# Raised Garden Beds



## O.M.F.U.G. (Jan 27, 2012)

How high should these be? I want it to be large enough to be able to hit the ground, but I don't want it to be too huge where I cannot get in it and start planting. I figure about 2 foot would be good enough. Also, I have heard that its not a good idea to use railroad ties because of all the chemicals on it, but I see people doing this all the time. What would be good alternative materials?


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## amym505 (Feb 10, 2012)

I have some old railroad ties that look like they have been weathered and the creosote is gone. I am going to try them for raised beds this year. Also, old tires make good beds. My neighbor uses the big plastic storage containers in her garden, and she always has a nice garden.


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

I have built several - min I would advise - 18inches. Best would be 24 inches though. Pallets are a great source of cheap wood, and most people give these away on craigslist.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

I have several raised garden beds. Mine are made by stacking cinder bricks 2-3 layers high and I usually make them 3 bricks wide on the ends so I can be on either side of the bed and still comfortably reach the middle to plant or pick produce. Additionally you can put PVC Pipe in the holes on one side and bend them cover to the other side then cover with plastic sheeting and you have a cold frame to extend you growing season. The added benefit to building beds this way is that I didnt use mortor to cement them together so they are quick and easy to disassemble or lengthen or shorten as needed. Something else I have done is fill the holes with dirt and then grow flowers to attract bees to pollinate my garden and I have also grown strawberries in them as well. This allows me to grow a gang of stuff in a small area. This system works great for me.


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## AsteroidX (Dec 11, 2012)

Do you have a pic of that set up Lunatic. Sounds interesting.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Not handy but I am sure I can scrounge one up in the next day or so off my external hard drive. I have several of last years set up on it. I have since relocated that raised bed to another location, increased its size and added one more thats slightly smaller else where on my lot.

Thats the beauty of the system. Its very portable in a sense and lends itself to being expanded. Its a very durable set up as there is nothing to deteriorate or rot. It leaches no harmful chemicals into the soil like wood often times does. It looks pretty neat and doesnt have that ghetto look to it that many raised beds often have. The bricks are 1.47 each here locally and if I buy them at Lowes I get 10% off thanks to my retired military ID. A lot of the times you can find the bricks for free salvage too. If you plant anything in the holes of the bricks and you have a warm climate like we do here in Texas you will need to at least water this portion of your raised bed DAILY to keep the plants hydrated. The items planted in the bed will usually go for a few days between waterings.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Im thinking of a little garden in the corner of the yard...any suggestions?


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

I hope this worked?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Avoid rail road ties they are never safe 100%


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

One more freaking time....


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Man sometimes this computer makes me loose my religion!!!!


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

LunaticFringeInc said:


> View attachment 1159
> 
> 
> One more freaking time....


It worked both times looks good


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Great thanks for the pictures


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Can a mod delete one of these duplicate post please? The computer was apparently 2% smarter than I was...\

Post 10 is the duplicate.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

MikeyPrepper said:


> Im thinking of a little garden in the corner of the yard...any suggestions?


First how much sun does this area get? What growing Zone are you in? What veggies do you like to eat?

When I did my first serious garden about 3 years back and had minimal room, I looked at what I could grow the most of, that could grow and produce over a long period of time and what hit me the hardest on my grocery bill each week. Thats what I started growing first and I have kind of expanded from there to include items that will produce through out the season that could be easily stored for later use through dehydrating. For me I eat a lot of salads and asian food dishes. So I went with Tomatoes, Bell Pepper, Onions, Zucchini, Egg Plant and Spinach. These were all things that were pricey or didnt keep well long term fresh that I ate near daily.


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## cecollie (Jan 26, 2013)

Thanks for posting those pictures, Lunatic. I just got a bunch of freebie cinder blocks and my BIL built one for me. It's fairly tall, then put a couple of old containers in and a piece of plywood so it wouldn't be 3 feet deep. I have a seriously screwed up knee and some back problems so I can't get on the ground or squat down. By getting this higher up I can stand up and garden. I can't wait.


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## Recon33alpha (Feb 13, 2013)

Ok, so what did you do to the base before adding dirt to fill the box? Till, weed/grass killer etc...???


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## AsteroidX (Dec 11, 2012)

Cardboard is decent


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

gardening tarp - newspaper works well too.


