In One Day
I want to tell you about the raised bed I built in a day.
I had scavenged some wood from among the many heaps of stuff that was in our back yard when we got here. I found four piece of 5cm by 40cm boards, 1.5 meters long. They looked like macrocarpa to me, and probably meant for a raised bed. I got as far as putting them together when I noticed a greenish hue which can indicate they are treated, possibly with something unsafe to grow veggies in. It was impossible to know for sure so I gave up on them.
It was boxing day, and I was determined to get a raised bed built before we left for holiday the next morning. I had a watermelon plant and half a dozen climbing beans that desperately needed to be planted out.
I went to the hardware store and bought 4 macracarpa slabs, 5cm by 40 cm. I wanted my bed to be about 200cm by 120cm. The longest they had was 180cm boards, so I bought four and asked them to cut two of them down to 120cm. I also bought four metal brackets, long enough to be a useful size once cut in half. My finished bed would be 180cm by 110cm, on the inside.
I have made this kind of simple raised bed before. Since it is only one board tall and the board in question is fairly wide and heavy, it is simple to put together with minimal fastening. In this case, two metal brackets on each corner. A 40 cm depth isn't much; it works because you build it upon existing soil, so the plants get a good start in the soil you put in and can then dig their roots into the ground underneath. Macrocarpa or redwood boards are best, as they have some natural properties that resist rot.
When I made this kind of bed before I have dug out all the weeds underneath before filling the bed up. As I was short on time, I decided to go for a no-dig approach, which is something I've been meaning to try. This involves smothering the existing weeds (in this case, grass) with layers of paper or cardboard, followed by layering up organic material or soil to create a garden bed. This can be done with or without the aid of structures like a wooden frame. If you want to plant right away, you put in soil and compost. If you aren't in a hurry, you can layer up organic material such as grass clippings, straw, and garden clippings, and simply wait for it compost.
It was a luxury to get this much time to work on a project all in one day, but it was a holiday and was fortunite to have people in my life to look after my child (my partner, our child-carer, and my parents). Also, I was on a single-minded mission. I was at the hardware store buying marcocarpa sleepers first thing in the morning, and I was out in the front yard putting the plants in the ground as the sun dissapearing below the hills at the end of the day.
Step one: Build the frame
I squared up the wood and fixed two metal brackets per corner to hold them together. My boards were't very well squared off, actually, but they were close enough. It didn't have to be pretty, it just had to hold the soil in.
Step two: cardboard
I still have a large stack of moving boxes, so this was just a matter of pulling off all the packaging tape and laying down a layer of them.
Step 3: Add dirt
I already had a big pile of dirt I bought earlier in the year. Yes, I bought a big pile of dirt. Top soil, to be precise. I needed it for a couple of other projects around the yard, and bought extra as I knew it would come in handy. I filled the bed mostly up with this, and then added two bags of compost to enrich the soil. I added to this my go-to soil ammendments: Dynamic Lifter and sheep pellets.
Step 4: Mulch
My usual pea straw; I always have some on hand.
Step 5: hardware
I added a trellis as I plan to grow beans on one end. This was my usual trellis construction: bamboo poles and a large-hole chicken wire, tied on with twine. And of course I added checken wire over top of the bed to keep the cats out.
Step 5: plants
At this point it was dinner time. After dinner I planted out my watermelon, beans, tomato, and a spare nasturtium, in the fading light. I was so pleased with myself, I snapped a picture, even though there wasn't really enough light:
Here is what the bed looks like today, two and a half weeks later:
Everything is looking pretty happy. The beans are starting to set frut, the tomato is much happier than it was in it's too-small pot, and this may be the most promising watermelon yet. Will the no-dig bed serve me well in the long run? Will the cardboard be enough to stop the weeds? I'll just have to wait and see.
I had scavenged some wood from among the many heaps of stuff that was in our back yard when we got here. I found four piece of 5cm by 40cm boards, 1.5 meters long. They looked like macrocarpa to me, and probably meant for a raised bed. I got as far as putting them together when I noticed a greenish hue which can indicate they are treated, possibly with something unsafe to grow veggies in. It was impossible to know for sure so I gave up on them.
It was boxing day, and I was determined to get a raised bed built before we left for holiday the next morning. I had a watermelon plant and half a dozen climbing beans that desperately needed to be planted out.
I went to the hardware store and bought 4 macracarpa slabs, 5cm by 40 cm. I wanted my bed to be about 200cm by 120cm. The longest they had was 180cm boards, so I bought four and asked them to cut two of them down to 120cm. I also bought four metal brackets, long enough to be a useful size once cut in half. My finished bed would be 180cm by 110cm, on the inside.
I have made this kind of simple raised bed before. Since it is only one board tall and the board in question is fairly wide and heavy, it is simple to put together with minimal fastening. In this case, two metal brackets on each corner. A 40 cm depth isn't much; it works because you build it upon existing soil, so the plants get a good start in the soil you put in and can then dig their roots into the ground underneath. Macrocarpa or redwood boards are best, as they have some natural properties that resist rot.
When I made this kind of bed before I have dug out all the weeds underneath before filling the bed up. As I was short on time, I decided to go for a no-dig approach, which is something I've been meaning to try. This involves smothering the existing weeds (in this case, grass) with layers of paper or cardboard, followed by layering up organic material or soil to create a garden bed. This can be done with or without the aid of structures like a wooden frame. If you want to plant right away, you put in soil and compost. If you aren't in a hurry, you can layer up organic material such as grass clippings, straw, and garden clippings, and simply wait for it compost.
It was a luxury to get this much time to work on a project all in one day, but it was a holiday and was fortunite to have people in my life to look after my child (my partner, our child-carer, and my parents). Also, I was on a single-minded mission. I was at the hardware store buying marcocarpa sleepers first thing in the morning, and I was out in the front yard putting the plants in the ground as the sun dissapearing below the hills at the end of the day.
Step one: Build the frame
I squared up the wood and fixed two metal brackets per corner to hold them together. My boards were't very well squared off, actually, but they were close enough. It didn't have to be pretty, it just had to hold the soil in.
Step two: cardboard
I still have a large stack of moving boxes, so this was just a matter of pulling off all the packaging tape and laying down a layer of them.
Step 3: Add dirt
I already had a big pile of dirt I bought earlier in the year. Yes, I bought a big pile of dirt. Top soil, to be precise. I needed it for a couple of other projects around the yard, and bought extra as I knew it would come in handy. I filled the bed mostly up with this, and then added two bags of compost to enrich the soil. I added to this my go-to soil ammendments: Dynamic Lifter and sheep pellets.
Step 4: Mulch
My usual pea straw; I always have some on hand.
Step 5: hardware
I added a trellis as I plan to grow beans on one end. This was my usual trellis construction: bamboo poles and a large-hole chicken wire, tied on with twine. And of course I added checken wire over top of the bed to keep the cats out.
Step 5: plants
At this point it was dinner time. After dinner I planted out my watermelon, beans, tomato, and a spare nasturtium, in the fading light. I was so pleased with myself, I snapped a picture, even though there wasn't really enough light:
Here is what the bed looks like today, two and a half weeks later:
Everything is looking pretty happy. The beans are starting to set frut, the tomato is much happier than it was in it's too-small pot, and this may be the most promising watermelon yet. Will the no-dig bed serve me well in the long run? Will the cardboard be enough to stop the weeds? I'll just have to wait and see.
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