Starting a New Raised Bed for a Veggie Garden
Leo Hernandez
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
9 years agoRelated Discussions
What to fill raised beds with for veggie gardening
Comments (2)WOW! You plan to fill your beds with bags of soil????' We go to the soil place or the landscaping yard to get truck loads at a time! Granted, after you fill you raised beds, you just have to top them off with some compost and lovely fill from year to year. Back to your origional idea of how many beds and how large, do you have to do them ALL this year? That's a LOT of work! I started with one (too large) bed and added one per year, sometimes 2. Added compost and soil each year as needed. My origional bed lasted 8 years before the gophers got in and this year we are re-doing it to include an herb garden and fountain. Next year will be the addition of fruit trees. I think what I'm saying is take it small (unless you are really young, have tons of money and time, a tractor would be helpful! And, why not, a crew of gardeners!!) Woo Hoo Have fun! Nancy...See MoreTips to raise organic veggies in my new raised beds
Comments (12)Thanks for your continuing suggestions! A couple of weeks ago, my Tomato plants' leaves started to change their color and become a bit brownish. I was really worried that the mild hale we had one night (roughly a week after they were planted) might have caused blight. I took a couple of samples (one bad looking old leaf and another newly growing one) to a local farming store (OC Farm Supplies in Anaheim, CA). The guy there was so patient and cooperative, he told me that he can't see any kind of disease with it and felt I might be watering them too much. Relieved, I came home and cut down on my watering routine of every other day to twice a week. It's been a week since and my plants are looking good already. Additionally, I went to the beach early Sunday morning and collected a couple of buckets full of Kelp. I soaked them in a big 13 gallon bin by filling it with water for about 12 hours. I took the thick juicy water out and added one part of this juice to an equal part of water and gave them to all my plants. There was enough left for me to give to my trees as well. This juice is THICK. Afterwards, I took out small chunks of this Kelp and laid it around my plants and covered them up with aged horse manure compost (which could double up as mulch, too). I am planning to repeat this process once a month throughout the growing season. From what I read, this thing is full of nutrients, so I am hoping this will help my plants to have enough of N-P-K. I bought Dr.Earth's Tomato, Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer (5-7-3) but haven't fed them any of it yet. If I continue feeding them Kelp juice every other week, would that be enough or should I still be fertilizing more? I want to keep away from any store bought feed (like Dr.Earth's), if I can. Your expert advise will be grately apprecaited. Thanks, Telugu Raithu...See MoreAnyone using a coldbox over their raised bed garden to WS veggie
Comments (8)No coldboxes here, but we do have 2 raised beds about 3' x 6'x 18" high which we winter sowed "directly" late last winter (started mid-March, after most of the snow melted. One box contained both Sugar Snap (snow peas) & shelling peas. The 2nd box had greens which we just planted as the need arose. Over time we had spinach, Buttercrunch lettuce, a nice Chard, + 3 crops of a nice mesclun mix. These planting boxes did not get added to the WS container count because the multiple varieties were all sown directly, and at different times rather than in mini-greenhouses & being transplanted as is usual; but the process sure worked well for us. I believe y'all have too little cold for winter and we have way too much! I send all of you best wishes for your winter-sowing efforts....See MoreRaised bed veggie garden problem
Comments (6)Many of us have similar problems even in suburban yards where we planted trees years ago that are now invading the garden 10 or 20 or 40 feet away. If you dig down along the edge of the bed you can cut them, but if they have never been cut they may be as big as your arm so be prepared. Once you get the big ones, if you come back every year or two they will be small and fibrous and much easier to maintain. It will not solve any problem you may have with deeper roots sucking moisture from below. If it seems like you can't get enough water on even after removing roots you can get to, it may be that. But it depends on the species, soil, climate etc. so you may not have such a problem with spruces in your locale. A pick axe is good for cutting roots when you get to them, or the other good gardening tool for digging is a pick mattock. It has a heavy chopping blade good for loosening tight soil and rocks, and a pick for really dense soil or prying out bigger rocks. I got a nice long handled one from easydigging.com (no affiliation) that has been an indispensable tool....See Moremaidinmontana
9 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
9 years agomaxinmontrose
9 years agoLeo Hernandez
9 years agoLeo Hernandez
9 years agoSkybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
9 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
9 years agoLeo Hernandez
9 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
9 years ago
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Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado