Gardening: Raised Beds for veggies

[Rodent]

We moved a year ago this month, and after a Spring/Summer spent getting the previous place ready and onto the market it was too late to take on any significant gardening projects at the new place. I have two main projects this year: a) extending the fruit orchard from 10 well established Rainier cherry trees to a larger home use orchard that includes apples, plums, peaches, pears, apricots, and the such, and b) several raised garden beds that are easier to maintain and harvest thru the year.

For raised beds, I find myself continually returning to this design (image below) and so I set out today to get the materials to build the first two beds as test projects where I'll refine the design before building any additional beds.

I'm using 8' long corrugated roofing sheets from Home Depot ($19/ea this afternoon and over 100ea in stock) for the side panels, treated 4x4 posts at the corners and midway on the long sides to provide support for the panels, and 5/8x6 to provide a sitting edge around the top. Corner and middle posts will be cut to 4' lengths and sunk further into the ground for added rigidity, and the 32" wide panels will be set so that they are 30" above ground (2-3" below grade). I'm also going to install a fine metal mesh in the bottom to keep out burrowing critters

Hoping to have the initial bed constructed in the coming week or two, and installed in location shortly after that. I'll dig out the sunken area with the backhoe prior to setting into place on the wire mesh. Fill will be a mix of native soil (we sit on 30' of volcanic silt without even so much as a pea sized pebble), purchased garden soil, and compost. Total fill volume is right about 3 cubic yards.

While working this I'll also be considering how I can best water it. My previous place had 8" high raised beds where I used a soaker hose under black plastic to retain moisture, keep weeds down, and provide warmth for the tomato and pepper plants that prefer a warmer growing condition than what my north of Seattle location offered. Here I won't be concerned with lack of summer warmth, but keeping it properly watered could be a challenge. I have a couple ideas to test this summer that aren't a soaker hose, so that'll be part of what I share updates on as well.

Getting two beds completed before early May will give the what I need for tomatoes and peppers this year. Any beds beyond that are bonus.

 

[passedpawn]

30" up will be nice. My raised bed is 16" up, so I'm still bending a lot. That's a lot of fill dirt, but you only have to do that one time. Good luck.

 

[Dland]

Nice looking truck.

Not that I'm not into gardening, have built several raised bed gardens for customers. But the truck was the first thing I noticed.

 

[passedpawn]

Nice looking truck.

Not that I'm not into gardening, have built several raised bed gardens for customers. But the truck was the first thing I noticed.

FYI I don't think that's his garden/truck. Yes, that old Ford is sweet. In fact, that whole picture is something I'd like to tele-transport into permantently. Though, I can't imagine growing a whole bed of kale (?)

 

[Rodent]

yep, not my place. just an image I keep returning to for inspiration on a raised bed design I really like

I had a totally stock 3/4Ton '67 Dodge Custom with a 383HP, automatic tranny, 1Ton rear suspension and rear end. Sold it on a relocation type move where we were going to be in an apartment complex for close to two years. Miss that truck often.


For the raised be filler, I'll be ordering a 10 yard dump of the garden soil and making use of the JD's front loader to move it a scoop at a time from the orchard drop off location to behind the house where the new beds will be arranged.

 

[passedpawn]

yep, not my place. just an image I keep returning to for inspiration on a raised bed design I really like

I had a totally stock 3/4Ton '67 Dodge Custom with a 383HP, automatic tranny, 1Ton rear suspension and rear end. Sold it on a relocation type move where we were going to be in an apartment complex for close to two years. Miss that truck often.


For the raised be filler, I'll be ordering a 10 yard dump of the garden soil and making use of the JD's front loader to move it a scoop at a time from the orchard drop off location to behind the house where the new beds will be arranged.

Several years ago I moved 30 yds of topsoil with with a shovel and wheel barrow. Never again. It was grueling.

 

[Rodent]

Several years ago I moved 30 yds of topsoil with with a shovel and wheel barrow. Never again. It was grueling.

