Raised Beds are Finished. Garlic is Growing. 1.4.2021

 The raised beds are done.  They are all filled with soil mix.  The last one got about 2/3 soil from where the neighbor built a road on his easement on my property.  It's good soil, unimproved and fallow.  That got mixed with some raised bed soil from an old bed that has been improved with lots of compost over the years.  I added some wood ashes and crushed eggshell to the mix.

The middle bed also settled, so got a wheelbarrow of that same soil on top of the prior mix.  I added it on top of the maple leaf mulch, which I want to compost itself.  Both beds will get a leaf mulch for the rest of the winter.  I hope the earthworms will like that and do their thing.

The first bed was planted with garlic after I filled it in Sept or Oct.  These are the big, "Music" garlic, and also some others.  One row had germinated shortly after, but the most did not.  Now they are poking through the soil.  Winter wont hurt them.  Currently they are getting all of the coffee grounds, which in my case is quite a bit.  I used to collect coffee grounds from Starbucks, which sometimes they were nice about and sometimes they were put off by that.  With the pandemic, I haven't been to a Starbucks in a year.  So these are all from my own coffee pot.  They also got quite a bit of compost mixed into the upper soil layers, which I figure they will like.

I also salvaged some garlic plants from an old raised bed, planting them in the new one.  I don't know how they will do.  But if they grow, that's good.  If they don't, nothing lost.

I think these taller raised beds will benefit my gardening a lot.  They don't take nearly the amount of leaning and crouching and back-straining.  They were still a lot of work to fill.  That is an investment into a gardening future.  Having three beds, one gets garlic, one gets peppers and pickle cukes, and one gets scallions and leaf crops, or bush beans.  That makes a good rotation, one year on / two years off for each crop.

So far, I like this style of raised bed better than any other that I've tried.  They are less heavy work to put together.  Boards take less garden real estate than cement blocks, although there are advantages to those.

New Raised Bed Is Completed. 9.24.2020

 This is the first of a planned three new raised beds.  The old ones, made from fir 2 x 6's, are starting to deteriorate.  They have also tended to sink with time, so the lowest 2 x 6's no longer show above ground / mulch level.  I've been building up the soil in them for 8 years, and that is nice.  Everything grows very well in them.  The old beds are also not where I want them now.

I felt a sense of urgency about the first one.  I want it for garlic, which grows very nicely for me in raised beds, better than in the ground.   Also, it needs to be fenced.  Herbivores eat most of my garlic if I leave it unprotected.

This new method makes a bit larger bed from the same size planks, compared to my old method.  My older bed has also sunk quite a bit.  So,  I bought 1/2 yard of topsoil to mix with the original raised bed soil.   At first I was adding the new topsoil to the bottom level, but then I decided it would be better to mix it all together.  Some is uneven but I think it's mostly mixed.  The new topsoil mix is gummy when wet, whereas my mix crumbles somewhat.  Not knowing where that topsoil came from, or what might be in it, I supplemented it.  After mixing together the old and new soil, I added about an inch of aged compost from my yard - a year or two old - and spread a cup of dolomite lime over the entire bed, then turned it a few times with a shovel, and tilled a couple of times with a hand held "claw" tiller tool that I liked.  Then I raked it fairly smooth.

It's been raining, so the soil management was not perfect, but I wanted to get it done.  Maybe I should let the amended soil cure and age and settle a little before planting the garlic, but I might get started soon anyway.  I usually plant it about now.

New Raised Bed. 9.23.2020

 This is the first of three new raised beds that I have planned.  The old ones are in a location where I want to plant miniature fruit trees.  They are eight years old, and the untreated fir wood is rotting, especially the lower planks.  

This is part of my effort to build some gardening infrastructure for the future.  These beds are three planks tall - about 18 inches.  This height will be easier to garden as I age.  I will have the beds far enough apart, that I can have a walking assist device or bench between the beds.  Around the beds, I will have tree chip mulch.  The construction is surprisingly easy.  The corners are pre-cast concrete blocks with slots in the sides and a hole through the top.  The hole accommodates a rebar, which is pounded into the ground to hold them in place a little better.  The slots are made to fit a 2 x 8 plank.  I bought 8 foot long planks, the length of the bed.  For the width, I cut them in half, for 4 feet.  I bought treated lumber, and will line with plastic.

After leveling the ground, I lined three sides with plastic, and removed one end to roll the wheel barrow into the bed to dump garden soil.  When I get near completion, I will replace those planks and line the end with plastic before filling the end.

