building a 3 ft high raised bed garden

Got a wooden crate used to store tiles during shipping at the home depot, for free. it allowed me to put 2 plastic containers side by side which i got at goodwill for a dollar each, in which i built two self watering containers, w/ a water reservoir at the bottom of the container, and potting mix on top. my tomatoes and peppers and eggplant are looking beautiful. to beautify and keep the plastic containers cool in the florida surface, i wrapped chicken wire around the container and covered w/ tuffa. It is very convinient and easy to maintain.

There was someone who posted on here once that was using old chest freezers for growing veg. in. It looked really neat from the pics they posted. You could also use bathtubs. I grow my salad stuff in half barrels and I also use stacked tires.

I've also heard of using 2-liter plastic soda bottles as filler for the bottom part of container/raised bed gardens.

I work for a company that provides support for disabled adults. We have a day program where the people we work with go to do activities, socialize, et cetera. One of the fellows that works for the company built a wheelchair friendly "garden". It's made of four 4x4 post set in concrete with a box made of pt 2x12's and plywood mounted at a level that a wheelchair bound person can work in and get their legs under while in their chair. The box is lined with landscaping plastic and filled with topsoil. There are drainage holes drilled in the bottom. It's been up for a couple of years now and seems to be holding up well. It is pretty small. Three feet wide by 8 feet long, but it works well.

type raised bed gardening into GOOGLE then hit the images button in the top left hand corner they will pull up all sorts of cool looking raised beds. I use concrete cinder blocks to grow in and it works fine. I would not use saw dust as once wet it clumps bad and it can be acidic and depending on where it came from could have chemicals in it from treated wood.
I use horse manure its free from most horse owners and we have a stables near by that will even load it for you.

I love growing things in containers, and I grow lots of things in sections of sewer pipe.

They are double walled which here in CT is a good thing because they hold the heat in. I put one around my fig tree with some hay around it, cover it and it survives the winter. It also makes them very strong (no warping due to being filled with soil), and they last a long time since they are designed to be underground and wet. They can be cut to any length you need with a chain saw. They come in many diameters. I even have one that is several feet wide. I use that for the fig in winter, and grow pumpkins in it during the growing season. The bottom is open so you don't need to worry about drainage. I have picked most of mine up as scraps that I get from the construction companies installing sewer lines. You can buy them though and I don't think they are that expensive.

Hope that helps someone.

cathryn

I would LOVE to see your photos!

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That's similar what I'll be doing soon..have planned it now for over two years and cannot wait to get started..mine will ( hopefully) have wheels so that it'll be able to be moved from one place to another.I'm even going for corn this way..1 row facing another..why not? LOL

Ravenlost,
Sorry for the delay. I just have not been getting on line as much lately. Spring you know.

This link is a few photos of my former garden boxes, and cement obsession.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...ndFNIS?start=0

I hope it works, let me know if not, or if you have questions.
Thanks,
Gary

gobug, quite impressive.

Thanks gobug! I have to show those to my husband!

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http://hickahala.blogspot.com/