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## Recon33alpha (Feb 13, 2013)

Thanks everyone, our Menards has blocks on sell for .89 ea, think I will go that route


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

oswegoscott said:


> If your bed is over 8" high you don't need to till before filling. In fact,the compacted soil will help keep water in. Few annual plants extend roots below 8".
> Don't use treated lumber---use blocks, or even 2x10's. I have access to trees,so I've used logs. I personally think tires are nasty looking,plus they probably leak chemicals.
> You could use old stones from fences,if they're on your land--they look great


Right you are osewgoscott. I found that with the bricks stacked 2 high that when filled with dirt the existing vegitation below was a non issue. Thats also a well made point about the compacted soil below helping you hold in the moisture. I moved one of my beds after a season to another location and found that the soil below at ground level had loosened up a bit which might be a good thing if your growing things that will sink some deep roots.


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## walkswithgoats (Dec 16, 2012)

mixing interests here but bear with me.... hugelkulture.... should be mostly initial putting together work and then no weeding and minimal watering the rest of the year. ideally anyways thats the idea.
hugelkultur: the ultimate raised garden beds

personally i'm going to adlib it some. i have no shortage of waste hay, manure, logs, space. my only problem is all i have available to move them with is: a wheelbarrel that the tire is eternally flat and hole in it, buckets, old totes/buckets on a really crappy golf cart that needs alot of luck (and pushing) to get around the hills here, just plain old carrying it in my arms.

so unless someone would like to donate me a small tractor or something then i'm a tad limited. hahaha. 
so anyhow, my idea is to use small trees that i have to trim anyways and will be easy to move along with junk bales to make a hugelkulture bed/beds.

the trees are only a couple inches thick up to maybe 8inches thick. i'm taking them down with a hatchet and saw and dragging them about a half mile so give me some credit  and the trees i've been told are called "tree of paradise". they grow really fast but they stink and arent really very useful. plus the area i'm getting them from is getting overrun with them. when you cut them the wood has a nasty smell and the leaves smell as well (same smell). some woods have different things in them that speed up or slow down decay. like locust is good for fence posts but bad for hugelkulture beds because they decay super slow.

i have goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. the area i will be putting the one bed at least i've already got hay down, cardboard laid out, and beginning to dump guinea pig bedding on it. i have a freakin huge pile of rabbit manure/hay from under my colony cage/cages. that alone is a pile about 5ft tall and covers about 6x4ft of groundspace. 
the goat barn is needing a clean (totally dreading it) and i have 2 old barns that were never cleaned out and are knee deep or better of several year old goat manure/hay. beautiful black soil. one barn is about 10x20ft and the other about 5x10ft.

so here is how i was thinking to put it all together...

layer one: ground {done} 
layer two: hay {done} 
layer three: guinea pig bedding {adding now} 
layer four: combination of junk hay and small cut trees 
layer five: rabbit manure/hay 
layer six: composted goat manure soil

if i can then i would like to make two of these beds. one for veggies and one for grasses and things to cut fresh for the animals as well as to cut and dry for winter feeding. so things like alfalfa, timothy, clovers, etc. (i'm open to ideas of good things to plant on this one. would like to keep it the high nutrition and less "weedy" though as i have 250 acres to cut "weedy" forage and hay from. hahaha.)

on the veggie bed i'm thinking of putting some tomatoes across the top part, underplanted with parsely... a bit downward plant carrots, lettuce, nasturtium... a bit downward plant peppers and onions... a bit downward plant zucchini and crookneck summer squash... and an assortment of herbs along the bottom edge and interspersed among the plants.


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## Wquon (May 9, 2013)

it needs to be 6-8 inches deep. you can reach post anything in a 4 foot bed. remember to have 1-2 feet of the edge clear for mature over hanging plants. good luck!
...and recently rain has been getting more acidic stateside, easy way to keep that in check is to get lime for you soil.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Recon33alpha said:


> Ok, so what did you do to the base before adding dirt to fill the box? Till, weed/grass killer etc...???


In my case I did nothing...just filled it up with cow doo-doo and was done with it. Put my veggies in and then added about a 6 inch layer of betting straw or tree mulch. The mulch was more for helping with water retention than weed suppression. Its worked really well. At the end of the season I just till that crap under with the tiller attachment that goes on the end of my heavy duty weedeater. Its been a great plan of action for me and requires minimal effort on my part. Im pretty lazy so I am all about working smarter not harder, lol.


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