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Vegetable Gardening

New raised raised beds!

nancyjane_gardener

11 years ago

my neighbors are having to move to Hawaii (poor guys!) for a couple of years and they are selling us their 3 raised (as in off the ground) beds at cost! My chiro will be so pleased!
The hubby is in construction and the wife a big time gardener, so I know they're in good shape! They were just built last summer, so I know I have plenty of years of use from them! They are about 3'x8' and about a foot deep
I'll keep my tomatoes, beans, squash and, of course asparagus in the origional raised beds due to the height of the plants and the asparagus having it's own bed. The herb garden is in it's own area
Peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, cukes (mine don't get very big) in the new beds? What others might do well in a 1 ft deep bed? I'm sure the lettuces and greens in the fall will do well.
What about root veges? I have very little experience with them other than radishes.I could have my hubby add some height to one of the beds if, say 2' is enough to grow some .
This kind of gets me excited, cause, if we have to move into town for any reason, we have some beds that will fit in a smaller yard!
I know, I know......ask in the container garden forum, but you guys are the ones I know! Nancy

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Comments (7)

jonhughes
11 years ago
Sounds awesome ;-)
tn_gardening
11 years ago
I'd say you can pretty much grow anything in a 1 foot deep raised bed...even carrots. If you did add a "top hat" section to part of it for the carrots, you'd be golden.
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Nancy the fact that the soil compacts should be notice that it is not appropriate to use as a container mix. It will NOT be well drained enough for use as a container mix. Every time I see your post as a "raised raised bed" I cringe, as you have a raised container with no connection to the ground, which is required to be a raised bed. It is not just semantics, but a different gardening strategy. Al
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nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Hmmmm. Like the top hat idea! Then I could have root veges all down the middle of each bed! Very organized! With the top hat I would have to place them East/West, so they don't shade the side, right? Nancy
tn_gardening
11 years ago
East/West, so they don't shade the side, right? Nancy
=============

I've always heard that you should put a trellis on the North side of the garden so they don't shade things too much (unless you are wanting to shade things).

So, I guess by having them run East to West on the North side of your bed, you'll have good sunlight on the South side of your garden. Try saying that 3 times without getting dizzy :-)
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Now I'm thinking of adding some boards to the bottom and have flowers underneath the growing beds. Or I could put partial shade things such as lettuces, chard etc. But then I would be back to bending. We'll see! Nancy
Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
11 years ago
Nancy: I saw your post in the container forum, but didn't comment because I thought your main question was about root veggies, which I don't grow. I would jump at the chance to own those raised beds if I could afford the price. They sound wonderful. I think you could probably grow any annual vegetable you want if the potting mix was fast draining and the beds have adequate drainage. It will be more like a container than the average raised bed, which wicks to the ground. You will probably want to avoid using real soil or more than 10-15 percent amendments like composted manure. I would choose a mix that is primarily made up of pine or fir bark.

This post was edited by Ohiofem on Tue, Feb 26, 13 at 9:22
nancyjane_gardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks. I'll check into the soil mixes before I get them delivered. I'll have to ask them what's in there, but they only had the fall and winter to use them, so they might not have the right stuff in there anyway! Nancy

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