 The bottom is lined with a re-used layer of hardware cloth.  That wasn't big enough, so I added re-used chicken wire to make up the difference.  I folded the chicken wire to double it.  The purpose is to prevent tunneling animals from working their way up into the bed.

 

End removed to allow me to fill using a wheel barrow.  When I'm ready, I can just slide the boards back into the slots.

I wanted to re-use soil from previous raised bed.  That soil has received a lot of compost and some minerals over the years.  The dimension is also nominally 4 feet by 8 feet.  However, the concrete corner blocks actually increase the dimension.  Instead of losing 2 inches each war from butting the corners together, there is about a 2 inch gap in the block, so 4 inches are gained at each corner.  In addition, those old beds  had sunk into the soil over time, so the height isn't as much.  I bought a truckload of top soil. Combining the 1/2 yard of purchased topsoil with the existing soil from one bed, might fill that bed. 

When this is done, I'll plant garlic in this raised bed.  It's the only one that I am really motivated to complete before winter starts.  The others can be done during the winter.  My plan is, one for garlic, one for cucumbers, one for peppers.  There will be room for some other plants.  These are the main ones that benefit from raised beds in my garden.

Reformed Raised Beds. 3.9.18

 During the winter, I rebuilt two of the raised beds, converting from wooden sides to concrete blocks.   The blocks are collected from various other old projects, so were free.  These beds are taller than the old wooden beds, so easier to work in.

I have one more bed to replace.  This time, I had to buy the blocks.  They clost slightly over a dollar each, with 36 blocks being needed, so that bed will be about $36 to build.  Not bad.

I also reused some decking planks to rebuild 3 of the wood sided beds to a higher level to be easier to work.  The wooden beds are starting to degrade.  I don't ecpect them to last a lot longer.

I'm being careful to use the raised beds only for plants that seem to benefit from that method.  Peppers do really well, because they like the warmer soil.  It's easy to keep the soil surface nice and weed free.  Chinese chives and other alliums are also easier to keep clean and weed free in the beds.  Strawberries, being small plants, benefit similarly.  So these beds are mainly Chinese chives, strawberries, Egyptian Winter Onions, some of the garlic, and one will have pepppers.

Raised bed changes. Planting Summer Seeds for Fall Crops. 7.24.17

 I decided to make some changes in the raised bed kitchen garden, for easier gardening.    I added another level of 2 X 6, so the bed is 6 inches higher, then added a 2 X 6 edge to each side to support me.  I can lean or sit on that edge.  This bed contained bearded irises that never did well.  I moved them to a sink-or-swim out of the way border, where they will either grow, or not.  That gave me a new bed to plant seeds that grow for fall kitchen crops.

I used old seeds, turnips, Chinese radish, Chinese cabbage, Daikon.

That was last week.  They do need daily watering, but otherwise no special care.  Some rows have germinated nicely.  It's possible that some seeds were too old, and I intend to replant today.

I didn't label the rows.  I think some of the Chinese cabbage did not germinate, and one of the two rows of turnips.  Those seeds were 5 years old.

The current raised bed arrangement is 12 4 X 8 foot raised beds, 1 foot high, separated by mowed grass paths about 3 feet wide.  Those paths are too narrow for a riding mower.  The plan, which will develop as crops mature and are gone in the fall, is to replace the 2 middle rows with 1 middle row.  That will make paths wide enough for riding mower, which really reduces maintenance.  The sides will be higher, with edge as described for this bed.  Most of the wood will be reused from either the old beds, or from a deck that I tore apart this Spring. 

Planting Winter Seeds. 2.15.17

 I'm being adventurous and planting some winter-starting seeds for the kitchen garden beds.  The first batch, mesclun, arugula, radish blend, lettuce blend.  I used up old radish seeds by mixing them with the newer ones.  If the old ones don't grow, then the plants will be further apart which is good.  I usually overplant seeds.  If they do grow, that's fine, I'll just thin to the appropriate distance.

These seeds went into cement-block

raised beds that are warmer than surrounding ground-level soil.  A week ago, I scattered wood ashes on the soil and mixed thoroughly.  There have been some rains since then to dissolve the minerals.   A longer time would be better but this is what I have.

Last year I planted Fava beans and snow peas about now, and they were very healthy and vigorous and productive.  This time I'm planting them in a standard raised bed that had tomato plants last year.  That bed was given a dose of lime about 2 months ago. 

