My New Raised Beds

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by drew51

... Another option is mushroom compost. No herbicides likely in that.

Yes, and Brassicas love it. Try it with your next planting of cabbages but please use it sparingly if it is still organically "hot".

But don't be afraid of compost from a greenery recycling site that is NOP or OMRI certified. They are subject to random chemical sampling on a quarterly basis.

In California, "compost" cannot be sold retail or wholesale without a license from the state. The producer will be inspected (sampled) to insure the product has been "cooked". This does not mean organically certified, but at least you're not getting green plant material. On the otherhand, "mulch" can be anything; e.g., shredded tennis shoes.

Originally Posted by drew51

I myself have various size beds

Very nice!

[drew51]

Originally Posted by Hermitian

Very nice!

Thanks! They looked nice and neat at first, but once everything took off...
I added more beds in the fall. Now the beds look a lot different! Blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are in the beds. The bed with the corn is now filled with strawberry runners. I have other beds too. In the winter picture to the far left, in ground, is one of 8 blackberry plants. I'm adding three more next spring.
Anyway good luck with the projects. I'm certainly having fun with mine!

[mdvpc]

Thanks for all the ideas so far.

[drew51]

In my beds I wanted some regular soil, and not all completely soilless mixes. As those mixes eventually decompose to nothing. I wanted some base. So my beds have about 1/3 garden soil, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 peat moss. I top it with a mixture of shredded leaves and compost each year. I don't have a compost pile but still want to use what I can, such as leaves. I mulch my lawn so no grass clippings. With tomatoes, and brambles, it's best not to compost waste. So otherwise I have little waste.
I think it best to make a gradient of soil so at the bottom I break up the natural soil and dig in this mix. Before I add more mix I recycle card board and other compost. Even branches and such. This is old school stuff. the soil is so rich I never saw any nitrogen deficiencies from this breaking down. For blueberries the mix is different as I want a super low PH so soil is only pine bark, peat moss and perlite. I sometimes use pumice too. It's expensive though. Sulfur is added for the blueberries too. I add in some amendments too. Often though those are added with fertilizers. I do mix in various organic fertilizers too and always add more with the leaves, and compost I add every year. But I also fertilize with chemical fertilizers during the season with water. I try and use only rain water. I have had good success with this mix.
Here is a photo of one 4x4 bed with a Northern High Bush blueberry "Chandler" Surrounded by the white strawberry Pineberry, 3 different cultivars. Also some musk strawberries. I always need to thin these out they grow like crazy. Behind the bed is my raspberry patch. All plants in photo planted in April, photo was taken 2013 08 15.

[Father'sDaughter]

Your son built some great looking beds!

I'm short, with a short reach to match and am currently living with 4' wide beds. On the plus side, I can put three tomato plants in a row. On the negative side, it does get a bit challenging to tend to the one in the middle. I stake, so I get quite and ab workout when I have to reach in to tie them up. If I'm not careful about using my abs to support myself while leaning in, my back punishes me for it! This year I'm thinking of re-arranging things to put all the tomatoes along the outside edges, and planting things that don't need regular attention (peppers, eggplants, etc.) in the middle.

[DogsandDirt]

From my own experience I also like the 3' beds better than 4' wide. I have several 4x4 beds and it does get difficult to reach into the middle for those of us who are vertically challenged. I put in two new 3x6 beds this past spring and they are much easier to manage. The local nursery I get a lot of supplies from has a soil recipe for those beds as follows:

6 bags Soil Mender top soil
3 bags Soil Mender Garden Food
6 bags Vital Earth Organic Compost
2 bags composted cow manure

I don't remember the bag sizes, unfortunately. I like this mixture and the top soil is really nice quality, no rocks or chunks of wood like the top soils from the big box stores. For the winter garden I topped off all the beds off with a hodge podge mixture of Vital Earth compost, mushroom compost, Lady Bug Revitalizer compost, Calloways Organic Compost, and Espoma Tomato-Tone. The Calloways compost I like since it's composted pine bark and adds some air spaces into the mix and made it a little lighter. All the Brassicas growing in there now seem really, really happy, even after the awful ice storm. Guess they don't mind tomato food.

