Awwww... what cute little baby lupins! Lupins have the cutest seedlings.

Lynda

Very nice! The lupine seedlings are darlings. I transplanted a few violets from the yard to a bed, because they are so very pretty, and their foliage too when they are allowed to grow, instead of being mowed.

Karen

Jeez...you want violets? I did them out of my flower beds by the handfuls. I'll send you those with the oxalis. :)

The seedlings are very cute. They grow really fast once you get them in the dirt. I don't have the patience to build raised beds. I just pile leaf mulch and straw on top of the ground and weed as needed.

Oh, for goodness sakes, Token, a raised bed takes about an hour to build. I go to the lumber yard, give them my order, and walk out 10 minutes later with all the lumber cut to size. All I need to do is screw it together and stain.

My soil here is lousy--total clay. The beds allow me to start with some good stuff and add compost throughout the year. Plus, I'm very linear. I like stuff to line up.

Hello, architect? ;-)

Nice raised bed Token.
I really want some someday. I get tired of tilling!

I also like your raised bed with WS veggies.
Looks like quite the set up. You have water there
in the PVC pipes as well??

Very neat.
Mary

I apologize Retired Prof. I wrote Token.
oops!
Mary

Mary: Yes, the cross bar on the bottom has been drilled with quarter inch holes. I hook the PVC up to a hose with a regulator, and it gently sprays water around the bottom of the plants.

Prof

There are places that will cut the lumber to size for you? Do they charge extra?

I have nasty clay here too. That's why I go to the landfill so often for the FREE composted leaves they give back to the residents.

Great pics, Prof! Lovely raised beds! Now I want to see your girls! Get busy with that new camera!!

Token, Home Depot, around here anyway, offers the first cut free. If a single piece of wood needs more than one cut, it's a buck a piece.

Oooh, I like that square thig-a-ma-jig with the twine running through. Looks like something I would have and could use.
The Hellebore is beautiful and so are the Violas. Getting a bit of zonal envy here. Had some snow squalls today mixed with sun and rain, and yes, two rainbows! At least there was colour in the sky. :O)

Lowe's offers it too...but usually we just cut plywood and sheet goods.

Did I mention FREE leaf mulch? I'm just cheap I guess. I like linear too, but gardening is where I let my hair down and relax a LOT.

I have issues.

When I made my first beds last year, I went to HD for the lumber and asked them to cut. They told me they only cut to fit inside a car! What kind of car did I have? Are you kidding me?

Lowe's wouldn't cut at all. Tried to sell me a circular saw so I could do it myself.

So... in between the two is lumber yard. I stopped there on a whim and asked for what I needed. No problem. Each cut is $.30 (yes, thirty cents) and they minimize cuts. Then they load into the back of the Jeep. The new box (pic #1) cost me $30 total.

We don't have a source for free mulch here that most of us would probably use. The county mulches its stuff along with private drop-offs. Local gardeners stay away from it because of contamination and pesticides. I started composting on my own last year and just picked up another bin on Freecycle.

I don't have much available space and that, in combination with lousy soil, make raised beds a good approach for me. Plus, they're easy to maintain, minimize weeding, and can double as hoop houses very easily. I have PVC hoops for all of them.

Very neat, I like the raised beds. I would build some but hubby will refuse to cut the grass if he has more areas to use the weed trimmer around ;)

I like seeing the sprouts. I have large lettuce ones and have not planted them out yet. I should do that tonight!

Karen

Awe Prof... ya shoulda told HD that your car was 4X6!

Prof's next car.

{{gwi:379660}}

Hahahahaha! You guys are too much!

Lovely, both the idea for cutting lumber and the beds. I think using the pvc for irrigation was brilliant prof. I just finished my first sfg and need to get pics to post. I can't wait to put stuff in there.
I have nasty clay and the low point of our block so it's standing water all spring really. Yuck. I hope my tiny bed helps.

Beautiful pics, Prof! I also like the wild violets, and have transplanted a few myself. :) Your raised beds are wonderful! And what kind of camera are you using? Really nice.

Great pictures, Prof! So what all do you have planted in that veggie bed? Mine is semi raised, but not square. Since it's in the front yard, I went with a curved design to make it look more decorative. The first year, I measured everything very carefully, but didn't put up a grid. I use graph paper to draw everything out ahead of time, so I know exactly where to put things, and how much will fit. This is my third year, so I'm not measuring anymore, but I cram a lot in there.

As far as soil goes, mine was clay too, but when I built the bed, after digging out the brand-new sod, I went to the garden center with DH's pickup and got a whole load of compost. The compost really broke up the clay underneath. Now, I just add a few bags of compost in the spring, and the soil is awesome. Nice and loose, and no tilling required.

Bonnie

I've been using both sand and compost to break up the clay along the wall of our building. The soil there is great now! I haven't yet amended the new bed around the patio... it's going be a bit of tough digging to get that "grass" out! Too many years of the boys stomping on it to get to our patio, has really compacted it!

Rosebush: It's my new camera (still reading through the manual). Panasonic Lumix TZ5. Thank you for the compliment on the beds.

Highalt: When I first decided to do raised beds, I found some plans online that knocked my socks off. If only I were handier with tools! Reality check, Joe: you need to stick to the basics.

I SQF garden, so the beds are marked off that way. In this bed, I have the peas, spinach, different kinds of lettuce, arugula and radishes. Radishes are done in half the time as lettuce, so I pull them and sow more lettuce in their place. And then keep going and rotate those two.

And, yes, I fill with mushroom soil, compost and vermiculite. No tilling required is right!

Prof

Nice baby pics, prof.

I always want to nag my husband to build raised beds for my toms in fall so they'll be nice and settled for spring planting. But my nag list is always so long, that job seems to get bumped off. Maybe this year.

Our best friend is a homebuilder, a great source for free building materials. Last year he made me a huge compost screen from leftover "junk" in his workshop. Every year I get my tomato stakes by picking through his wood pile. Maybe I need to start a nag list for him, too.

Karen

I forgot I have some wild violets too. I got them in a trade last year (plant trade)

I saw them sprouting. I hope the bunnies did not get them. I was looking forward to them blooming. Yours are pretty!
I am hoping to split mine and transplant them other places this year.

Karen

Hi Prof: I love your raised beds. I made one myself some years ago with wood from some discarded kitchen cupboards and hinges from Lee Valley sold for that purpose. I started doing sq. ft. gardening with some of the same veggies you use: radish, lettuce, etc. and beans along the back growing on stakes. But alas, the cedars have grown and shaded the bed, and this year, it's all rotting and I need to replace it, but the thought of doing it myself is a bit overwhelming. It is now filled with several types of lamium, luxiuriant bleeding hearts, geraniums, solomon's seal, and columbines, so maybe I'll remove the rotted wood and leave it.

We have wild violets here but quite a different type. They have underground stolons which can survive standing water. They also produce a gazillion seeds each year, so they are a problem. I spent several hours last week clearing a patch of my backyard of them so I can plant some squash. Once they get started for the year, you are stuck, unless you want to use a pesticide which I don't. I envy your order and straight clean lines but I'd need a ton of help to achieve that. Keep it up!!