Has anyone used cement/concrete? :) blocks to frame a raised bed? I've got enough to make a good sized bed two deep. Any words of wisdom? Thanks

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), March 14, 2002

Answers

That sounds like a great idea. I want to do the same. any suggestions would be great.

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 14, 2002.

We made 2 4'x 50' beds out of concrete blocks late last summer. One is 2 blocks high and the other is one block high. We filled them with "worm bedding"--ran the used goat bedding and newspaper through the chipper shredder, dried lawn clippings, shredded staw, llama, cow and rabbit poop. Then I sorted all my worm bins, and put about 80 pounds of worms in each one. On the bottom of each bed, we laid down the really good 5 year warranty landscape cloth first. On top, we put down the cheap black weed block cloth. You should see the soil now! Beautiful, rich worm castings! But the 2 block high bed has settled, and the castings are only one block high, and the one block high one has settled by half. Was planning on planting our onion plants and spinach this weekend, but now they're predicting snow. I'm trying to decide whether to shovel the castings from the low one into the deeper one, or take the 2nd row of blocks off the one and start another bed? Also, these beds, as you can imagine, are just full of red worms...does anyone know if I can just plant into them, or do I need to harvest the worms first? Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@centurytel.net), March 14, 2002.

Hi Cindy! I'm looking at expanding the garden this year (maybe not in time for spring planting though), and kinda have to step it up about 5 to 8 feet to the next fairly "level" area, so was thinking it would be neat to build some raised beds and terrace my way up. Was thinking about concrete, so if you go that route, would love to know how it works!

Blocks work good though too. Saw one garden where they laid down 1/2" hardware cloth on the bottom to keep critters from burrowing up and into the beds, then cemented the blocks 3 high. Then ran a copper strip all the way around the outside to deter the slugs.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), March 14, 2002.

Only problem I have had with concrete blocks has been fire ants nesting in the holes that I eradicated with boiling water that got a few close plants.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 14, 2002.

Hi All, Concrete blocks work great for foundations for beds. I have heard of some concerns about some of the minerals leaching out, but I can't remember what that was all about. I do know that if you turn the last level up, and fill it with soil, you can tuck in some extra herbs or plants, for a little extra growing space, for those with smaller gardens. They retain heat well, but lose moisture quickly, so you want to use plants with low moisture requirements if more than 1 block high. Old tires work well, too. Just stack several together, add a good soil and compost, throw in some potato peelings or chunks and straw, instant potato bed. I grow my strawberries in old tires. Smiles! Linda

-- Linda (lindabe@ywave.com), March 14, 2002.

Hi Neighbor! We must be thinking along the same lines. I just started building beds w/ block this last week also. I've seen a lot of 'em from block and can't see why you'd (or me) have a lot of problems.

-- John in S. IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.

We found many cement blocks on our property when we moved here - they were just lying around in the tall grass. We used some of them to make a raised bed & loved it. In fact, I was just out the other day turning the soil & adding some more. Our soil here on our farm in western PA has a lot of clay making it difficult to grow nice root crops: carrots, beets, radishes, etc.... So that's what we did in our raised bed & they were able to use the 8- 12 inches we gave them to advantage! The only problem we had was snakes in the blocks - they never hurt me but gave me a heart attack a few times! ;) This year I've noticed praying mantis egg cases in the blocks, so that's cool! Have fun!

-- heather (h.m.metheny@att.net), March 15, 2002.

Cindy, I would have loved to had concrete block raised beds but the cost was prohibitive and unfortunately we don't have any laying around on our property! I say go for it, you'll love the raised beds.

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 17, 2002.