You Raise Me Up: DIY Raised Garden Beds

I liked my first raised bed so much,
I wanted another, this time
without the expensive corners.

The late October rains seem to have come early this year--late September.  Last weekend was rainy, and, although yesterday was sunny and muggy, we had heavy rain last night, which means the yard and future pasture are too soggy for equipment.  It's just as well; I have plenty to do on foot.

Although the roses need deadheading, I decided to put the hardware cloth bottom on a new raised bed frame.  We had taken the easy way out and had the wood cut at the store so that all we needed to assemble it were a few hand tools and fasteners.

I found with my first raised bed that 4' is too wide for me to work, so I'm trying a 3' width on this bed.  It will contain saffron crocus, so it does not need to be terribly long:  5' to maximize the use of the 16' 2x12.

Small Raised Bed Materials List

$20      16' untreated pine 2x12, cut into 5' and 3' lengths
$ 3     3.5" deck screws (for untreated wood)
$10     36"-wide galvanized hardware cloth
$ 2     chicken mesh staples

This project needs just a few simple tools
 (drill not shown).

$10     3 ft. wide gardener's cloth

$45     Materials cost without soil

 Tool List

Drill with bit to match your deck screw & Phillips driver bit

Wire cutters

Hammer

Saw horses or work tables

4" x 4" x 12" to use with clamps

Detail of butt joint,
with countersunk deck screws

Instructions

Drill 5 or 6 evenly space holes 3/4" from the ends of the short lengths of wood, in a line parallel to the edge.  Clamp the 4x4 to the end of a long section of wood.  Clamp a short piece of wood to the 4x4, perpendicular to the long piece, creating a butt joint.  Seat a deck screw in a hole, then use drill to drive the screw through the flat side of wood into the end of the long piece, being careful not to split the wood.  Repeat with remaining screws.  Attach all four boards together to make a box.

Lay box flat and use chicken mesh staples to tack the hardware cloth at the corners.  It should be wide enough for a single-width.  Tack it to the bottom of the box every 3-4 inches.  This is to prevent burrowing varmints, which we have in abundance.

Detail of chicken mesh staples attaching
hardware cloth.

Move box to permanent location (yes, it's heavy!), then line with gardener's cloth to slow down the grass.  You may want to tack the gardener's cloth to the sides for support.

Fill with your favorite raised-bed mix.

Easy, inexpensive, sturdy (or at least heavy)--is this the solution for my grass problem?

So, one night this week, I'll move the bed to it's permanent location--as soon as I decide where that will be!

What about you?  What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy

June wanes, July waxes in my organic garden

The fence is completely screened by the hibiscus and day lilies.

The heat and humidity have really settled on the farm like a hot, wet blanket which means the day lilies and the hibiscus (and the weeds) are thriving.  A busy week kept me out of the garden last week and this morning brought some surprises.  The pleasant surprises were peppers, tiny tomatoes, and blooms on the squash, cucumbers, and beans.  The unpleasant surprise was the inevitable incursion of nutgrass and purslane.

The turmeric (near) seems to be doing better than the ginger (rear).

The turmeric is adapting well to the heat, but does expect to be watered almost every day.  The early shoots were scalded by the hot sun, but most have rebounded after watering.  Given the long growing season both ginger and turmeric require, I'm already planning a low tunnel to stave off the cold nights which will come in November.

The squash seems to be thriving, despite the grass.

No squash bugs, so far, but I saw the first marmorated stink bug on the driveway this week.  My cousin has suggested daily dousing with a tea made of garlic and geranium oil.  What do you think?

A tiny cabbage!

The Resident Dragon is most excited about the development of the tiny cabbage.  It's been so hot, I fear that the heads will never form, and am already planning to plant more in the fall.

The beginning of a broccoli floret!

My daughter is excited to know that the broccoli is developing.  The broccoli in my father-in-law's garden seems to be bolting (from the heat, I suspect).  I'm hoping to avoid the same fate.