I've moved 10 yards of topsoil in 1.5 yd increments via utility trailer -> wheelbarrow -> raised bed, but the final leg was less than 100' with little incline. Totally not something I'd want to do again. I can't imagine 30 yds unless it was spread out over the course of a month or more (and even then I wouldn't want to do it)

 

[Deadalus]

I use dripline irrigation controlled by a B-hyve wifi controller. Allows scheduling, rain delays, and a rudimentary accounting of water used. I have tied in a rain water collection system to my irrigation lines as well. I recommend the driplines vs soaker hoses for better control.

I have low raised beds. Those taller units are nice but do require filling and at some point, most of the plants aren't really rooting down that far. They are also expensive, although that metal might be cheaper than the wood. They are much easier on the back though. I would recommend filling partially with wood. See Hugelkultur. I have used this technique on about half of my raised beds and continue to slowly convert older ones. I do one about every two years, my beds are 4x20ft.

I built all of my bed siding out of 5/4x6xvarious lengths. Corners and side posts were 2x4 with some extra 4x4. I would use 2x6 if I had to do it over. The thinner stuff gets wavy over time. I did just build some benches out of leftover lengths of 3/4"x4" and 3/4"'x6" but these are greenhouse benches and a potting table. The legs were also built with the 4", crossed and braced. I sat on them but I was tentative about it, the legs are spaced at 36". I weigh about 185. Seemed ok but I made sure to sit over the legs! It was all leftover from a woodshed and my raised beds.

 

[Deadalus]

Pretty decent on the pricing for your panels, those are $22 by me. Still slightly more than 2x6's with the framing in my area but not much different and nicer looking.

Now that's 3 cubic yards per 4x8 @24" tall. I see you mentioned a 10 cubic yard delivery so that's good. I see people trying to fill these things up with bagged materials from the big box stores and that adds up real quick!

 

[Rodent]

the dripline system is one I've been looking at for the raised beds and also for the new row of table grapes I'm planting this year

also saw this grid system that is appealing for the raised beds

I've ruled out soaker hoses at my new place for two reasons: a) I have really hard water that will clog the porous hoses within a season, and b) my soil here is volcanic silt, which will also quickly clog a soaker hose

 

[passedpawn]

the dripline system is one I've been looking at for the raised beds and also for the new row of table grapes I'm planting this year

also saw this grid system that is appealing for the raised beds

View attachment 816216

I've ruled out soaker hoses at my new place for two reasons: a) I have really hard water that will clog the porous hoses within a season, and b) my soil here is volcanic silt, which will also quickly clog a soaker hose

I've got a soaker hose meandering through my raised bed. Runs every morning on timer. Seems to working well. I put in some strawberries yesterday and the soil was a bit damp, not dry anywhere. I used some sweet black topsoil in mine though.

 

[Deadalus]

the dripline system is one I've been looking at for the raised beds and also for the new row of table grapes I'm planting this year

also saw this grid system that is appealing for the raised beds

View attachment 816216

I've ruled out soaker hoses at my new place for two reasons: a) I have really hard water that will clog the porous hoses within a season, and b) my soil here is volcanic silt, which will also quickly clog a soaker hose

Is that irrigation line or just a square foot grid?

 

[Rodent]

Is that irrigation line or just a square foot grid?

That's a perforated irrigation line used to make up the square grid

Here' an image from one of several companies who offer a similar product.

Given our hard water with heavy dissolved mineral content, I definitely need to give this a test before committing to a system for each bed. If the holes plug up it'll be difficult and time consuming to give them regular cleaning during the growing season when plants are taller and filled out

 

[Rodent]

I've got a soaker hose meandering through my raised bed. Runs every morning on timer. Seems to working well. I put in some strawberries yesterday and the soil was a bit damp, not dry anywhere. I used some sweet black topsoil in mine though.

I loved how soaker hoses worked under black plastic at my previous place. Never had issues with them plugging up even after 2-3 seasons of use. I can say from my limited testing use last year that I'd be replacing them monthly here at the new place with the heavy water minerals and powdery silt we have for soil

 

[day_trippr]

We have been using soaker hoses for a couple of decades now in a long snake that serpentines along the rows, but at this point it's loaded with barbed connectors from fixing holes over the years. It's time to replace it with either new soaker hose, or go with a drip system, and I'm favoring the latter just from conservation respects, even though we have a well...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

We have been using soaker hoses for a couple of decades now in a long snake that serpentines along the rows, but at this point it's loaded with barbed connectors from fixing holes over the years. It's time to replace it with either new soaker hose, or go with a drip system, and I'm favoring the latter just from conservation respects, even though we have a well...

