# Raised garden beds??



## backbay2 (Aug 13, 2009)

I am wanting to build a raised garden bed. My plan is to start with one and eventually have three. My question is, is 4x12 a good starter, or should I make it 6x12. I am looking at 2x6x12 cedar stacked three high. so is 18" enough? whatever I make this first garden, the other two will be matching. So, will there be enough room to plant in the 4x12, which is what I prefer, or do I need bigger. I'm hoping to get this done by next Friday, and I wouldn't mind some advice on fall garden plants that I can plant...... Thanks


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## locolobo (Dec 2, 2005)

4' wide will be easier to work across.
Greens for winter crops here. Anything in the cabbage family, lettuce, carrots, turnips, beets, radishes, kale, chard, Start your onions in the fall. They will mature about 6 months later. I'm sure I left something out. Search the I-net. Lots of good info out there. Not sure where you are but if in Houston or further south, either zone 8 or 9. Again the net will help


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

I have ten beds. 16 foot long, 4 foot wide, 16" high. Three feet apart. 
You don't have to build them that tall but they are easy to weed and work in being that tall. 

Four feet across is easy to reach across to weed, plant, etc. Also you don't waste when using dimensional lumber. 

I grow ten tomato plants in a 4x16 bed. I plant my beds with the plants evenly spaced like the five dots on a domino, not in rows. Items like carrots I sprinkle broadcast over an area and thin 1" apart later. 
I have fill in items like onions & garlic tucked into blank spots or corners. 

As an example a 4' x4' of Roma green beans will keep a family of 4 in plenty of beans. You will want to work out a plan on paper three seasons in advance so you keep the spaces productive. 

Right now you can plant Broccoli, cauliflower, green multiplying onions, kale, chard, yellow onions and carrots, I have all these going, planted the carrots this week. Coming soon in October you can put in strawberries, collards, mustard greens, turnips, beets, garlic, leeks, shallots, cabbage, lettuce, sugar snap peas, cabbage and asian veggies like pak choy, those are my usual crops. 
Also the fall herbs like flat leaf parsley, cilantro, sage do well in the winter for me. 

Also I have Peppers, Eggplant, sweet potatoes, fall tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans going strong, I usually have a bed of sweet corn for Fall but skipped this year. 


I used to garden with a tractor and Troy built tiller, and have good Norwood silt loam soil. 
I got busy in life with work, family, cows, hay, pecans and thus fishing & gardening suffered.

So I transitioned to raised beds which are simpler to maintain and don't get too wet to work. I installed a hose bib in each bed with a rainbird drip tubing irrigation. Beds were filled with a mix of dredged river sand, compost, bulk bagged vermiculite, and supplemental elements like greensand & rock phosphate were added. I bought the sand and compost by the dump truck load. 

Have fun
RFA


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## jm423 (Sep 18, 2011)

4'wide, tall enough to put a board along the side for a seat. Best soil you can find (and afford) to fill. build in dripper system or soaker hose each bed. Build several so you can rotate crops, have good eats all year.


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## ksk (Aug 9, 2008)

*Beds*



Ready.Fire.Aim said:


> I have ten beds. 16 foot long, 4 foot wide, 16" high. Three feet apart.
> You don't have to build them that tall but they are easy to weed and work in being that tall.
> 
> Four feet across is easy to reach across to weed, plant, etc. Also you don't waste when using dimensional lumber.
> ...


What material did you use to build your beds? What's your thoughts for using untreated railroad ties[I have access to some]? Thanks..


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## bjones2571 (May 2, 2007)

Good info, keep it coming. Considering putting in our first bed here also, with plans to expand.


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

Ours are 3 x 6. This lets us use 10' lumber with almost no waste. We have little kids that help in the garden, so it's easy for them to pick from the middle with the 3' width.

You could use 12' lumber if you wanted and make the box 4x7.

If I recall, the wood boxes require:

4 10' 2x6 cedar
1 10' 2x4 cedar
3 8' 1x4 cedar
Deck screws to hold it all together.

