Gardening 2012

[treesmith]

Good chance of rain today, and Carl had borrowed my groundie, so I just took it easy and piddled around the house. Got the ground tilled up for our raised beds. I quartered some cedar logs from a job several years ago to make the beds. I moved the frames, tilled the ground up pretty good, then put the frames back in place and scooped out some of the dirt so I can add top soil tomorrow. I've got two of them so far, roughly 4'x8' each. I bought enough top soil to do two more, at least. I hope to get some stuff planted tomorrow. First time at the raised bed game, so I'm anxious to see how it goes.

 

[Jack]

That looks COOL!

 

[Burnham]

I bet you'll like them, Scott. Those are nice looking frames, I agree with Jack .

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Came out nice Scott. I have only been able to bring home smaller poles for ours. Not much enough to quarter. Those came out nice with the corners and such. Cut some red worms loose in the organics you put in those beds and they help bunches.

 

[treesmith]

I cut that one down for a customer 6 years ago. It was approximately 60' tall, which is a rather tall cedar for around here, and was thicker-trunked than most. I quartered up some two years ago for raised flower beds, and decided to use the rest of it for some veggie beds. I was going to hew a mantle out of it, but I've decided to wait on a nice red oak log for that. I'm wanting a mantle roughly 4"x12"x6' long. I cut a good one up a few weeks ago before I thought about.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

oooops

 

[SoonerFan]

Mitered corners look good. I have to admit, never seen that before on a flower bed frame.

Does that say something about your personality?

 

[treesmith]

You sayin' I've got a "mitered" personality, Dennis? It was simply the best idea I could come up with to finish the corners.

Well, the first two raised beds are about done. Got them leveled pretty well and filled with topsoil while ago. I went ahead and built a "trellis" over one of them, so we can plant pole beans at one end, and cucumbers at the other. I've never tried cucumbers on a trellis, but I've heard they do well. I wound up with enough topsoil left to do two more beds, providing I can find the time to cut another cedar for the frames.

 

[Burnham]

Looks nice, Scott. Real nice. What did you put under the topsoil?

 

[treesmith]

I was going to use cardboard, as I read somewhere on the internet, but I figured it might take too long to break down, so I used newspaper and some brown packing paper (I guess that's what you'd call it...comes in wads in packages, anywho). I wanted to prevent any resident grass/weeds from coming up right away. Like I said, this is my first try at this, so it'll be a learn-as-I-go ordeal. I've already changed my mind on the cukes. I'm gonna plant pole beans at one end of the trellis and pole butterbeans at the other. They should grow together over the top, with the beans all hanging conveniently for picking...at least that's the plan.

 

[Burnham]

Let us know how it works out. The trellis grid, is that concrete reinforcement wire?

 

[arborworks1]

I'm going to borrow your idea, Scott. We are getting some cool weather again now. But I figure its just brief spell

 

[Dave Shepard]

Looks like galvanized stock panels.

 

[Burnham]

I thought it might be those, too.

 

[stig]

I just showed those pictures to my wife.

Now I'll have to make something like it

That was an absolutely great idea! I can just picture the cucumbers hanging there.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I like the raised beds, they look like paintings with dirt, quite artistic. Raised beds or whatever, do try the aerated compost tea that I gabbed about more than enough last year. It is wonderful.

 

[brendonv]

Nice scott. Ashly wants a veggy garden, and I have plenty of Cedar!

 

[treesmith]

Let us know how it works out. The trellis grid, is that concrete reinforcement wire?

Dave got it right. Stock panels. I had 4 of them up for bean trellises before, just two to a row, zip-tied to T-posts, 8' apart. We've since quit using that particular garden spot, because of two oak trees that keep the ground sapped. The tomato "cages", as we call them, are made of concrete reinforcement wire.

Here are some shots from a minute ago. Four Better Boy tomatoes, 4 cayenne pepper plants, 2 short rows of carrots, 2 short rows of radishes, and several cucumbers are planted along the short trellis of cattle panel. In the other bed, Louisiana Purple Pod pole beans at one end, with 4 bell peppers nearby, and running butter beans at the opposite end, with two hills of straightneck squash. Still quite a bit of room for other stuff. This raised bed/square-foot gardening is all foreign to me. My dad has two rows of tomatoes, over 200' long, already in the ground. He'll plant more as the weather warms. He'll wind up planting over an acre of peas. I guess what i'm saying is, I grew up planting HUGE amounts of stuff. These little beds look almost silly in comparison. But they say this form of gardening is very efficient.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Cardboard works well, IME, just overlap the seams well, 6"+ should do well.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Just a note Scott. The trellis idea works great for green beans. That's how we do it in our garden and harvesting is easy peasy. When they die, just use a weed burner to clean the trellis

 

[SoonerFan]

If the trellis is galvenized, don't get it too hot with the burner... it will take the galvenized off and rust will take over.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Nah, it already rusty cause we used the stuff for concrete, and you only need to flame the plants. Does not take much. Just direct the heat (not touch with the actual flame) until they catch. They don't burn hot.

 

[MasterBlaster]

All good tips.

 

[treesmith]

To those of you who have experience with cukes on a trellis...do you have to train them onto the trellis, tie them onto the trellis, or are they like beans, etc....they'll find it themselves?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

You train them... Either tie or weave the plants as they grow.