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07-27-03
Of all the ways to prepare your garden to get
the most produce from the least amount of space, raised beds are the
best.
Granted when first installing raised beds, the work is very intensive.
It takes cleaning off an area and then digging up the ground in the area
you want the beds to be. I have found that if you only prepare one
bed per week, the work is stretched out and does not wear you out.
We prepare our beds in several different ways. Every one of the
ways start the same. You must always clear a spot for the
bed. Make the beds where they will be comfortable for you to reach
to the middle of them without straining yourself. The way to check
to see how wide your beds need to be for your reach is to kneel or sit
on a low stool beside where you want the bed and reach out as far as you
can without straining yourself. Measure how far you could reach
then double it. If your reach is 2 feet, then make your beds 4
feet wide. If however you can reach only 1 1/2 feet, make the beds
3 feet wide. You can make each bed just as long as you wish.
I have found out that 8 to 10 feet is the best for me. We do have
some beds that are 150 feet long that we work machines.
If you have sod in the area, it must be cleaned off. I have found
the best way is to mow the grass or weeds as close to the ground as
possible. Next you should spray it with the vinegar solution I
wrote about in a previous article. Try to make your cleared area
about 3 feet wider and 3 feet longer than you are going to make the bed.
If your bed is to be 4 feet by 8 feet, make your cleared area 7 feet by
11 feet. This allows a clean area of 1 1/2 feet all around the bed
for your path and keeps the weeds and grass from encroaching into the
beds. By making beds side by side this gives you a 3 foot path to
work from Cover this area with black plastic and let it rest a few
days. After about a week, remove the plastic and dig down about a
shovel depth in the area you want the bed only. Do not dig the
path area up. Remove this soil and pile it to one side (We use a
soil sifter made of 1x4 lumber and hardware cloth to sift this soil into
a wheel barrow before returning it to the bed).
Next put on compost. Just as much
compost as you can get. Fill the dug area full and running over with
compost if you have it. We try to put in about 12 to 18
inches of compost. I know everyone cannot get this much compost,
but please use as much as you can get. If you can't get this much
compost I recommend using vermiculite, perlite and peat moss in a 1/3 rd
per each mixture. Put the sifted soil back into the bed area.
Mix the soil and the compost (or special mixture) together. Let
the bed rest for a few days to settle. After it has settled down,
add more compost (or special mixture) on top of the seed bed.
By now your raised bed should be about 18 to
24 inches higher than your paths according to how much compost you were
able to use. You can now begin to plant your seeds into this bed.
Be sure to utilize every inch of your area. If the seed packet
recommends planting the seeds 4 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart, just
plant them 4 inches apart each way. Since you are not using a
tractor to plow with, you do not need to have 3 feet between plant rows.
The soil prepared this way is so rich it will support as much as 10
times as many plants as conventional row planting. Even heavy
feeders like corn and onions thrive in this soil. Be prepared to
have a root system like you have never seen on your other garden plants.
This root system in turn feeds the plant and caused larger, more
vigorous and productive plants plus better tasting fruit and vegetables.
The great thing about beds prepared in this manner is you can work them
sitting down on a small stool. This keeps the strain off you your
lower back and shoulders. The next time you plant all you need to
do is put 2 to 4 inches of compost over the planting area, rake it in
and plant the seeds. I recommend replanting each area as you
harvest them if your weather permits this type of operation. When
you harvest your tomatoes, you could plant a fall crop in that area,
etc.
Another way to prepare raised beds is to clean the area as described
above and then use a rototiller to break up the ground. Mix in
your compost and roto-till again. I do not like this method as
well because it does not allow you to sift the grass and weed roots out
of the soil before mixing the compost and soil together. By not
sifting the soil, you may have problems in the future with grass that
was not killed by the vinegar mixture.
Remember in raised beds take your time. Do not rush them or
yourself. Make the work pleasurable by not tiring yourself out and
thus dreading to get out into the garden. You can build sides around the
beds if you choose to do so to hold the soil in place. We use a flat
shovel to scoop the soil out of the paths and put it back onto the beds
after we harvest each bed. This does two things, it keeps the
paths clean and it keeps the beds raised above the paths.
You will notice after one or two years that your beds seem to be getting
higher than they were to start with. This is caused by you keeping
them fluffed up and also by the addition of compost each time you plant.
Happy Gardening
Byron Tumlinson
T-N-T Farm
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