The four 2x6s essentially make the box. I glued the top stack to the bottom (I used pocket screws in previous years) and butt joined the corners. The scrap 1' of each 2x6 is miter cut and used in the inside corners for additional strength, so there is virtually no 2x6 scrap. You could stop there if you wanted, but we took the 2x4 and ripped it into 2x2s. These were then used as a support for the 1x4, which is essentially a "seat" or ledge that goes around the box. This makes it easy to sit on the edge of the box for weeding, picking, planting, etc.

I put the boxes 48" apart so I could drive the mower in-between them.

You can see that we also have started making boxes with stone, and plan to replace all the wood boxes with stone once the wood wears out. The stone actually doesn't cost any more than the wood boxes I was making and will obviously last much longer. The stone is just dry stacked, allowing it to be built very easily and allowing the box to be moved later if required. If we decide that we like the way things are, I may use masonry adhesive to hold the top layer onto the next-to-the-top. That top layer is the only thing that's a little unstable.

In the winter, we plant greens such as kale, and roots such as radishes. We also will plant broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts.

Right now we've got the clipped tomatoes coming up for the fall garden and the peppers/eggplants are still producing (though marginally).

In the photos below, the four boxes in the back are from 2 years ago, and the two that are closer were built this year. 2 years ago, I didn't put the ripped 2x2 in place, and the "seat" would tend to warp and break. With the 2x2 there now, the box is incredibly strong, and you could _stand_ on the very edge of the 1x4 without breaking it. Hopefully it will work better.


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## backbay2 (Aug 13, 2009)

*Keep them coming!*

Thanks for the replies......Hope to have my first bed built Friday. Looking at Super Dirt to fill it with. I'm gonna try some tomatoes and a few greens this first go around. Thanks again.


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## locolobo (Dec 2, 2005)

RFA, Where did you get the greensand & rock phosphate? locally?


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

Bay City Feed was carrying all the Ladybird brand products. 

Last batch I got from the Natural Gardener in Austin. I picked it up when visiting family.


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

Man RFA... I like your trace minerals....

BTW- most local nursery school should have those.... I buy mine from Natures Way Resource up in Conroe

But in Houston I have found the ones that carry a good selection will have them... And I have seen them on Amazon....


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## bjones2571 (May 2, 2007)

Do you scrape the existing grass or is putting down some kraft paper or cardboard as a weedblock sufficient?

Also, if I get it built this weekend, do you think I am too late to throw in some maters?

Thanks!


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

I killed/scraped off the grass and tiled down about 6" before setting and filling the boxes, but I think others just fill the boxes with soil and call it a day.

Where are you located? TAMU says it's probably not too late for Brazos county. Find a calendar like this for your county, it works well.

http://www.brazosmg.com/pdf/vegetable-planting-guide-for-brazos-county.pdf


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## bjones2571 (May 2, 2007)

Im in the woodlands. Thanks, I'll look around for a similar chart.


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## whistech (Jul 25, 2005)

BJones2571, here's a chart for Montgomery County:

http://montgomery.agrilife.org/files/2011/05/MCMGA-Vegetable-Planting-Chart.pdf

Recommended Varieties:

http://montgomery.agrilife.org/files/2011/05/vegetable_varieties_for-mc.pdf


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

ksk said:


> What material did you use to build your beds? What's your thoughts for using untreated railroad ties[I have access to some]? Thanks..


I personally have no concern with creosote treated lumber. Some do. It is a carcinogen, a proven fact. I haven't seen convincing evidence of plant uptake but I may be ignorant. I know I don't like rotten lumber.

I kill grass with roundup first. Glyphosate is also another questionable product. It thoroughly gets the job done with desired results. Use good industrial hygiene.

I set ten treated fence posts, cut in half, 24" in ground, 4 foot apart along the sides. Trim the tops even with the sides.

