Building a raised bed

[VC Scott]

My daughter just got married and while the happy couple is on their honeymoon, good ole dad is going to put in a raised bed at their new place. The soil in this area is decomposed granite which is completely devoid of any organic material. The good news is that the soil drains well.

So, starting from scratch, what would you recommend for building this raised bed? My daughter wants an assortment of veggies and herbs.

[Redbaron]

Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Install from Start to Finish This guy knows what he is doing. Hope it helps.

[VC Scott]

Thanks Scott

[FaithHopeLove]

What a nice thing to do for your daughter and new son in law, is it a surprise?

[KathyDC]

Pretty easy when you boil it down to essentials, you need some non-treated lumber to match the dimensions you want to build, some deck screws that won't rust, and weed barrier. We built the frame, used a staple gun to affix weed barrier onto the bottom, then plopped it onto the ground.

We made a 4x4 bed and filled it with a mixture of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost mixed from a few different sources (we had cow manure, and an even mix of compost from leaf clippings, mushrooms and seaweed).

Kathy

[VC Scott]

Originally Posted by FaithHopeLove

What a nice thing to do for your daughter and new son in law, is it a surprise?

Not a surprise. My daughter has gone green. She believes in being self sufficient and avoiding manufactured products. She makes her own soap, makes meals from scratch and now will be growing her own veggies.

[Crandrew]

The cheapest/best method I've found is to use the 6'x1/2" redwood fence boards($2.5 ea). All you need is 6 of those and 1 2x2 for the corner supports. For $17 you can build a redwood 6'x3'x12".

[FaithHopeLove]

Very cool, good luck with your project!

[VC Scott]

Thanks for all who responded. Because it is a rented house, I will use the redwood as suggested by Crandrew. No sense spending a lot of money.

I will go with 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss/coir, which is the basic square foot gardener combination. I might throw in a little rock dust, worm castings and a bit of Tomato Tone.

In my in ground tomato field I experimented with alfalfa pellets with molasses. The row with the alfalfa pellets has visibly outperformed every other row, but I am afraid it would be too hot for raised bed.

[VC Scott]

Originally Posted by Crandrew

The cheapest/best method I've found is to use the 6'x1/2" redwood fence boards($2.5 ea). All you need is 6 of those and 1 2x2 for the corner supports. For $17 you can build a redwood 6'x3'x12".

For those folks in the midwest, the stuff on the ground surrounding Candrew's raised bed is what we Southern Californians call "dirt". When I moved to LA from Minnesota, I was surprised that dirt can be a color other than black.

[Crandrew]

hahah Scott, but even more applicable is the fact that its actually sand I garden on sand, so I need to bring in all my own organic matter

Glad I was able to help. The year before I built a redwood raised bed out of 2x6 and 4x4....WAY OVERKILL but more than likely it will outlast my lifetime.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Horse manure should be the base of your container mix, in my view. At least 50% composted (6 months out of the horse) horse manure will keep the mix light, provide nutrients, and drain well. There should be a lot of it in your area. My beds are around 80% composted horse manure, and it works very well indeed.

[tlintx]

I used plain cedar fence boards (6' x 5"), since I couldn't find the redwood around here. And I only did one layer, since the dirt underneath is fine, just grassy. They seem to hold up fine (several years, easily), but the redwood ones look so much more beautiful! Crandrew's pictures are inspiring!

I bought some short stakes (the ones that are in a box of 12 or 24) and used those for the corners. I currently have my Florida weave stakes fastened to them, but I hope eventually to put up a PVC structure to provide shade in the summer and warmth in the winter!

You might want to look into a raised salad table, too -- I find that, as much as I enjoy the other veggies, the number one thing we eat from the garden is baby greens. And it's so much more enjoyable to pick them at table height, sans slugs.

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by VC Scott

I will go with 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss/coir, which is the basic square foot gardener combination. I might throw in a little rock dust, worm castings and a bit of Tomato Tone.

if you follow mels mix and get 5 compost sources you won't be disappointed. i also added azomite and worm castings.