Tag Archives: raised beds

March 10, 2024 · 4:56 pm

Saying goodbye to old friends

March 10, 2024 My elevated beds have taken themselves down 😦

I am a steadfast believer in re-using, restoring, re-purposing pretty much everything, just because that is the way I was brought up. Everything can be salvaged…to a point. After 10 years of loyal service to our homestead it is time for replacement elevated beds.

When the bottoms started to fall out, I removed the soil and put it into grow bags which enabled me to move them around if I chose to. This system worked well all last season with two out of the 5 beds that were falling. This past winter one more collapsed on me, and today after completing my cleanup I watched (in horror) as one bed totally took itself apart-luckily all the soil filled grow bags plopped down without spilling soil all over the gravel!

Lesson and cautionary tale: as I was filling bags, I noticed that over time the soil had gotten a bit dense, so as I set up for a new season, in new elevated beds I will restore the mixture to a lighter, nutrient enhanced mix. I will continue to use the grow bags because I like the flexibility they offer. Looking forward to a new season of growing!

June 8th-Mid Spring

I finally have a weekend that I can actually take stock of what was planted last year, as well as see the progress of some things planted this year! The after-shock of planting from the Nursery has settled down, roots are established and plants are now getting into the swing of their second full year.

Happily wildflowers are returning and the area that we reseeded is filling in. Two possible mistakes made: 1) Leaf litter was too heavy and was not allowing many of the perennials from pushing through OR too many annuals were planted (like cosmos) and of coarse, being annuals did not come back.

The 4 raised beds we build are filled with corn, squash and bean (3 sisters) as well as radish, beets, tomatoes and freshly planted zuccini seeds. Lets see how long they can grow before night bandits start taking bites out of the harvest!

Need garden advice

Hi All,

If you have stopped in on my page GardenSpot you can see the progress of my indoor greenhouse. The problem I am having is everything is growing MICRO. I don’t want microgreens, micro-beans, micro-lettuce. I have a great fungi thing going on with the organic raised bed soil I used, I add worm castings, and I have the grow lights lowered to the appropriate height above the plants…And STILL the pak-choi is itty-bitty and bolting to flower. So Sad.

Any Advice?

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Filed under fungi, gardening, gardens, Healthy lifestyles, indoor greenhouses, organic gardening, raised beds

Tagged as fertilizers, indoor gardens, raised beds, worm castings

May 10, 2016 · 12:34 pm

Mel Bartholomew, an Engineer Who Popularized Square Foot Gardening, Dies at 84 – The New York Times

I just came across this in the NY Times this morning, and I wanted to share the article, as this is the book that help me plan my garden for decades, no matter what kind of space I had available. I have to admit that I never really accomplished the one-seed concept, the urge is always to put two or three…just in case, and then they all shoot up and I hate to pull the weaker one, But, the concept is brilliant, multi-use of a simple square foot of space.

For those of you who garden it is worth a look. (and look at my GardenSpot page while you are here, to see my garden progress this season)

Mr. Bartholomew’s innovation saved water and space by folding traditional rows of vegetables into a raised bed that could fit on porches, patios, decks or roofs.

Source: Mel Bartholomew, an Engineer Who Popularized Square Foot Gardening, Dies at 84 – The New York Times

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Filed under gardening, Healthy lifestyles, Hiking, Nature in the Highpeaks, Reader Advisory

Tagged as gardening, raised beds, square foot gardening