[AT] Raised bed gardening

[Steve W.]

Mike Meulenberg wrote:
> Hi all, when we moved to our new house late last year we really
> looked forward to having a garden again. With 10 acres of ground I
> figured I could till up a nice garden, as I had done at prior houses,
> and all would be good. Well, things didn't really work out that way.
> When I went to till the area we chose, (good sunlight, water supply)
> I made about 6 or 8 passes over it with the old TB Horse, and I had
> barely scratched the ground, it was pure clay, and very hard. My wife
> would like me to put in a raised bed garden which I have never done.
> I have the building part down pat, but I'm curious to know how deep
> to make it, and any other things I may want to know, so I'm not
> re-doing it in a couple years thinking, "I wish I would have known
> that when I put it in".
> 
> Thanks, Mike M

You can do it a couple ways. I know of one guy who has a 30 X 30 raised 
bed with the entire thing being one bed. To me that is a LOT of wasted 
space.
I built mine so that I can go with square foot methods or conventional 
growing. I built each bed so that I can reach easily to the center from 
either side and around 10" deep with each bed being 20 feet long and a 
path between beds that I can mow easily. This way the bed is deep enough 
that it retains water but not so deep that it costs a fortune to build 
or maintain.

I wouldn't go much deeper than a foot regardless. Not many things that 
gardeners grow root deeper than that (if they do just build one bed 
taller for that crop) The BIG thing is the soil. The advantage to raised 
beds is that you can tailor the soil to match the crop. That is when the 
soil mixes become fun.
I start with a good blend of top soil, compost, peat moss, vermiculite, 
sand. This is the base mix for all the beds. The additives vary 
depending on what I am growing in the bed.

One thing i should have done was to install a frost free water outlet in 
the ground at each bed. That way you can set up watering equipment easily.

I know of folks who built the beds raised up off the ground so that they 
could reach in without bending as well. Looked like a neat trick for low 
growing things like leaf lettuces, radishes, strawberries, and such.

One thing to think about as well is if you wanted a greenhouse to start 
plants in. They are really handy to have for small plants and growing 
things in the cold. I plan on a new one this summer if I can get the 
time/money together.

-- 
Steve W.