Raised beds

[RainbowMom]

I've had small raised beds that were preexisting when I moved to this house, but now I'd like to have a big vegetable garden to grow our own organic food. We live on a wetland in NHwith much clay soil, so we really have to have raised beds. The layout is about 20' by 16' and I'm wondering what would be the best building material for the bed that wouldn't leach toxic chemicals into the ground and might last several years without rotting AND won't be too expensive. Is that too much to ask? Also, what to do about keeping the existing grass/weeds from growing up through, and how deep does the garden soil need to be to grow healthy plants? I'd appreciate any suggestions you all might have!

[Chanley]

Rocks??
Brick??


I dont mind landscape timbers, they are untreated. BUt they do rot which is fine by me, just replace and let them decompose into more dirt.


Ohh and at least one foot high is my reccomendation.

As far as weeds, I have always used righty and lefty with a pair of gloves.

[m&m]

My mil uses her own composting materials added to hay for a "lasangna" bed garden. My mom just makes little hills of dirt - with wooden plants in between to walk on.

As for how much soil is needed, that depends on the plant - usually about 1 foot or so - clay is great for growing potatoes, but add sand or you'll never be able to dig them out.

If you really want an organic garden, you'll have to either test the existing soil, or remove some for a ways down, then bring in more 'pure' soil and start over. My mom is lucky since she has been tending her own garden for over 25 years, so knows exactly what is in the soil - except maybe brought in from rain or floods.

good luck

[Elismama]

The deeper your beds, the more intensively you can plant. If you give your plants lots of space to grow roots down, then you don't need to space them as far a part.

For intensive beds you could peel off the grass/weeds with a shovel. Take a pitchfork and loosen the soil down as far as the pitchfork reaches. Then add 1ft. of rich soil.

Like Chanley, I like landscape timbers around my beds.

When I worked at an organic farm we used the intensive planting method from the book: How to grow more vegetables than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine by John Jeavons

Isn't this a wonderful time to dream about your garden?
-jeanie

[leafylady]

Isn't untreated cedar supposed to be the most rot resistant of the untreated woods? It may also be pricey.

As far as depth, I'd say make it high enough so the rabbits can't get in, about a foot high. I can hardly type the word rabbit without scowling.

[RainbowMom]

Jeanie, I think I borrowed that book from our library last year and tried to use the ideas in it but it's so hard to dig into our ground because it's so packed with clay and rock (I notice you're from VT so I know you know what I mean). Also, I'm sure this is a dumb question, but what do y'all mean by landscape timbers? Are they untreated? And are they expensive?

I would love to use cedar, but I bet it would cost my more than my house!

When trucking in soil for these raised beds, what do you suggest I get and what might I need to add to it for best results? When we first moved here I put in some raised flower beds out front and put in loam and things seem really happy out there.

Thanks for helping out a beginning gardener, ladies!

[Elismama]

Rainbow Mom,

I know about rocks alright! I hand dug 10 beds this past fall and I pulled out enough rocks to build add a second stone wall to our property.

About landscape timbers- they are less treated than other kinds of timber, and they are cheaper too. Thats all I know about them- my husband deals with that end of it.

Around here they sewage treatment plants give away compost for free- it is tested for safety and it is dark dark rich compost. Thats what I would use to build up my beds. And I add tons of my own homegrown compost.

I don't know much about other amendments yet- but I think you can find out more from your states agricultural extension service about how to test your soil and find out about additives.

good luck,
jeanie

[anythingelse]

[TripkeHughes]

We are thinking of the same thing at our house. We want to build a flower bed in the front of our house and a few other Organic Veg. garden in the back yard. So far we just have dirt (hard AZ dirt) and weeds. Funny how weeds grow in anything.

[LdyBluNH@aol]

railroad ties - be careful with this one. you can bring home termites and not know it; the less the tie weighs, the more likely it has tenants


rainbow mom - hi! i'm in southern NH too!!! in the nashua area; how about you? i noticed you are a massage therapist, are you looking for new clients???

[mamarsupial]

here's a good article from organic gardening magazine about railroad ties:

http://www.organicgardening.com/Q&A/railroadties.html