Another Raised Bed Gardening Idea?

[kathrynn]

Dave-----thank you! Wondering about the pine straw too.  I have heard there are acids in it that will make the PH all whacky. Here is all the red clay before we fenced the area in. I may get out there this weekend before the rain tomorrow and get some of it raked and play some.

burial ground before fencing.JPG

• kathrynn
• Nov 3, 2012

This is before the fence was finished too.  Loads of rocks and good old weeds and weed seeds to get out.  Figure loads of manure and organic materials are needed.  Found loads of worms this summer too.  Have lots of leaves that can be mulched into it too.

 

[smoking b]

That looks like it does a pretty good job Dave - do you run it off a pto?

Since this is about raised beds here are some pics of some raised beds I built for herbs.

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• smoking b
• Nov 3, 2012

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• smoking b
• Nov 3, 2012

Don't mind the mess - I tied some chairs & other things to them right before the storm hit & had some brush blow up to them too. They are 4 x 12 beds & I filled them with a 50/50 mix of topsoil & mushroom soil. They work great for herbs but you could grow lots of other things in them. The best thing about them is that there is absolutely no bending involved - you just walk up & do your thing 

 

[daveomak]

I like the raised beds.....  I have containers around here for making "earth boxes"....  haven't made time to build them.... 

I do run it off the PTO..... here it is.....   This monster will chew up dry straw and hay in a heartbeat.....

DSCF0609.jpg

• daveomak
• Nov 3, 2012

DSCF0610.jpg

• daveomak
• Nov 3, 2012

 

[smoking b]

     Very nice Dave! That thing would really take the work out of it - much easier than shaking it out with a fork! With that 3 pt hitch you can use it anywhere as well. Cool build - I may have to do some looking around & see if I still have a beater from an old silage wagon stashed away. That could possibly make a nice winter project if I have most of the parts & pieces somewhere...

     Yes the beds are nice. You can store stuff under them if need be & just being able to walk up & do what you need to do is great. I've had these for 6 years now & am SERIOUSLY considering building about 6 more by spring to use. 1 for radishes, lettuce, & carrots, 2 for peppers, 2 for onions & 1 extra for whatever I decide to put in it. That would make things pretty nice...

 

[smoking b]

Hey Dave I forgot to ask what size tractor you are running that with. Also are you running it just above idle or pouring some fuel to it?

 

[daveomak]

I've got a '53 Jubilee with a 3 speed Sherman and an under drive Howard set of gears.....  I generally run the chopper about 400-450 RPM.... Enough to keep it from stopping the tractor on binding clods of hay.... A pretty cool set up really....  

 

[smoking b]

     Ok I figured it was a tractor roughly that size. I recently acquired a 1960 Allis Chalmers D15 to pull hay wagons back & forth with. I was looking for a while but couldn't find anything with a wide front end - this one has the narrow front end but the price was more than fair so I got it. It would work great to run something like you made. I would hate to build one & blow it apart with one of the larger tractors as my next smallest choices are a 62 & 75 hp. I'm sort of keeping an eye out for something around 50 hp - the little Allis Chalmers just doesn't have quite enough ass to back loaded wagons into the barn. It wants to paw & spin. It's fun to use though & it's the fastest tractor I have

     I really like what you came up with Dave. Do you make a lot of hay?  If I do end up trying to make something like that before spring would you mind if I pm you a couple questions when that time comes? As of now, I fork the hay onto the back of a pickup & haul it to the garden & throw it off. I then have to spread it. I end up handling it 3 times before it's all said & done & it takes a LOT of pickup loads to cover the garden (another reason I may build more raised beds). Your machine would make the whole process MUCH easier & more efficient for me. Thanks for sharing!

 

[smoking b]

Just came across a better picture of one of the raised beds & one more of the garden so here they are...

PICT0335.JPG

• smoking b
• Nov 6, 2012

PICT0330.JPG

• smoking b
• Nov 6, 2012

Still not the whole thing but a little better view & shows the hay does an effective job at weed control...

 

[kathrynn]

Smoking B....gorgeous!  Would love to have the bounty!  I am impressed!

