjacent beds. Between each is a pathway that ranges from 15 to 17 inches wide, but you might want to make them wide enough for your rake (I use an adjustable rake).

To make the beds, my husband just laid the wood on the surface of ground. He made stakes (about 2x2x12) that were pounded into 3 of the 4 corners of each bed. The frame is screwed into these stakes. The stakes hold the beds in place.

After making the frames, we filled them with about 3 or 4 inches of a mixture of peat, composted manure and topsoil. All were purchased in bags. I turned this mixture to mix it with the soil below. As I remember, it took me a few years to get the beds full to the top - they hold a lot of soil.

I have a nice composting system where I compost most of my garden waste. Every year a good amount of this goes into the beds and is turned under along with the cover crop that I've planted for the winter.

The raised beds work great and look nice. Well, most of the year they look nice - right now they are quite a mess....


garden structures