box garden

..May 24 is coming up soon and it is time to plant.Since the animals are to abundant,the construction of a box garden with partitions and fences should suffice....got lots of sheep manure mix with soil and all ready to go.This an experiment Since I bury the 2x10's half way in the ground,should I drill holes for drain off from heavy rain?

This is going to be harvest I hope....every thing under the sun will grow

This is in survival forums.... wouldn't it be in your best interest to keep the local animals well fed?

Also, why are you burying your 2 by 10's half way? I see no need to do this.

Drainage? Raised beds rarely have drainage problems, if anything they have hydration problems due to the fact the soil heats up on hot summer days making the dirt crack. Since 5 sides of the beds get direct sunlight drowning your plants is the least of your concerns, unless you have your raised beds in shade, which is ridiculously wasting your effort.

you should partly burry the first layer so that it is more stable. just about half way. thats how ive been taught by the pro's around here at least.

if you put a small layer of cinder on the bottom it helps with drainage.. most raise beds don't have that problem though. to check, just dig a 8inch hole, not too wide in your finished garden. fill it all the way up with water until it is full. let it drain. fll it again and then see how long it takes to drain. less than an hour is good.

put wood chips/mulch on top. they help regulate the moisture by keeping the sun off the soil. they also hold alot of moisture. by keeping the sun off the soil, it also helps regulate the temperature making easier for earthworms to grow. mulch also gives the bacteria in your soil some organic matter to munch on.

Iv always used steaks to anchor the side boards to the ground. But not buried them half way. Then a layer of news paper on the bottom next mulch then top off with soil with egg shells and coffee ground mixed in.

oh another trick i've seen done that works really well here in hawaii with raised beds is putting a layer of cardboard on the bottom of the raised bed. this helps kill the grass and prevents it from coming up. this works if your forsee having problems with the local grass coming back up. it can take awhile for it all to die. the cardboard decomposes afterawhile too.

this is easier than removing the layer of grass, and can help speed up the whole garden building while decreasing maintenance.

personally, if i have the time i prefer to take the grass out and then dig under the bed a good foot to help loosen things up. it takes alot more time though, that could be spent building other gardens.

people that do it professionally around here just use the cardboard so that the finished product doesn't have weeds.

your raised garden should be at least two - three feet deep, especially if your using cardboard

reply to post by ga-`tv-gi


i guess it depends on where you live for how much you want to secure your garden bed.

for us we have flash floods and earthquakes a couple times a year. torrential storms of rain is not uncommon. i've lived in areas that get 180inches a year.

we burry it and use stakes over here, because of conditions. if your ganna put in all that work here in hawaii, you might as well do the extra 5 minitues to make sure it last a life time.

reply to post by SarnholeOntarableWhich season are you planting for? What general location are you? I'm in Central Texas and I'm really up on drought tolerant vegetables if you are in a hot zone. I've just put in my Spring/Summer garden in boxes, a little of everything, a kitchen garden of sorts. If you're in a cooler climate I won't know much other than organic methods of bug control. Looking forward to following this thread, gardening is addictive,

STM

Has anyone here tried used the old tire method for growing potatoes???

You basically start with the plant in a couple of tires, stacked and filled with dirt. As the plant grows, you pinch off the lower leaves adding tires and dirt. When you get about 5 or 6 tires tall, push over the stack of tires and pick the potatoes out of the dirt.

I have a huge box garden when i first put it in i removed all the grass from the top soil then tilled it all under and added lots of cow poop (i own a cattle farm so its all free) Then i was able to get a bunch of rail road ties i didn't dig them into the ground i just placed them on top of the ground there very heavy..
Then i just planted my vegetable garden in this large box ..Then i take plastic coffee cans and cut them in half so they have no bottom and place them around each plant and dig the cans into the dirt a bit, each time i water i just fill the cans up around each plant then the water slowly drains into the ground..
When i mow the lawn i keep the grass cuttings and place then all though the garden so the garden box is complete covered with grass clippings and just keep packing this down i never have weeds come up so its easy and weed free..
Then at the start of each planting season i just till the dead grass into the garden its good mulch..Thats my weed free easy to take care of garden box and my vegetables are always yummy and grow good..peace,sugarcookie1

You should look into "hugelkultur". It's raised bed with out having to worry about irrigation. Check it out.