The currant tomatoes are loaded with blooms!

Once again, the currant tomatoes are thriving while the others are lagging behind.  Some are blooming, but there are only two ping-pong-ball-sized tomatoes maturing.  This means it's time to add bone meal to help with fruit set and to ward off blossom-end-rot.

The cucumbers and beans are blooming well.

Three varieties of cucumbers means I will be pickling and sharing this year.  My daughter likes to snack on cucumbers so I'll be sending some home with her.

These heirloom beans thrive in the heat!

We're growing green/filet beans as well as dragon's tongue and kidney beans this year.  I hope to dry the dragon's tongue and kidney beans, but will probably freeze the others.  The little pods are about an inch long!

The blackberry primocanes are growing tall.

The blackberries are finally in full season and that means the RD is still enjoying his "drive-by" snacks as he rides past on the lawn mower.  Oddly enough, the blackberry bramble is the best-mowed area of the yard!  We've harvested enough to freeze about 3 quarts, with more still on the canes.

It's time to tie up and tip the blackberry primocanes
so they will produce lateral canes and more fruit next year.

The primocanes are flourishing and I "tipped" them 4" above the top trellis wire this week and tied the remaining cane to the trellis.  I'm trying to root the cuttings to expand the bramble next year.

It's July, which means it's about time to start seeds for the fall garden.  Do you have any suggestions?  I'd like to try some onions again, but I've just not had much luck with them.  What do you think?

What about you?  What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy

Organic Gardening: Spicing Up the Garden with Ginger and Turmeric

As an aspiring market gardener, I'm always on the lookout for empty niches in the local food chain.  One item I have never seen has been locally-grown fresh ginger and turmeric.  I live near Memphis, which has a growing and vibrant food scene, so I thought that might be a good product.

As I have whined about explained before, my soil is heavy clay (called buckshot) so raised beds will be necessary for the lighter soil required by ginger and turmeric.  Fortunately, my son gave me a raised bed kit for Christmas.

As far as I know, certified organic seed ginger and turmeric is only available on the mainland from East Branch Ginger.  I placed my order back in January and the white ginger variety had already sold out within 6 hours.  I ordered yellow ginger and turmeric and received the order in early March.  Because our growing season is not as long as in Hawaii, they recommend pre-sprouting which I wrote about in April.

The trays have been stacked on the counter in my laundry room since then, seemingly doing nothing.  In the meantime, I have been agonizing over the location of the raised bed.  Suddenly, two weeks ago, shoots began appearing in the trays.  I had to make a decision.

The shoots appeared after two months.

It's time to transplant.

So, on Saturday we put the frame together and placed it on the south side of the house near the orchard.  We have voles and armadillos, so we lined the bottom of the frame with hardware cloth.  Because the grass is so invasive, we lined the frame with gardener's cloth as a weed barrier.

Untreated 2x12s with the corners were assembled in the shady garage.

Thirty bags of organic humus and four bags of Black Kow Manure later, the bed was finished!

I dug 4" trenches on 24" centers (which means two long rows 12" in from the edge of the bed).  I also sprinkled pelleted gypsum to aid in nutrient uptake.

The ginger roots look like starfish!

While the kit came with a round soaker hose, I substituted my preferred flat hose so it can be arranged better.

Round soaker hoses will take higher pressure,
but they just will not arranged easily.

Now, I must keep them moist but not wet, and feed them often.  Check back for progress reports!

What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy

A beautiful morning!

Looking toward a parking lot (right) and the practice field (left).

I'd been looking forward to visiting The University of Memphis, my alma mater, for the The Delta--Everything Southern conference.  I knew there had been a lot of construction in honor of the university's 100th anniversary, but I was totally unprepared for one of the new additions.  Nestled in a formerly unkempt space surrounded by Elma Roane Field House, the band practice field/track, a parking lot, and a parking garage was the university's lovely urban garden.