 

[linguica]

 I have raised beds out of necessity. When the lots were graded for home construction the soil in the lower areas was dozed up the hill to make the upper lots level. I was left with 10 inches of soil covering sandstone. I made raised beds with 2"x12"s. The bottom of each bed is covered with 1/2 inch galvanized mesh to keep the gophers out. It works like a charm. When the gophers do come in my Jack Russell terrier hunts them down with a vengeance.

 

[smoking b]

Smoking B....gorgeous!  Would love to have the bounty!  I am impressed!

Thanks KathrynN! It's a lot of work at the beginning but once you're done it's worth it since you don't have to do weeding

 I have raised beds out of necessity. When the lots were graded for home construction the soil in the lower areas was dozed up the hill to make the upper lots level. I was left with 10 inches of soil covering sandstone. I made raised beds with 2"x12"s. The bottom of each bed is covered with 1/2 inch galvanized mesh to keep the gophers out. It works like a charm. When the gophers do come in my Jack Russell terrier hunts them down with a vengeance.

I built mine to make it easy & convenient to gather fresh herbs by simply walking up. Now that I've used them for a good many years, I'm probably going to build several more for vegetables this coming spring & see how I like them used that way...

 

[linguica]

After thought; one of the best tools i have come across to maintain raised beds is one of those mini roto tillers. Mine only weighs about 12 pounds and goes right in to the boxes when I have to mix in soil amendments.

 

[smoking b]

Do you mean a Mantis type tiller Linguica?

 

[linguica]

Do you mean a Mantis type tiller Linguica?

Yes They are small and light weight They usually cost $300 and seldom on sale. Keep with the major (reliable) brands. Mt first one was a IDE Mini tiller and it was a piece of trash. The IDE unit couldn't mix a milkshake.   My new one is a Troy Bilt.  Watch your toes!

 

[smoking b]

Yes They are small and light weight They usually cost $300 and seldom on sale. Keep with the major (reliable) brands. Mt first one was a IDE Mini tiller and it was a piece of trash. The IDE unit couldn't mix a milkshake.   My new one is a Troy Bilt.  Watch your toes!

Are you happy with it? Would you buy the same one if you had to do it over again? If I make 6 more raised beds I may invest in a small tiller to make things a little easier. Do they bounce around a lot being that light?

 

[linguica]

Definitely YES I have a Troy Bilt roto tiller and it works great. If they hit a solid object they will jump, but they only weigh about 12 lbs. No tilling with flip-flops on. I found it on their web site:

http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_14102_1626841_54971_-1

And my neighbor bought the Mantis tiller.He is also happy with his. The difference between the two: the Troy Bilt has curved tines while the Mantis has straight star shapes tines. Curved tines mix the soil better while the Mantis's faster moving stars will chop debris better. And this is a must, they both start easily. You can't garden if your all pooped out from just getting the D*MM thing to start. Updated price is$349.to $399.

http://mantis.com/mantis-tillers.asp

Hope this helped

 

[smoking b]

Thanks. I will be making the hour journey to where there are actual shopping areas tomorrow or Sunday & I will check at Lowes or Home Depot to see if I can look at one in person. I saw that one of them carried the small tillers but I'm not sure which one it was...

 

[daveomak]

I have a Mantis tiller....  It works good...  The tines are reversible to dig in and till or reverse to chop weeds without digging too deep.....   The drawbacks... Gap in the middle because of the gear case etc...   No wheels for depth control...  I'm gonna work on the wheel thing and depth control....  All in all it does a very good job and it is one tough machine....  And it will "jump" when it hits something that doesn't move....  

I also have a JD 5' wide tiller that runs behind the tractor...  

 

[smoking b]

I don't have much experience with garden tillers. I've always used plows, discs, harrows etc. One of the small tillers should work great though for the extra raised beds if I make them...  I also just noticed that you can see my cucumber trellis in the upper left corner of the raised bed pic in post # 28. It saves a lot of bending also. The cucumbers hang down on the back side & you just walk around & pick them...