A Raised Garden Project 5: Going Vertical

A lot has been going on in the raised bed garden. The plants have really taken off and work on the garden bed has become surprisingly easy. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

One thing that has become quite apparent is that weeding will not be a problem. I simply take a hand spade and lightly turn the earth around the bed and the disruption tends to almost completely remove the weeds. I've also been pretty bug free so the coffee grounds around the edges seems to be working.

As you can see from this photo the raised bed is almost weed free based on about five minutes of turning the soil about once a week. Can't get any easier than that!

The pop bottles are also doing their job and the raised bed only requires about two gallons of water every two days, and if it rains not even that. Once I put the bottles in, the plants instantly responded to the underground water source and started growing at a rapid pace.

I'm certain you've also noticed I have put in the training cages to support and begin to grow the vegetables that vine "vertically" or up. The cucumbers have taken to the cages like a fish to water. The squash and green peas will require a little more assistance but seem to be doing OK without a lot of spacing. I've checked a number of other sites that have done similar vertical gardening and in full bloom the squash should look like the photo to the right.

I even ran into a picture where the squash grew up a trellis and could be picked  from over head. No trellis here but this arrangement should make harvesting pretty easy. I will probably need more cages because every one of the tomato plants survived the transfer to the raised bed. That means I now have about 15 plants and they grow like the grass on your lawn even with pruning. On the bright side, I will have loads of juicy tomatoes for salads and even my Doxie assistant loves cucumbers right from the garden as a treat.

Speaking of treats... I already have the beginnings of squash sprouts. If you look closely at the photo on the left, in the center, are two baby squash eager to grow and hit the table. The cucumbers are not far behind. It won't be long now...

Next installment: Raised garden in full bloom

A Raised Garden Project 4

I have been learning fast as the raised garden takes shape. A few tips have also come into play to make the task even more fun than I had expected.  Click each photo for a better view.

I planned to let the seedlings grow in size before moving them to the raised box, but following the success of the experimental squash planting, after the initial trauma of the move, they seemed to do quite well so I was willing to go ahead with the other seedlings. 

I'm learning as I go and have discovered that used coffee grounds around the edges of the box deters pests, and letting used grounds sit in water a few days and then watering the plants with that water also deters various fungus. So a few words to a dedicated coffee drinker, Corey Miller: Who knew...?

I was also been helped by the data mining of my friends over at Pinterest. They have been sending me pins on gardening and a very interesting one caught my eye. Basically, if you use a 2 liter pop bottle when the seedlings are young and bury it strategically near them, it allows you to water into the soil and not from above.

My suggestion is to use fewer holes than shown in the picture. Getting the bottles had an interesting twist because I don't drink sodas and discovered few of my friends do as well. But a plastic juice bottle seemed to work as well. Also to my surprise the difficult part was making the holes. The bottles I discovered are pretty sturdy. I ended up using a wine screw. A girl's gotta drink something other than juice and water...

What really surprised me was how well it worked. if you limit the number of holes it acts as a slow release of water that the plants almost instinctively look for. Watering this way cuts down even more on the amount of water needed to grow your veggies. And, there is no waiting for water to reach the roots so less water is lost to evaporation. I experimented with one and plan to install more now that I understand how to do it and the number and distribution of the holes for each bottle. 

I will end by saying the plan to use the garden for stress reduction is definitely working. Weeding and tending have become great pastimes that allow all the stresses of the day to float away. I'm also problem solving on a small scale that seems to be helping my decision making in other areas. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season. 

Next Installment: Supporting the vining plants

A Raised Garden Project 2

My little project is beginning to take shape. When we left the last episode I mentioned trying to find free dirt to finish filling the raised box and had planted the seeds I planned for my garden. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

On the free dirt front I quickly discovered that finding work sites willing to give it didn't exist, at least not when I needed it. And then the thought came to me that I pay taxes every year to say I own land so why not put some of that land to use. Looking around I realized that I had the perfect spot for great compost right under my nose. There was a spot near the edge of my backyard and under an oak tree that had soil that was pristine and just waiting for me to use it.

I had to dig a shallow hole because there is no overhead wiring in my area and everything electrical is underground. So shallow it was and the dirt was a great compost of the decomposed leaves that had fallen from the oak tree over the years. In no time I was able to top off the first box and knew where to go for the second.

And here we have the completely filled first box. As I leveled the dirt in place I found myself thinking how easy it will be to check the veggies and weed once the growing season is underway. The box is high enough that I could even take the "lazy man" approach and place a chair near the box to manipulate the plants and work the soil. Doesn't get any easier than that!

If you look over to the right of the picture you can see my shallow hole. I later filled it with leaves from other parts of the area to let nature do her work to replace the soil taken. 

I also learned from my father and a previous gardening season, that it is best to plant with the moon. Little did I know using this approach I would plant one day and 4 days later have seedlings. As you can see from the photo not all have come up yet but the majority have. I wanted to grow my own seedlings because I heard a report that bees possibly are being killed off by seedlings from big box stores. I don't know if that is true but I decided to do as much as possible from scratch and see how well it worked.


Next installment: Sectioning off the raised box  and planting the seedlings