Raised bed gardens?

[ticks]

My parents this year want to do some raised beds for our veggies this year. What are some of the dimensions you would use? How deep? How big?
And I still plan on gardening with geese. Just in a different garden

 

[patandchickens]

Width should be 2x however far your parents are comfortable reaching. This varies among people more than you might think so it is really worth their crouching down with their toes on the edge of a rug, reaching forward as if they were thinning carrot seeds, and MEASURE how far out is the maximum comfortable. It is exceedingly annoying to have a bed wider than you can get to without having to lean one hand in the middle of it or do weird cantilevered gymnastics.

Depth depends on your purpose in having raised beds and what you want to grow. If it's just to warm soil earlier in spring, and/or because they are trendy and look neat, there is not a lot of point in much deeper than 6-8" tops. If you are on bedrock and want to grow deep-rooted things like long carrots, you may need 12-18".

Have fun,

Pat

 

[ticks]

Width should be 2x however far your parents are comfortable reaching. This varies among people more than you might think so it is really worth their crouching down with their toes on the edge of a rug, reaching forward as if they were thinning carrot seeds, and MEASURE how far out is the maximum comfortable. It is exceedingly annoying to have a bed wider than you can get to without having to lean one hand in the middle of it or do weird cantilevered gymnastics.

Depth depends on your purpose in having raised beds and what you want to grow. If it's just to warm soil earlier in spring, and/or because they are trendy and look neat, there is not a lot of point in much deeper than 6-8" tops. If you are on bedrock and want to grow deep-rooted things like long carrots, you may need 12-18".

Have fun,

Pat

Thanks Pat,
Well, probably it will be how comfortable I am. I will most likely be doing the work. I want my pepepr garden to be very large this year, (large for me) maybe ffifty or so plants. We lose them every year to the weeds and I think having raised beds will make it easier to weed and easier to keep clean.

 

[TanksHill]

Raised bed are definitely easier to weed.. All that nice loose soil everything just pops right out. My beds are all 4 ft across and vary from 8 to 12 ft. I think one could even make them more narrow if necessary. Sometimes I need to walk around and reach form the other side. I did my new beds this year 18 inches deep. The soil is not to much deeper than the 12's but the edge is easier to sit on while working. Remember to consider weed fabric and wire if you have gophers and such. Good luck.

 

[ticks]

So you basically put a frame on the ground and fill it with soil?

 

[TanksHill]

Yes. You can build your raised bed from anything, concrete blocks, rocks, wood. I am no expert but it's just about building up the soil. Making it deep and fluffier than whats native. If that makes sense. For me I have huge gopher issues. So I use wire on the bottom of my beds. Stapled on and then fill with soil. Last fall I layered the new beds with straw, horse manure and the mixed in some store bought compost. This spring almost all is broken down and mixing well.

 

[inchworm]

Our ground wasn't level enough to just plop the frame on the ground. My boxes are actually on legs - it seemed easier than getting a backhoe to level the ground. That means my boxes have a bottom. The bottom is made of slats of 2x4's to allow for drainage. The inside is lined with landscaping fabric to let the water out but keep the soil in.

Since the beds are raised 1-2 feet off the ground, I don't have to bend over so much. And my chickens hide out underneath when they want shade or when it is raining.

HTH,
Inchy

 

[ticks]

Thanks
I'm gonna get my peppers started indoors today.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Hey, ticks, we built our first raised bed this year! mine is right on the ground, 4' wide x 8' long and they are 16 inches deep.

 

[SKR8PN]

Ticks...we made our raised beds 4' x 8'. That way we could reach them pretty easy AND we only had to buy 8' long lumber.

Here is a couple of them....