Kitchen Garden. Another Way to Eat Zucchini. 7.26.16

Basal in Tree Ring Container.  7.26.16

Okra.  7.27.16

Mid Summer is a nice time in the kitchen garden.  Every day feels like a combination Easter Egg hunt and Christmas. 

Basil in Tree Ring Open Bottom container, ready to pick and make a small batch of pesto. 

I'm very surprised to have actively growing okra.  I had given up.  A true Southern gardener would rightly laugh at these puny okra plants.  The first flower buds are forming, and there are still 2 months of warm weather for potential crop.  I don't know which varieties.  I mixed together several packets and planted all of them.

I used tree branches that I saved to construct fenceposts or other garden infrastructure, along with black plastic trellis with 1-inch openings, to construct a rabbit / deer fence.  One might think okra spines would deter these pests, but they eat blackberry and squash growth tips, despite spines.

We continue to get zucchini, of course, and collard greens.  There are occasional peppers.

Use a mandolin with the thinnest blade, and slice zucchinis into leaf-thin slices.  Add the usual salad fixings and dressing, makes a great salad. 

Today the sweet corn appears ready to harvest.  I'm too tired to prepare it tonight, so leaving in the husks. 

I shifted the largest pumpkin to slide a newspaper under it.  That was to protect it from potential rot underneat, something I read about.  BAD MOVE.  The pumpkin came off the stem.  A ripe one is almost red.  This one is golden yellow.   I will see if I can roast it tomorrow for pumpkin pie fillings and pumpkin puree for pumpkin bread.

This pumpkin was Rouge Vit D'Etamps.  I weighed it - 35 pounds.  What will I do with that much pumpkin?  Annoyed with myself for not letting it ripen on the plant, dammit dammit.  But there are many smaller pumpkins and winter squashes, so there will still be more than we can reasonably use.

Vegetables.  7.27.16

 Some of the radish seeds have germinated at 3 days.   I planted all of the Chinese radish varieties, mentioned earlier.  Meanwhile at one week the first Euro radishes, turnips, kohlrabis, are looking good  one week after sowing seeds.  The carrot seeds have germinated.  I also enclosed this raised bed in netting for deer and rabbits.  I don't know if that will keep out cabbage moths. 

Two days ago, we ate the first Sungold tomato.  Today there were a few more.  I'm impatient for tomato season to start, even though there are so many other things to be happy about.

Okra Cage.  7.26.16

Also noting- We are getting figs every day.  Not enough to overwhelm me, but a really good crop.

Not pictured, I harvested all of the potatoes, other than Burbank Russet, which are almost ready.  Probably 50 pounds total of potatoes.  I harvested about half of the yellow onions.  Maybe 10 pounds.   I pulled out one of the raised bed / cages of favas, and used that bed to plant more Chinese Radishes last weekend.

Sweet Corn.  Trinity is shorter variety.  Bilicious is taller variety.  7.26.16

Trinity Sweet Corn Ready to Harvest.  7.26.16

 Rouge Vif d'Etampes Pumpkin, Harvested Too Early.  7.26.16

Radishes, Turnips, Carrots Seeds Germinating.  7.26.16

The First of the Sungold, by a nose.  7.26.16

Raised Beds, Peppers, Onions, and Tomatoes. 4.21.16

Maturing Egyptian Walking Onions.  4.21.16

Peppers in Protected Raised Bed.  4.21.16

First Tomato Plants Planted Out.  4.21.16

With early warming, I don't know what will happen with early planting, but am planting things out as soon as they seem ready.

The overwintered Eqyptian Walking Onions are producing topsets.  These are in a container / small bed constructed from tree edging rings.  So this is my onion ring planter.  I recovered these last year from a nearly-dead plot, weed competition and herbivores.  Now they are vigorous and excellent.

I used large-cell chicken wire fencing to protect the raised pepper beds.  This is my favorite type of raised bed now, easy to work accessible, and easy to keep clean.  It's early to have peppers outside.  I don't know if deer will reach over and much on the plants.  I hope not.  They should be secure from rabbits.

I planted out the first of the tomatoes.  These were non-grafted, own-root seedlings I started earlier.  Better Boy, Jersey Boy, Sunny Boy - I guess this is a "Boys Club", also Supersweet-100 and Sungold.

