Making Beds???

[dionstep]

Any suggestions for making 30"x100' beds that doesn't include a shovel to dig out the walkway? I know that there are large attachments for tractors and some tillers have furrow/hiller attachments but I am curious about other cheap options that may help.

Thanks

[Callieslamb]

They don't have to be raised. Just till the area you want to use ( I'd leave a place to go across since 100 ft is a LOOONNG way to walk around.) Most of my garden is like this. As the bed gets used, the soil in it will naturally raise since it will be more fluffed than than the pathways. Also, the things you add to mulch and ammend the soil (grass clippings, compose, leaves, etc) will help the bed add height.

[Bellyman]

A gardener friend of mine is known to say, "Don't walk in your planting beds and don't plant in your walkways." He lays out his gardening space a bit like raised beds only they're not raised. Beds are for planting and never a foot should enter. Walkways are only for walking and are not cultivated like as if they are planting space.

You mention that you don't want to use a shovel. I'm not sure what you do want to use. I've heard good things about the broadfork but haven't used one. There is always a tiller of some kind.

I agree with breaking it up into smaller parcels with one or two places to walk through a row. My last garden was about 180' long and I had a break going down the middle. If I had that garden space to plant again, I might make two different places to walk across making maybe three 60' rows. It's nice to have that little space when you need to get across the garden and don't want to walk all the way to the end.

[dionstep]

I am talking about an alternative to something like this. http://store.farmstart.ca/blogs/farm...martin-fortier

[Fennick]

Are you wanting to make walk ways that are deep?

I've never shovelled or raked a walk way. I till up the earth then make my walk ways by walking the lines where I want the paths to be. After I've walked back and forth on each path a couple of times I have a walk way pressed down into the tilled earth.

I don't like to make deep walk ways because water always seeks the lowest point and deep walk ways will draw away too much water from the beds when they get watered or rained on. Then you end up with beds surrounded by walk ways that have turned into drainage ditches full of puddled water.

[geo in mi]

An hour or two with a rented rototiller should ougghta do it. What, 25 bucks?
A rake to pull up the soil on the sides should augghta finish it.

geo