[drew51]

DogsandDirt,
I like the idea of mixing various composts. Best not use the same kind all the time. But compost is used as it decays and must be reapplied yearly.
I have an 8x12 ft bed, and even I can't reach across that one! That was a mistake. I had in mind corn, and it did work well (65 ears this season), but I have to walk on it, which is not good!! It is now a strawberry patch with a 2 foot bare middle to walk, but I may plant some melons there. I can reach 3 feet from the sides for the berries. The melons will be on their own till ripe!

[DogsandDirt]

Drew51,
Can you put a board/plank across the bed do you don't have to walk on the soil? My 4x4 beds are actually one long 4x16 bed broken up into 4 different 4x4 sections (won't be doing that again). Until the plants get big and bushy I walk across the dividers to get to the other side since one short side is up against a fence.

[drew51]

Duh! I never thought of that! That would work!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by drew51

Duh! I never thought of that! That would work!

Only for a little while with tomatoes.

Worth

[drew51]

I made a 3 x 12 ft bed for tomatoes! Actually I'm growing pole beans and melons this next season. I would have made it 4x 12 except no room to do so, and one side is against a shed (12 foot side). But the 2015 season tomatoes are going in it. I grow tomatoes in large containers, some 30 gallon, plenty of room for roots! I grow so much fruit I don't have anymore room! I'm moving in 5 years and will have the room I need to grow an unlimited amount of tomatoes. i can't wait! (I'm moving in 5 years though, so lot's of time to be limited!).

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by drew51

I made a 3 x 12 ft bed for tomatoes! Actually I'm growing pole beans and melons this next season. I would have made it 4x 12 except no room to do so, and one side is against a shed (12 foot side). But the 2015 season tomatoes are going in it. I grow tomatoes in large containers, some 30 gallon, plenty of room for roots! I grow so much fruit I don't have anymore room! I'm moving in 5 years and will have the room I need to grow an unlimited amount of tomatoes. i can't wait! (I'm moving in 5 years though, so lot's of time to be limited!).

Once you catch the disease, there's never enough room.

[drew51]

Originally Posted by Hermitian

Once you catch the disease, there's never enough room.

Yeah, I have the bug! I love growing fruit, and tomatoes are fruits, so they fit right in! I want to grow a lot. I envy you guys in rural settings. I will be moving to a rural county, St Clair. It is beautiful. It borders Lake Huron.
Although I must admit here in the suburbs we have minimal pest pressure. I don't have to deal with dear destroying my fruit trees. It's a great growing environment. Even many insects have yet to find my crops (knock on wood).
We have some nasty ones like The Spotted Wing Drosophila fruit fly. I will scrape my raspberries/blackberries/blueberries if they find me. Worms in your fruit is not cool! I guess I'll have room for tomatoes then! I have no idea if they like tomatoes, if so, then hazelnuts it is!

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by drew51

Yeah, I have the bug! I love growing fruit, and tomatoes are fruits, so they fit right in! I want to grow a lot. I envy you guys in rural settings. I will be moving to a rural county ...

I've been in the rural setting, even 120 acres was too small. But that was decades ago. I've been in suburbia for the last 25 years. Now I'm putting the final touches on a home for retirement I purchased in April. It has what I want: a small single-level house that's easy to clean and a spacious level yard. I'm settling down with just 60 of my favorite perennial fruiting trees, shrubs, vines plus about 100 varieties of vegetables and herbs. I'll be updating the progress over here: Fruit maniac.

[drew51]

Very cool, I'll book mark that thread. Yeah I hope to be there some day too. Just about what i want also! It looks fantastic! I'm looking for the same thing as I'm close to retiring. i live in a 2 story house, and want a single level, smaller, the kids are gone now etc, etc.