Raised Beds - Earlier, Warmer, Easier. Progress Report. 3.4.16

 I completed the newest raised beds.  There are now four.  They are build largely from recycled narrow cement blocks from the old place, used there for a variety of purposes.  I needed some to complete the last two beds.  The blocks are 99 cents each at Home Depot.  Each bed requires 21 blocks, plus one half-block and some bricks due to dimensions that don't match because of shape.

All of my raised beds are built on a chicken wire fencing base, to prevent moles from tunneling up into the beds.

Dimensions are roughly 4 feet by 4 feet by 18 inches high.

The capstones are all re-used from a patio.  They are cobblestone pavers.

Recycled Concrete Block Raised Beds.  3.4.16

I measured the soil temperatures this week.  The base soil was 60F.  In the lower, wooden raised beds, the soil was 62F.  In the concrete raised beds, the soil was 65F.  This time of year, the warmer soil is an advantage.  Mulch may be needed later, to reflect heat.

The pavers add a little height.  My theory is the concrete blocks absorb heat, even though color is not dark, and transmit that heat to the air spaces.  The air is warmed, and the pavers hold the warm air in place.  During the summer, pavers could be removed to allow excape of the warm air, if I think that is an issue.

For senior access and gardening comfort / accessibility, these concrete block raised beds seem ideal.  They are a good sitting height.  The blocks make it possible to sit on the edge of the bed and work soil with hand tools.  They are nearer to visual comfort height, which makes planting seeds and weeding easier.

I planted seeds from old packets, radishes, scorzina, spring greens.  One bed has some overflow scallions, perennial onions.  I want to grow flowers in one bed when / if the spring vegetables and greens are finished.

I also have smaller raised beds - these fall between raised bed and container.  They are made from re-used concrete tree rings, stacked to fit together. 

In this case, the container / bed contains hyacinths - planted deep - and daylilies, planted above the hyacinths.    I have grown other plants in this system - potatoes, perennial onions, annuals.  The height and size is very convenient.  There is no bottom, but I lay down a base of chicken wire fencing to prevent mole infestation and disruption.

Allium Family Perennial Vegetables. 2.10.16

Chive Beds and New Raised Bed.  2.10.16

 All of the overwintering Allium family perennial vegetables are growing.

The 2 raised beds of garlic chives broke dormacy last week, now 2 to 2 inches of growth. 

I priced these concrete blocks today at Home Depot.  They were 99 cents each.  I think they are less expensive than the wooden beds, will last longer, and are easier to assemble.  I don't know about thermal properties.  The corners have openings that would be good for posts.

Garlic Chives.  2.10.16

Chives.  2.10.15

Garlic Raised Bed.  2.10.16

Egyptian Walking Onions.  2.10.16

Standard chives are growing fast.

Garlic is showing great growth.  My subjective estimate is the garlic in the raised bed is about  twice as big as the garlic in the ground, probably due to warmer temperature although the soil mix could also be better.

Egyptian Walking Onions are also growing nicely.  I protected them from deer and rabbits this year.  There was still evidence of something foraging - maybe slugs.

Not shown, the new starts of White Potato Onions are about 6 inches tall.  This time around they are also protected from herbivores.  There is no evidence of foraging on those plants.

I'm not concerned about potential frost or freeze.  These are hardy plants.

Kitchen Garden. 9.1.15

Part of Kitchen Garden.  9.1.15

Kitchen Garden, ready for fall more or less.

I finished the first of two new raised beds for Chinese chives.  Those are reused cinder blocks.  Very easy.  I can add one or two or three...  blocks and call it a day.  Then the next day, or next week, add some more.  Soon enough, they are all in place.  The soil mix is mainly decomposed sod, molehills, and well aged chicken house compost, all from this yard.

I planted the first of the chive beds.   These are mainly from the prior one.  They needed refreshed soil, and needed dividing to regenerate the clumps.  Some were from a container that we sprouted last year in the sunroom, then had in the yard waiting to be replanted.  Some are volunteer from other raised beds.

I feel better, with all of beds either in use for producing something, or with cover crop for regenerating the soil and feeding the honeybees.

New Chinese Chive Raised Bed.  9.1.15

Kitchen Garden.  9.1.15

Its not Martha Stewart, but good enough. 

Vegetable Gardening in Raised Beds. 5.11.15

Raised bed planted with bean seeds and protected with fencing.  5.11.15

 The former strawberry bed was weedy and the soil level sunken lower than I wanted.  I pulled what weeds I could, turned the rest over, and moved a few wheelbarrows of soil from a pile we keep for that purpose.  The pile consists especially of sod removed for other planting around the 2 acres.   Decomposition of the sod makes the soil a little better than it was.

In this bed, I planted Roma and Yellow Wax beans.  Also a small row of cilantro and some onion sets that were laying around already sprouted.

The cover is meant to deter deer and rabbits.

Tomato plants ready to set outside.  5.11.15

The fencing is not perfectly sealed and  birds may also get in.  Better than nothing.

Tomato plants in the sunroom were ready for planting.  That meant removing weeds from a second raised bed.  I had prepped it during winter but failed to cover to prevent weed growth.  The grasses were over 3 feet tall.  I pulled, then used weed eater, turned the soil over and raked somewhat smooth.  Planted tomatoes.  Mulched with thin cardboard food packaging.  Not pretty.  that gets covered with straw or grass clippings later and will no longer show.

Tomatoes started in raised bed, cardboard mulch.  5.11.15

The effect of compost. Kitchen garden winter prep. 12.7.14

Untreated soil vs. soil with 2 1/2 years of compost and TLC.

Garden gold.  Chick house cleanings for the kitchen garden.

 Today I did some cleanup and winter prep for next Spring.  I don't like seeing the raised beds full of dead tomato and pepper plants and weeds and bean stalks.

Several of the raised beds have settled significantly.  I topped the off with soil from this raised bed.  That used 2/3 of the bed's soil.  The other 1/3 is perennial - Chinese chive, which I consolidated from this raised bed and another.

The difference is soil appearance is dramatic.  The native soil, on the left, is what the enriched soil, on the right, looked like 2  1/2 years ago.  The difference is 2 /12 years of adding chicken house compost, leaves, kitchen scrap compost, worm compost, coffee grounds....

I filled partially full with yard soil, then mixed in a wheelbarrow full of chicken house cleanings.  That is a year old, but dry so not composted.  Too rich to use immediately.  This being December, there will be 5 or 6 months to mellow before use.  Plan for this area is bush beans.

I also added a cup of lime based on last year's soil test result showing low pH and low calcium.

Then I topped off with more yard soil, then more chicken house cleanings.  Let the earthworms and bacteria and fungi do their thing now. 

Several of the beds are cleaned up now.  When spring comes, prep for planting will need minimal effort.

The other thing that needs to be done for these beds is better animal fencing.  That is another project for this winter.

For the beds that I topped off, I removed the larger, tougher plant stems to go into the compost heap.  I covered the cardboard/grass clipping mulch with a layer of improved soil.  No major digging, the soil is already well aerated and rich.

Cleanup half done.  12.7.14

My kitchen garden in winter.  12.7.14

Potato and Garlic Harvest. 7.4.14

Potato Harvest.  7.4.14

Garlic bed, ready to harvest.  7.4.14

 A couple of the potato plants browned, so I dug them out.  This harvest is from 2 plants.  Not bad.  These are in the potato "wells".  Very easy to remove the sides and harvest.

The garlic is brown as well.  I dug out half of the garlic- this half was Inchelium Red.  The husks may have suffered a bit from recent rains but look very good overall.  Plump, firm cloves.

The raised bed method works well for both.

First Inchelium Red garlic.  7.4.14

Puttering. 5.17.14

Early bloom on wildflowers

Early bloom on wildflowers

Tomato seedlings planted.

 Ning's wildflower meadows are starting to bloom.  He seeded these in March.  The mix is from outsidepride.com, NW wildflower mix.  Plus I added in some agastache  for bees and domesticated California poppies to be different.  There may be some snapdragons in there too.  The wild type poppies are blooming but not the domesticated ones yet.

This mix contains annuals for the first year, and perennials for subsequent years.  The annuals may also self seed.

The flowers are minimal now, but they are just beginning.

The seedling tomatoes have settled in.  I have a couple of plants left over.  Not sure what to do with those.

The store bought tomato plants are growing fast, sturdy and dark green.  The Sungold have their first flowers.  I gave them a dilute dose of organic nitrogen boost.

The peppers are growing nicely.

I planted the last batch of potatoes.  Those were fingerling potatoes from Tsugawa.  They are in the 4th tree-ring potato well.  The earlier potatoes have nice leaves.  Something is eating some.  Maybe slugs.  I sprinkled around organic slug bait.  The late potato planting should mean we get a few months of fresh potatoes.

Radishes continue to produce.

Deer and rabbits continue to be a challenge.  I need more fencing.

Store bought tomato plants in place.

Pepper bed

Snow Peas

Raised bed garden