The sides I use Treated lumber or TREX. Treated lumber is some leftover 5/4 corral boards. TREX was a great deal 1/2 price, wish I could have got more. 
Sides are screwed on, nails work loose.

I install a coral board between the inside posts so the sides don't spread. 
You wind up with 4ft by 16 foot by 16.5" high raised bed containers.

After sides are on I dig the bottom with a shovel, turning over the existing soil ( Norwood silt loam) . Then using my tractor front end loader I add dredged Colorado River sand ( beautiful stuff) and compost. Also Two huge sacks of vermiculite per bed- I bought a truckload very cheap at a concrete yard in Houston. Vermiculite causes lung issues if inhaled, use good industrial hygiene ( face mask).

Till soil mix with a mini Mantis tiller as I add it. You could use a shovel. This results in a beautiful loose mix with great drainage, a lot of water holding capacity and good ion-exchange capacity. It will shrink with time and need more compost ( it decays).

Each bed has a hose bib and rain bird drip tubing- excellent product. 
I mulch with pine straw.

When done mixing soil I rake in trace minerals
-Greensand
- Rock Phosphate
-SulPoMag
- A mineral mix with paramagnetic lava sand- probably voodoo but no harm done 
- I mix in a little dry molasses then add a probiotic blend of bacteria and fungi and also some mycorrhizal fungi.

I fertilize with Microlife, alfalfa cubes, worm castings, Hastagrow and seaweed emulsion. 
Also like John's special recipe liquid fertilizer. All organic. Plants thrive.

I'm not an organic purist but some of the science of organics makes a lot of sense for raised bed gardening. Especially mycorrhizal fungi. A lot of research at major land grant universities on their benefit. In the 1980s I brought in a lot of native pecan bottom soil with pecan roots for fungi studies. All commercial pine plantation pine tree seedling roots are dipped in mycorrhizal fungi.

Raised beds & containersdon't have the buffering capacity for fertilizer salts like in ground gardening. Also the inorganic salts are harsh on the soil's microbiotic and macrobiotic flora which is key for good plant health in an enclosed space. The only viable alternative to containerized organics IMO would be a transition to containerized hydroponics which is a major expense with mechanical systems.

Have fun
RFA


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## Pivo and kolache (Mar 13, 2014)

Ready.Fire.Aim said:


> I personally have no concern with creosote treated lumber. Some do. It is a carcinogen, a proven fact. I haven't seen convincing evidence of plant uptake but I may be ignorant. I know I don't like rotten lumber.
> 
> I kill grass with roundup first. Glyphosate is also another questionable product. It thoroughly gets the job done with desired results. Use good industrial hygiene.
> 
> ...


Id really like to come check out your set up some day


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## backbay2 (Aug 13, 2009)

*Well they are built*

Just waiting on dirt...Thanks for all the tips!


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## kyle2601 (Oct 23, 2008)

goatchze said:


> I killed/scraped off the grass and tiled down about 6" before setting and filling the boxes, but I think others just fill the boxes with soil and call it a day.
> 
> Where are you located? TAMU says it's probably not too late for Brazos county. Find a calendar like this for your county, it works well.
> 
> http://www.brazosmg.com/pdf/vegetable-planting-guide-for-brazos-county.pdf


 Man thanks for posting this. Been looking for something with dates..


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## sergeant69 (Sep 24, 2015)

NOT to jack the thread, honest, but my question fits right in here. in the winter i grow chard, spinach, kale, lettuce, broccolli. you get the idea. i have 4 30' rows of river mud i have for annually till in tons of sand, soil cotton seed compost etc. have always been told sept 15th is the time to plant here in south tx. last year i had to plant and replant as it was just too hot to sprout the seeds. this year i have noted all the optimum soil temp for seed germination for winter greens. usually around the 65 deg mark. but here it is oct and the soil temps show to be in the med 80s. anyone else have this problem or have advice? i'm to the point of waiting till nov? and then using row covers to warm the soil if too cold then. frustrating.


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