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Post by Wrennie on Feb 22, 2008 8:10:37 GMT -6
I couldnt use yer raised bed method here I dont think Phil. First off, till!! You'd have to fix it every foot or so. Theres a bit of soil in these here rocks. I have to build a pile with compost or mushroom soil. wood or cinderblocks around the outside to hold it up. I may try that straw bale method Trudy posted.
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Post by Pharmer Phil on Feb 22, 2008 9:11:51 GMT -6
I couldnt use yer raised bed method here I dont think Phil. First off, till!! You'd have to fix it every foot or so. Theres a bit of soil in these here rocks. I have to build a pile with compost or mushroom soil. wood or cinderblocks around the outside to hold it up. I may try that straw bale method Trudy posted. so, ya don't think we have ROCKS in Minnesota?? Wrennie, our soil was rocky too, but have been removing rocks for 10 years, and still do on occasion... the farmers around here spend more times pickin up rocks every year, than they do planting. But, some folks havta deal with "difficult" soils. And "Strawbale" gardening is suitable alternative.. HOWEVER.. Not to Rain on anyones Parade here... Anyone interested in "strawbale" gardening, should do a lil research... If it Was perfect (and we had poor soil) ...I'd be doing it, but the phact is: slugs, fungus, disease, cucumber beetles, etc, etc, etc... Are VERY hard to control using this method.. . We are organic, without chemicals fightin the above listed "FOES" it's almost impossible, unless of course ya just wanna take the whole bale and Throw it out mid season...
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Post by Wrennie on Feb 22, 2008 10:32:00 GMT -6
So, ya don't think we have ROCKS in Minnesota?? Well yep i phigured ya did. My property is all on creek bed gravel. Iph i sifted the rocks outta my garden my whole piece of proerty would drop a couple of feet! I wondered about the mold/fungus & slugs. I saw a member at SSH who used the bales around the edge of her garden to raise it. I dont know iph she actually grew in the hay/straw or not. I think she philled inbetween them with compost and grew in that.
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Post by kansasterri on Jul 1, 2009 16:52:15 GMT -6
This is a very interesting thread, mind if I add on to it?
I knew that I would not be able to keep the garden weeded this year, so instead I bought weed barrier and I punched holes in it for the large vegetables. I miss the onions and carrots and such, but, there is just no way I can keep a garden weeded.
It seems to be working pretty well: I have broccoli and cabbage and tomatos and peppers and melons and cukes and pumpkins. And, I stuck in a couple of purple morning glories just for fun.
The weed barrier package never SAID that it needed mulch on top, but when I rolled it out I saw that it was letting WAAY too much light through. So, I bought some bales of straw to sprinkle on top. Watering is through a hose that is pourous, the name is on the tip of my tongue?!? At any rate it leaks water all along the length, which means that I leave it in the garden and I only have to hook up that hose and turn the faucet on to water.
It is GOOD to ahave a garden again! I realize that I will not break even this year, but there is NEXT year with the weed barrier and the year after that and the year after that....
Besides, gardening is good for the soul!
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Post by coppice on Jan 12, 2011 13:56:53 GMT -6
Right now I use a caine, but the eletric scooter is parked in the back of my van. I use raised beds, but none of them is more than about 16" tall. This is "up" enough for short handled tools, and close enough to lean over to fiddle with raised beds.
Earlier posters talked about what to fill a raised bed with. A google search of "Hugelkultur" will suggest (and I will endorse) filling a good bit of the bottom of a 16" raised bed with brush. logs or any un-painted and un-pressure treated logs.
The first year the logs will not have rotted enough, so they will not hold that much water. Um, and no wood does not 'steal' nitrogen out of garden soil. By year two, those logs will resemble a big sponge more'n anything else.
I also use mulch, thickly. Often with a layer of cardboard inderneath it for a light block. Mulch both helps hold onto water and reduces weeds.
