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 Building Raised Beds for Gardening 
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The Dread Princess Morgoth and I are planning out a bunch of garden raised beds under the supervisorial eye of The Balrog.
I am trying to have them built while the weather is still warm and filled with dirt, compost, sawdust, peat moss and probably some hugelkultur, as the Dread Princess has been toying with the hugelkultur for a few years.
Many expert gardeners will assure us that we'll have no produce if I mix sawdust, wood chips and other high carbon amendments into the soil... They're right, except that I am going to be adding nitrogen to help it break down and let it sit until next spring. I want that organic material breaking down in there, even if I have to wait 2 years to plant.

The raised beds that I have built in the past have been super plain and simple... Basically just grabbed appropriately sized boards from the lumber pile, drove stakes into the ground and attached the sides and ends to the stakes. I pretty much have an endless supply of sawmill boards, so just figured on rebuilding the whole thing every 5-10 years, as that would give us a chance to replenish the hugelkultur supply at the bottom of the beds.

Image search for raised beds : Raised beds

But darn it... There are some really nice raised beds that are making me think about doing them "right"! I especially like the ones that incorporate the plumbing and ability to throw a bird net, shading, or hothouse plastic right over them like this one :
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Just take a look at this beauty!
Image

I don't have an endless supply of concrete products, but the longevity of those concrete block raised beds has me kind of jonesing for those too.
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But then there's this warning about heavy metals from the flyash in the blocks. Harumph
https://preventdisease.com/news/15/0206 ... dens.shtml

I am trying to find a video that I watched one late night a few months ago... This super handy fellow somewhere down in arid country built a whole bunch of raised beds and had the lushest garden ever. I was jealous and inspired at the same time. I'll try to find it and post up in here.

How about you raised bed gardeners post up your pics and tell us what you did, and what you wish that you'd done differently?


Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:02 am
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Location: Nampa, Idaho
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Real Name: Rick
Reality check coming.
Finish the house first, then work on the garden.

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Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:13 am
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:cussing:

I make a prediction about my untimely demise...

I will die while clutching a photo of a project that my dear wife, the Dread Princess Morgoth, has just printed off of Pinterest... still warm from the fusing section in the printer.


Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:18 am
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Location: Lynnwood/Bothell
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I really like the craftsmanship in that first photo, although it looks like a much bigger time suck than I can afford right now. icon_eek

My wife and I have been discussing an addition of raised beds to our back yard as well. The only reason I haven't already done it is because I'm not convinced our garden will do well with the limited sunlight it would receive (we're surrounded by tall trees, none of which are on our property). However, I will probably be forced into it anyway, so I should probably follow your link and find some inspiration...


Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:33 am
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:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

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Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:35 am
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Location: Nisqually Valley
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Building the beds as tall as those pictured will result in them drying out quickly in the summer sun.

I prefer 12-18" tall beds.

Remember to put chicken wire down over the native soil under the bed to keep the moles out.

Shameless plug,,,

I have cedar lumber available here in the south sound area. All milled right here by me from locally sourced cedar logs for for anyone wanting top quality materials for their garden beds!


Wed Jul 10, 2019 10:36 am
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