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#391851 Apr 2nd, 2016 at 08:14 AM
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I built these raised beds for my Wife's "Retirement Garden". There are two sets of three (four foot square) beds. I put the 1"x 4"s on the bottom because grass will be growing right up to the bed sides. They extend 1" past the edge of the bed walls so the grass is also an inch away and the mower will cut it off with no trimming. Secondarily, the 1" x 4"s may keep the grass from intruding into the beds.

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The cost for materials for those two sets of raised beds was $ 134.49 delivered, and included:

7- 12' 2"x8" treated
6- 12' 1"x4" treated
4- dozen 4" deck screw coated for treated lumber
4- dozen 2" deck screw coated for treated lumber




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Dwight #391854 Apr 2nd, 2016 at 10:10 AM
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A beautiful job!


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Tina #391856 Apr 2nd, 2016 at 11:12 AM
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VERY nice indeed !!!

Please let us see what your wife grows in her new "garden".


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Dwight #391858 Apr 2nd, 2016 at 12:41 PM
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Those are absolutely beautiful, Dwight; I'm quite impressed!

I'm handy, but I've not done any woodworking since High School; I need to figure out what all I want to do with the small greenhouse I'm building this spring, it'll be one of those PVC with greenhouse plastic on it, but I haven't decided about how things will be in it (it'll be off the deck). Initially I wanted to do raised beds, but am contemplating a hydroponics setup... Your project though is making me rethink raised beds, if not there then somewhere else on the property...


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Gremelin #391872 Apr 3rd, 2016 at 07:36 AM
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I am more metal fabricator; can saw a board and turn in some screws if needed though.


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Dwight #391883 Apr 3rd, 2016 at 06:16 AM
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MY husband is a fabricator/welder, but he too will work with wood if it has to be.

I have it in my plans to "do" a raised bed this summer IF my daughter does not ask me to come & spend the summer with her, to help with her infant daughters. Yours looks really nice. Is the finished product 24 inches deep ??

Last edited by JunieGirl; Apr 3rd, 2016 at 06:16 AM.

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Dwight #391886 Apr 3rd, 2016 at 06:54 AM
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Love these.



JunieGirl #391909 Apr 3rd, 2016 at 09:06 PM
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Originally Posted by JunieGirl
MY husband is a fabricator/welder, but he too will work with wood if it has to be.

I have it in my plans to "do" a raised bed this summer IF my daughter does not ask me to come & spend the summer with her, to help with her infant daughters. Yours looks really nice. Is the finished product 24 inches deep ??


There are actually two of them stacked. They are 8" deep.


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Dwight #391912 Apr 3rd, 2016 at 10:31 PM
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Oh so that's 2. You've just stacked them. I have 2 raised beds but they don't have dividers. Do you know her plans for planting?



Dwight #391980 Apr 6th, 2016 at 11:31 PM
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List: Red Norland and Yukon Gold potatoes (we don't grow many but like them fresh in the summer and early fall), red onions, carrots, beets, snap peas, 2 varieties tomatoes, several pepper varieties, green beans, wax beans.

We also have eight 30 gallon barrel "raised beds" where green beans and wax beans are grown.
Gail is into flowers and landscape plantings so there are perennial beds and various planters beautifying the acreage spring through fall.


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Dwight #391982 Apr 7th, 2016 at 04:16 AM
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thumbup


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Dwight #391996 Apr 7th, 2016 at 10:25 AM
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I've been wondering about growing potatoes in a raised bed. Seems there'd be a problem keeping the plant covered.



Dwight #392003 Apr 7th, 2016 at 08:17 PM
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Nice planters. growing potatoes in a raised bed is the same as in the ground....you just keep adding more soil on top in a mound.


~~Tam~ You can bury all your troubles by digging in the dirt.
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Sunflowers #392006 Apr 7th, 2016 at 10:09 PM
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I agree with Sunny.
I have seen it written: You put a small amount of soil in your container, add the potatoes, & when they sprout green above the soil give them another layer of soil, just covering the green. Then continue this procedure until you have reached the top of your container.

What are your plans, Dwight ?


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Dwight #392014 Apr 8th, 2016 at 04:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Dwight
List: Red Norland and Yukon Gold potatoes (we don't grow many but like them fresh in the summer and early fall), red onions, carrots, beets, snap peas, 2 varieties tomatoes, several pepper varieties, green beans, wax beans.
Lol, sounds like my kinda veggie grow!


If you'd like to learn more about my family and I, you can do so at Corthell.net [corthell.net]!
Dwight #392024 Apr 9th, 2016 at 10:26 PM
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When we raised potatoes in the past it was always in raised beds with soil that has a lot of organic matter. Soil that doesn't compact allows the potatoes to do very well. When you want to harvest a few you just grab them from under the soil with your bare hand. Soil under the fingernails is a good thing!!

If you need your hands clean for money work on Monday, a little household bleach in a shallow dish will clean them right up. Dip, wash with soap and water, good to go. Be careful with this technique!


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Dwight #392032 Apr 10th, 2016 at 08:09 AM
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I've already got mine in the ground for this season but might try a raised bed next time.



Dwight #392113 Apr 14th, 2016 at 11:57 PM
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Beds leveled and located. One bed filled with soil and red onions planted. Second bed partially fill with soil and both varieties of potatoes planted. Will try to fill two beds this weekend and plant sugar snaps, beets and carrots. After that no further planing until last frost date.

I also have to finish of the area around the beds and plant grass soon.


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Dwight #392119 Apr 15th, 2016 at 12:13 PM
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I can't wait to see photos of the finished, and planted, project :).


