Ideas for raised beds?

Here's a couple of pictures of mine - During the growing season of course

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'Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit...'--Thoreau

I am really happy with my raised beds made out of concrete blocks.
We do own our place and plan to be here for many years, but the blocks are not permanent so can be moved if we desire.
As it is just me & dh now, I asked several years ago if we could use blocks to build raised beds. We had a lot on hand but did buy some when they went on sale. They are stacked two blocks high and are just right for me to either sit on when weeding or picking, or kneeling and leaning over them. I fill them with dirt, compost and old potting soil and fork them over. There are 16 of them. Eight feet by four feet with four feet spacing between to allow for wheelbarrow and wagon.

This is when we were building them, I hauled them over to Dh who leveled the ground and laid & stacked them.


These are the seed sorter tubs with eggplant in them.


The fences are made from breaking down old hog farrowing crates.




These are old hog troughs for feeder pigs. I filled them halfway with small rocks, dirt, old straw and manure, then potting soil. I add compost as needed. I plant early lettuce & spinach and then carrots.


I second the idea, if you have room, of the old fridges and freezers. I've got a couple that I want to do that with. Old bathtubs work quite well, as a friend of mine plants her tomatoes in them.
Some other containers I have are old seed sorter barrels, the tubs out of washing machines, old hog watering troughs--my parsley loves growing in them. I eyeball just about anything I think might make a great container for growing. This has been an ongoing process over about six years now. My garden is an ongoing, changeable place that I find much peace & satisfaction in being there.
Hope you find what works for your situation.
God bless,
jd

these were made from scrap section of drain culvert. They are double walled, 42" in diameter. I put a piece of rubber liner on the ground for weed control and the excess water just runs out between the bottom of the culvert and the liner. The cages were made from strips of cedar. My crop of tomatoes this year was better than ever!

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I did this because 1) lots of rain and poor drainage even though place is on a slope, 2) abysmal soil and 3) wildlife that digs and ests everything. My first potato crop had nibbles out of almost every tuber.

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For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.

these are all great but here is another area you really might want to check out


www.permies.com

scroll down to hugelkulture

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

Where I want to, I'ld like to know how you made those wire cages. Looks like chicken wire and plastic pipes...not too sturdy if one gets high winds or some grown coon wants in; so how do you make them strong.

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

Put your Dad online on Pinterest. Go to the sub-section "Gardening" or "Raised Beds" and let him look to his hearts content. Maybe he'll see something that really interests him that you can incorporate into his garden. We had to replace our metal roof on the house we bought so we are using the metal roof panels for the sides of the beds. The metal is already painted green so it looks fairly good. Hubby is bending the top edge down for safety and then splitting old garden hose to stick on that edge. I think they will be around 12 to 18 inches high which will work well with one of those rolling seats. I'm having mobility issues too but I'M can't give up my gardens! Please excuse the typo's, I'm typing on my kids tablet and it keeps adding words for me, lol.

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Advoc for the LARGE BLACK HOG as well as other old and slow growing foods. Visit our little homestead on our facebook farm page...

https://www.facebook.com/lifeonhorsefork?ref=hl

Some are simply small metal posts with chicken wire hung from them and folded into the center to maket a large basket. Then black plastic hung over the chicken wire to the ground then landscape mat over the black plastic. Some are just landscape cloth.
The pcv pipe for the bottoms is 3/4"- some bins that are 4 years old seem fine so far. The top baskets are 1/2".
I did get carried away with two of the potato bins and they re unreasonably tall. They haven't shown deterioration yet but they are only two years old. It's just that such big bins need a lot of soil and more work to empty and I don't think they are any more production than the shorter ones.
Nothing has "forced entry" in any of them yet. Most of my damage had come from vole and mice and rabbits and skunks and birds. Now that you have mentioned raccoons, I suppose they will show up. But not yet.
They have survived some pretty stiff winds this and last year- as long as the landscape cloth is lining the inside of the chicken wire deeply enough, that hasn't blown out yet.

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For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.

picks of what I built, and use.

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When I first got sick I thought my gardening was done. I started back using just a few 5-gal buckets. Miracle grow potting soil drains good for me, with 10, 3/4-inch holes drilled in the bottom of each bucket. Later I added 4, 18-gal totes, same holes and soil. You can set the containers on black plastic to eliminate weeds. Scatter some mulch between them for looks. Blocks or whatever can be put underneath to get them to the most convenient height. Last year I had lots of tomatoes, hot peppers, onions, cilantro, kale, radishes and lettuce. Forgot cukes. There are "bush" and "patio" varieties for a lot of veggies that do good in containers.

Justin that is an awesome frame. Thinking of doing something similar with a couple of old bathtubs here.

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

I used some old barn tin. Makes the height just right. Just stake them well. The one I made are 3' wide. That way I can reach past the center from either side.

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

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[raising chickens] [diatomaceous earth] [permaculture] [rocket mass heater] [lawn care]

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I have three beds. One is 2'X24' and the other two are 4'X12'. They're good and strong. They are high and wide enough for me to sit on comfortably.

Inside picture


Long bed

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

I just watched a show with a man in a wheelchair gardening with pcp pipe. The pipe was wide and in the ground as high as his wheelchair , he planted tomatoes and peppers in them. Plus around his fence he had buckets hanging with fruit and veg. planted in those. I thought it was a great ideal.

Joshie, 4x4s here are quite expensive, even the damaged ones; but those are awesome beds!

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

Our neighbor has a saw mill and gives us the first cut from the side of the logs he calls "slabs". He had tons of them before another neighbor and I started snatching them for raised beds. They are very wonky in size and shape, but they make for interesting, deep and pretty raised beds. I would image other small saw mills might have this and would possibly give them away. The guy that cut them thought they were junk just for burning.

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Our website promoting the use of Missouri Herbs. www.MissouriHerbs.com

Great pictures, Badger. It looks like you cemented the blocks together, rather than just setting them in place. Did you put a footer or something under the blocks to keep them level?

We have 4 5'x10' beds. The pic w/the pineapple sage (red flowers) is to show the side better of the planter behind it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Rais...n-Bed-on-legs/

You can get it up off the ground for him. If you plant little flowers around the outside, it can still be pretty.

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"Relish your reading. Make note of the melody of the phrases, the architecture of the page. Let the joy of discovery soak right down to your bones!" Dr. George Grant (paraphrased)