Can anyone explain to me how to do raised vegetable beds. I was looking at the Rock Solid sight and their setup looks very nice. They mulch with hay between the rows and have had vegetables come back every year! My husband asked me if you would till a garden of this type? Do you have to uncover everything for it to come through? Lynn

-- Lynn (JohnnyPFC@Yahoo.com), June 04, 2001

Answers

We use a combination fo biofrench intensive gardening and Ruth Stouts no till gardening using mulch to suppress weeds and feed the soil. We started by plowing the whole garden as deeply as we could with a tractor then tilling it as deep as we could with a rototiller. Then we laid out walk ways with string and stakes and shoveled the loose soil out of the walkways on to the beds. Never make the beds wider than you can reach across from the sides. Four feet is good. NEVER STEP ON YOUR BEDS. I have been known to yell at people for stepping on mine. We use what ever we have or find to mulch the walkways and after the plants are up about six inches mulch the beds with wheat straw. We don't use anything for holding the beds in shape and have no problem. The straw will prevent eroision. The straw on the beds will hold enough moisture to keep the plants fine except in a really bad drought. About ever three years we rake the straw and leaves that are not composted in the walkways back and till the walkways and shovel the compost directly onto the beds. No need to have to tote tons of compost and spread it over the beds compost it in the walkways. We put newspaper, cardboard, leaves, wood shavings what ever we find in the walk ways with a layer of leaves or shavings on top to make it look good and can walk through the garden even during a rain and not get our shoes even diry. We never till the beds, never hoe them, never water, never fertilize except with the compost, never use herbicides and no pesticides. Have been doing this for over twenty years and have found no better way yet. If I left out anything please email.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), June 05, 2001.

My rasied beds are 4 x 4 foot squares, with wooden frames of 2"x4" boards. We can't till our beds, but we don't need too, either. We dug down about 10 inches with shovels, tossing the dirt onto a tarp. We then begin layering 2" of peat moss, compost, manure (well rotted), dirt, and then started over again, until the bed was high enough (4"). What I do is plant or transplant as needed, and use peat moss for mulch, as any plant can come through. When a plant is finished, I pull it, then mix a trowel or two of compost, manure, and peat moss into it's spot and turn the soil lightly, then replant. I find my three rasied beds to be the very most productive on my property, and I really do enjoy going out to take care of them. I don't think it takes me 10 minutes a day to water, weed, and fuss over them. Sure easier than my traditional style market garden. Just for the record, Hubbie and I timed how long it took the two of us to make a raised bed out of our clay soil, including digging, layering, and building the frame - one hour, 20 minutes.

(I have square foot garden type raised beds - which basically means intensive planting, and keeping fertile soil through side dressing and ammendments)

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), June 05, 2001.

My beds are 4 feet wide and about 120 feet long. I left the grass between each bed a row of 4 feet. This is where I walk to plant and weed. I also do not walk on the garden beds. I do till the grownd. The way this is set up tilling is easy because the garden plots are so long. I have 5 beds running North and South. This gives all the plants equal exposure to the sun. I plant intensive and use alot of mulch.

Hope this helps and may God bless.

-- Tom S. (trdsshepard@yahoo.com), June 05, 2001.

Do any of you actually have plants come back every year? The only thing in my limited gardening experience that has come back is our Marigolds or other flowers. How about vegetables? Thank you for your responses I wish we had started with raised beds this year!

Lynn

-- Lynn (JohnnyPFC@Yahoo.com), June 05, 2001.

Lynn,

I change what is planted yearly in my intensive raised beds.

If you want, you can plant onion seeds one year, and thin out to 3" between by eating the young green onions thinnings the first year, then what isn't eaton will start growing toward large bulb size the second year. Strawberry and rhubarb will come back, as will aspargus, but you'll have to mulch. Most veggies do better if they are relocated yearly, to avoid pest build-up, soil depleation, and help prevent diesease of family crops (ex- broccoli, califlower, cabbage and brussel sprouts). If you leave one or two carrots to grow all year, bloom and seed, you'll have about 4 ft sq of carrots per plant left from the previous year. They'll pop up at just the right time. Tomatoes and some melons will self seed in the same place (or a different one) if you leave a very ripe fruit or two in your next planned spot. I do NOT suggest this form of seeding.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), June 05, 2001.

FWIW--- I make long, permanent raised beds that are four feet wide and two feet deep. The sides are held up by large stones. I never till. There are hardly any weeds. This technique has rewarded me with the biggest crops I have ever experienced. Last year, all of our tomatoes were volunteers. No volunteer tomatoes this year though (that was kinda weird). We had volunteer sunflowers last year and this year.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 06, 2001.

I planted spaghetti squash last fall, and harvested a few before the frost killed the vines. We later tilled them under, small fruits and all, and lo and behold, this spring, they came up on their own, and did ten times better than they ever have when I planted them on purpose, and even seem to taste better than the originals.

This year I made my beds about four feet wide. I layer the manure, leaves, and hay right on the beds, let it stay for a while, then till it under, smooth out the dirt somewhat, and instead of marking my beds, I mark my pathways, and in walking on the pathways, they sink down, thus leaving "raised beds". This has worked great for me, and is less work than building up beds, and the water doesn't run off so bad.

-- Lela R. Picking (stllwtrs55@aol.com), June 06, 2001.