If you'd like to learn more about my family and I, you can do so at Corthell.net [corthell.net]!
Gremelin #392120 Apr 15th, 2016 at 01:33 PM
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Sounds very good, Dwight. I too cannot wait to see the progress the raised bed makes.


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Dwight #392134 Apr 17th, 2016 at 05:32 AM
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From where did you get your soil?



Bestofour #392339 May 2nd, 2016 at 10:44 PM
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I keep a compost pile that contains soil dug from our acreage, manure and misc vegetable scraps. I till this pile up every so often and add replacement materials as needed. It is dormant in the winter. It gets hot and does it's prescribed duties during the warm months. One end is ready soil the other end is new materials.


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Dwight #392351 May 3rd, 2016 at 12:11 PM
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you're so good. I got slack turning my compost during the winter.



Dwight #392358 May 3rd, 2016 at 10:43 PM
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I wish we could compost...our weather doesn't get hot enough or the season long enough for it to break down. All it does is draw in the black bears to our yard. Thankfully we can buy it by the bag at the hardware store. I have been slowly adding it to my soil.

We also have lots of manure from our cows and horses but I find that it adds so much weeds to my garden. I need to make a manure tea though, that worked great.


~~Tam~ You can bury all your troubles by digging in the dirt.
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Sunflowers #392842 Jun 16th, 2016 at 03:04 AM
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Here's a pic of the raised beds at work.

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Dwight #392843 Jun 16th, 2016 at 03:25 AM
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VERY nice.... shewinks


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Dwight #392847 Jun 16th, 2016 at 07:06 PM
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Great gardening thumbup


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Dwight #392862 Jun 17th, 2016 at 01:52 PM
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Beautiful area you have there.



Dwight #392863 Jun 17th, 2016 at 01:54 PM
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so you have your tomatoes in containers in the raised beds. Are there holes in the bottom of the containers or is it just sides?



Bestofour #392882 Jun 20th, 2016 at 01:37 AM
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The tomatoes aren't in containers in the beds. The tubes are to protect the seedlings when small. I just leave them in place because, um, er, no particular reason.


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Dwight #392883 Jun 20th, 2016 at 06:11 AM
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Makes sense to me.


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Dwight #392894 Jun 21st, 2016 at 03:46 AM
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Me too.



Dwight #394808 Jan 22nd, 2017 at 04:37 PM
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Where is Dwight? I'm making another raised bed and am planning on getting the potatoes out of the ground and into the raised bed this year. My potato plants get at least 3 feet tall and I keep covering them with dirt and potatoes grow from the bottom of the plant to as far up as I pull up soil. Historically I've made a 2 foot deep trench so by the time the plant gets to ground level it's covered with 24 inches of dirt. In a raised bed, which is only 12 inches deep I'm guessing, do you lay your plants on their side and cover with dirt once they reach ground level? I can't see this in my mind. :)



Bestofour #394813 Jan 22nd, 2017 at 09:42 PM
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Sounds to me as if you are using the ground to do just what some do in a tall raised bed, Sheri. IF you were to continue to use a 2 foot trench that was 2 feet before the 12 inch bed, then you could do as I suggested below...

IMO what you do once they reach ground level would be up to you.
You could continue to cover them until they reach the top of your raised bed then just let tem grow naturally and flower, etc.
I would see no need for flopping them over sideways....although doing that with one might be an interesting experiment...BUT eventually you will need some green to grow so the plant would flower.


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Dwight #394826 Jan 23rd, 2017 at 04:37 PM
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so you're saying to dig a trench in the raised bed?



Bestofour #394829 Jan 23rd, 2017 at 08:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Bestofour
so you're saying to dig a trench in the raised bed?


well actually I thought that is what you were saying you might do. If you were used to 2 feet previously, you would only have 1 foot with a 1 ft. raised bed.

I will say that when I used to plant potatoes back at the farm, I just dug a trench about 8 to 10 inches deep, laid down/planted my cut up seed potatoes about 1 foot apart, and then mounded up the dirt over the trench to about 6 inches higher than ground level, which made trenches between rows. (So, I guess my potatoes were about 12 to 14 inches under the soil.) So, if you worked up the ground so it was loose before setting up the raised bed, you could begin with a trench about ground level and then cover up the plant as it grew until you were at the top of the raised bed, right??? then just let it grow----Since I cannot go out & measure my old garden, I can only say I planted about 5 pounds of potatoes in my garden & I got enough potatoes to feed a family of 4 from harvest time until mid January.

I laid the harvested potatoes out on my picnic table in the spaces between the boards until they were dry turning them once, then I put them in my basement in soda type boxes lined with news paper, so the potatoes were NOT touching each other.

AND then, as am a bit OCD, I separated the potatoes by size, so I could just go get what I needed when I need them more easily.


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Dwight #394837 Jan 24th, 2017 at 07:37 PM
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potatoes don't keep well here even under the house which is the coolest area I have. It's just too hot. We just eat them all summer and I give away what we don't eat. I'm going to try the raised bed and we'll just see what happens.



Bestofour #394840 Jan 24th, 2017 at 09:37 PM
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IF I can find a raised bed this spring, I too will be making and trying to grow potatoes in a raised bed.
Please do keep us informed as to how it all goes with you and potato growing..


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Dwight #394845 Jan 25th, 2017 at 03:23 PM
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Where are your raised beds?



Bestofour #394847 Jan 25th, 2017 at 03:41 PM
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Well, I said if I could find some. My DD got a nice small one at Sam's last season, I would need at least 2 of that size. However, I think perhaps I might try to make them out of concrete blocks. MY DH said something ab out that last year when we were talking.

They will have to go in my back yard. It faces west and gets all afternoon & evening sun. There is no shade back there to speak of, so it is about 10 degrees hotter in my back yard than in my front as well.


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