Great looking garden Jim! So clean and neat. Puts me to shame. Next year I plan on some perminent concrete boxes same size as yours. Small and easy to get around. Are you really happy with yours or would you change anything?....Kirk

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Answers

Thanks Kirk.

I would have taken more pictures of the garden while I had the camera over the 4th of July but neither Ruth nor I were aware that the batteries were run down in the digital camera (and Ruth had neglected to bring the battery charger home from work). When I have the camera again I plan on taking a few more pictures of the garden beds when the garden is further along in the growing season (probably in the next few weeks).

I like your idea of permanent concrete boxes instead of wood. I'm hoping that my wood beds will last at least ten years even though they are made out of pine. I did try an experiment of treating the wood with linseed oil and beeswax in hopes of extending the life of the beds but I won't know for quite some time if the experiment was a success or not.

I do like the 4ft.x4ft. size of the beds - it works well for most vegetables I want to grow. But I am planning on putting in an additional 8 beds that will surround the current 16 beds. These new beds will be 4ft.x10ft. and will allow larger plantings of certain crops like vining squash and pumpkins as well as larger plantings of dry beans and corn if so desired.

The one thing I would have budgeted for and installed immediately would have been drip irrigation. The raised beds have performed beautifully during the early growing season when we have had abundant rain but now that we've gone without rain for almost three weeks, the beds have become a major pain to keep watered - even with copious amounts of mulch in some of the beds to protect from evaporation.

The other thing I wish I would have done immediately after the beds were built would have been to put down a weed barrier and decorative stone mulch in the aisles between the beds. Right now the aisles have bare ground between the beds (I didn't want grass between them as I have WAY too much grass to cut now as it is). I've been *trying* to keep these aisles mulched with grass clippings but it's become a major hassle. I HOPE to have the time and money this Fall to put in the drip irrigation and the stone mulch - that way I can focus on building the 8ft.x14ft. saltbox-style greenhouse next year that will sit next to the vegetable garden.

BTW, if anyone else missed it, I did post 4 pictures in the Photo Album over the 4th of July. There's a picture of our one and only Sweet Sixteen apple that I'm anxiously waiting to ripen, an arial picture of all our raised beds, a picture of me near one of the raised beds (not a very *flattering* picture of me but what are ya gonna do), and a shot of one of the clematis plants flowering near our vegetable garden.

Member's Pics 4

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

I should also mention that Sherri C. uploaded a couple pictures of her raised beds a while back but I don't think she mentioned anything about it to the forum. And I completely forgot about it after I approved her pictures.

Her two pictures are in the Member's Pics 3 album with Tren's flower picture.

Nice pictures, Sherri. It looks like you used 2x10's or 2x12's for your raised beds. Are you happy with them being high like that (I imagine it's easier on the back not having to bend over so far to work in the beds) and do you have problems keeping the beds watered when the rain doesn't come on a regular basis?

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Nice pictures you guys!!! I love seeing pictures of people's gardens. I wish I had a digital camera, by the time I get regular film used up and developed it is a different season. Sherri, still thinking about coming to Michigan this year???

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Nice gardens guys! Makes mine look like a jungle! Shoot, maybe even monkeys swingin' out there. The grass took over my walkways and I let it go to town, I don't have time to till the walkways this year. Now I am mowing the walkways! I took a bunch of pics too, I'll upload them later this evening if I can. Gosh, I've been busy. I have to resize them. Mine were too large last time weren't they Jim.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

I can't remember if your pics were too large or not, Cindy. But if you can resize them that certainly should help. The pictures I took over the 4th of July were over 700 KB in size (some close to 1 MB). But I ran them through Ulead's optimizer program and they shrunk right down just fine. It does really help to shrink down the file sizes as it makes it easier for those of us with slow Internet connections to view the pictures.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

I did use 2x12s, the two beds in the photos are 4'x12'. I thought about doing the 4'x4' square method, but since I don't have a lot of space in my backyard having the two long beds gives me more planting area (and uses less lumber). I also have to deal with the grade in the yard, the side of the bed closest to the house is buried about 6" so that it's level across the top. The soil around the house is heavy clay with almost no topsoil, and since we only plan on staying here a couple more years I thought it would be more efficient to just truck in 12" of good soil rather than trying to improve what is already there. I think that the clay underneath must help to keep the water in because I haven't had much trouble with the beds drying out. The only problem I've had it that the soil I bought had a lot of weed seeds in it, and now I have a constant battle with nettles in the beds.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Thanks Jim, for putting my pictures up in the photo album. Now you all can see my garden, and also see a Kenutcky hillbilly milking a cow! I really like looking at pics of your places and your neat gardens, it's so cool.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001