This concept is widely marketed in north america as "earth box". I think it worth the doing in dry climates, or where there are serious soil problems like predatory nematodes. In the cooler, wetter climates it isn't necessary and would represent a waste of resources.

It was very interesting, though it seemed quite expensive!
It's something I might be interested in if/when I move into town and have to pay for city water. I think only one or two beds per year at that price, though. Nancy

Your beds look great. I am sure you will love them.

I put this concept into practice in my 4 x 10 garden beds several years ago and the plants really have done better. Plus, I hooked my beds to my rain barrels so my water reservoirs fill every time it rains. My reservoirs are big enough that even in the two-month drought we had this summer, I never had to water these beds.

pkozul, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your blog!! I've sent the address to other gardening folks who also liked it a lot.

Where I live, SE Ohio (I guess that would be in the lower part of the North Eastern US from where you're sitting) rain and moisture is either too much or not enough resulting in using soaker hoses and the like.

This year we had rain, rain, and yet more rain resulting in the worst garden I've had in over 40 years.

It was really refreshing/eye opening to see how folks adapt to gardening in a desert climate. Do you use anything to prevent-sun scald, or wind burn-green house cloth, etc.?

Something that occurred to me after I'd looked at the Blog was that whenever I look at something like that I immediately start thinking of how I'd do it differently. Not with yours?

One "intellectual" question, could you have simply dug a rectangular trench mounding the dirt around it and laid in the plastic cloth and proceeded from there? Obviously wouldn't do that on a patio or where asthetics come into play.

Many thanks,

Ev

Hi there,

Thanks for having a look and offering your comments. Also thanks for sharing my blog link with others.

Although it might seem like an expensive way of setting up your veggie beds (i.e. $330 for each bed), in actual fact, you could probably deduct the cost of the raised bed, assuming that you would've had the raised beds to begin with. So the "wicking" component of the project is really just over $100. In addition to that, you could deduct even more if you go without some of those bits and pieces for joining pipes, as even the agi pipe itself is probably optional, as I think the vertical PVC pipe is enough to get water into the reservoir layer.

I think time and effort (as well as planning) were the major aspects to setting up these wicking beds. I'm sure the expenses will be well worth it. It's a small investment if it ends up working really well for us. I remember how often I needed to keep the veggie patch watered at my folks' place - every day in summer, a good watering was needed. With wicking beds, people who have them claim they might only need to top up with water once a week, and for some it's even once a fortnight - and yes, in summer!

Ev, I have seen exactly what you're talking about. You could dig, let's say, a 30cm deep pit, and line that pit with plastic. You could then fill it with the material you choose for the reservoir layer (rocks, sand, and even organic stuff like wood chips, but that's another story altogether). You could then put some fabric on top (totally optional, but nice if you want to keep your soil layer and reservoir layer from getting mixed in with each over time), and finally mound your soil, let's say, to a height of 30cm.

Actually, the guy who pioneered this entire technique here, Colin Austin, has a DVD which shows how to set up exactly what you have mentioned - in-ground wicking beds.

You can find information on in-ground wicking beds here:

Wicking worm bed

I will take some photos soon to show the progress of all 6 of the beds. My first impressions are very positive. I love the low-maintenance factor. There are still some challenges though, such as how to construct a frame or staking system to support the tomatoes, which are growing quite fast.

Cheers,
Pete

You might consider what are known as feedlot panels- welded wire fence sections used to contain livestock, erected as an A-frame. Concrete reinforcing wire might be another option. A wider mesh makes harvesting easier. they are available in rolls as well, if you want alot, and you could fabricate a serpentine support through the middle of the bed that would be essentially self-supporting.