Cheers!

In what manner do drip systems conserve over soaker? I've never used drip, honestly don't know.

 

[day_trippr]

It allows putting water exactly where it will do some good and not where it won't.

Our veggie garden rows are ~50' long and spaced about 3 feet on center and for the rows with tomatoes and rows with peppers for examples the soaker hose wets the whole row plus the "turn-around" from one row to the next where a drip system would wet just where the plants are. Plus you can select emitters best suited for the water needs of a plant where a soaker has no selectivity...

Cheers!

 

[z-bob]

When I lived in Temple, Texas, I had a pretty big yard and I plowed up an area where I could have long rows. I don't remember how long; 75 feet? I built a drip irrigation system using drip tape. It has emitters built-in every 12 or 18 inches. It worked great, and didn't use that much water even in the 100+ degree summers. (I also had a truck like in the first post, but mine was a Chevy)

Now I live on a small city lot in Minnesota. I have one raised bed that I built last year out of 2 courses of concrete blocks, (3.5 blocks x 7.5) and this year I'm going to enlarge that one to 4 x 8.5 blocks and build 3 more just like it as soon as it dries up a little. The current bed is just under 29 square feet of usable space, and by adding 6 blocks I can increase that to 40 square feet.

I buy compost from the county for a few dollars a pickup load but you have to load it yourself. It's more like really good black fill dirt than compost. I have a 3/4 ton long-bed pickup again so I can get a lot at a time.

 

[bleme]

I've subscribed to the Epic Gardening channel for a little over a year now. He deals with container gardening pretty extensively and has a lot of good insight.
https://www.youtube.com/@epicgardening

 

[Rodent]

my project got put on hold until Fall due to an overly busy summer and choice to install a greenhouse prior to the raised beds

 

[Deadalus]

my project got put on hold until Fall due to an overly busy summer and choice to install a greenhouse prior to the raised beds

Greenhouse is the way to go. I planted everything from seed this year and a good amount of it was started in my remodeled greenhouse. I think I tied my latest start ever though because I was working on it. I didn't have all the lights I would have liked but right after I didn't need extra lights, I picked up two 8 footers for really cheap. I have to wire them by next spring.

 

[bleme]

I have a swing set (similar to below) that my kids have outgrown. I've already started using the 'swing' section to grow beans and cucumbers. I think I would like to enclose the 'fort' portion in plexiglass and make a little greenhouse.

 

[Deadalus]

I have a swing set (similar to below) that my kids have outgrown. I've already started using the 'swing' section to grow beans and cucumbers. I think I would like to enclose the 'fort' portion in plexiglass and make a little greenhouse.
View attachment 827678

If you were interested in something less expensive then plexiglass, I'd recommend 6 mil plastic or old windows if you can get a hold of them and don't mind the look. I had one of those swingsets, nearly the same. I'd also suggest treating the wood with some kind of stain or preservative as they aren't made out of treated lumber and start to disintegrate. Whatever you do, get it set up quick. My wife decided she wanted a she-shed in the spot ours was!

 

[bleme]

We have a second hand building supply store that I think will have cheap plexiglass. I would have preferred old windows but the structure has a little bit of movement so I think it needs something with more give. I suppose I could use windows on the roof, which shouldn't flex at all, but then I'd have to worry about hail.

I had also considered the 6 mil plastic, but I have had HDPE buckets crumble after just one summer here. I'd like a solution that doesn't need replaced every 4 months.

 

[Deadalus]

Yeah Restore is potentially good option. There's UV resistant 6 mil, I used it on my greenhouse remodel, it had a translucent green tarp material previously. It's fine after 4 months, hope to get 2 years out of it and I would be satisfied. Some people get more. I'd prefer something solid like a paneled greenhouse for sure in the future but I already had the frame and base 4x4s and the plastic was only $38. If you are patient, people sell the small greenhouses from time to time on FB Marketplace and sometimes there are broken ones offered really cheap if you just wanted some panels instead.