Because I plant on raised beds and mulch thickly when it somes time to start small seeded stuff like lettuce or radish I just sprinkle a little dirt on top of the mulch and plant in blocks. Carrots DO need mulch moved away to get clean carrots.
IMO too tall of a raised bed is a barrier to gardening off the back of a mobility aide...
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Post by Pharmer Phil on Jan 12, 2011 14:50:42 GMT -6
Excellent point Coppice
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Post by coppice on Jan 18, 2011 7:35:47 GMT -6
There is actually a set of diminishing returns depending on how tall a raised bed is and how close a gardener with mobility disabilities has. Some of this will change depending on the person. IMO a simple mock up of even a cardboard box and likely tools will go a long way to getting the hight right.
What I found while supporting other people who use mobility aides (was) the hight didn't need to be that tall for them to get into beds easily, a flat and level space to drive down and turn in was rather wider than beds were. So a four foot deep bed with access to both sides worked pretty good on a twelve to sixteen inch tall bed. The "but" was six foot wide walkways were not too wide.
Again getting your disabled person to actually drive around in, and use tools in a mock-up garden with set out cardbaord boxes may sound silly but it will go a long way to success later.
FWIW I don't like the little roll-ey garden seats you'll sometimes see offered. I expect this to not be true for all. I would however try one at the store before buying a spendy toy the prospective gardener may or may not be able to use, um, and do it on grass! Not just a concrete aisle...
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Post by kansasterri on Mar 20, 2011 17:32:12 GMT -6
Last year I filled a raised bed with perlite. Then I mixed in fertilizer and kelp meal.
Last year I got potatos that I did not have to dig: I just shoved my hand in. This year I will be doing small root crops like carrots and beets.
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Post by coppice on Mar 21, 2011 4:35:37 GMT -6
Last year I filled a raised bed with perlite. Then I mixed in fertilizer and kelp meal. Last year I got potatos that I did not have to dig: I just shoved my hand in. This year I will be doing small root crops like carrots and beets. KT I think over up coming years if you continue to add compost to your beds the soil will get a little heavier than it is right now. There is a largish 'but' that goes with that heavier soil. It should continue to remain quite friable and easy to work in. For me if I keep a light barrier of mulch on my beds weeds stay easy to pull. Very light soil can make a problem with corn lodging (falling over), so there isn't a perfect silver bullet to fix all-and-every gardening need.
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Post by deb65802 on Mar 30, 2011 20:20:39 GMT -6
last year i filled my beds with spoiled hay and sawdust. i let it sit all winter. this year i added rock dust molasses, mushroom compost and alfalfa pellets to add bulk and water retention. I am amazed at the worm populations. big wiggly glorious worms!!
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Post by coppice on Mar 31, 2011 4:32:52 GMT -6
last year i filled my beds with spoiled hay and sawdust. i let it sit all winter. this year i added rock dust molasses, mushroom compost and alfalfa pellets to add bulk and water retention. I am amazed at the worm populations. big wiggly glorious worms!! Sounds lovely. keep adding compost as you can build it. On average it took me four or five years to get a bed overfull with the residue of past compost additions. By then it was time to start a new bed anyway and I had dirt to steal for the next bed already on hand.
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Post by kansasterri on Aug 12, 2011 8:53:21 GMT -6
As long as we are ressurecting this thread?
I am no longer using weed barrier as it is too fragile: Woven greenhouse flooring lets the water through and works MUCH! better!
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Post by coppice on Aug 12, 2011 8:59:13 GMT -6
If it works for you then its good enough.
Me being a tightwad, I'd be more tempted by something found vs something bought, for a weed barrier.
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Post by mogarden on Aug 12, 2011 14:22:55 GMT -6
I got one of those little roll-ey garden seats, thought it would useful with my container garden. I _DO_ use it, I set a pot of petunias on it. $79 plus shipping for a plant stand. Live and learn, LOL. Plus at that time I was so sick I had to hire someone to put it together.
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Post by coppice on Aug 19, 2011 9:32:06 GMT -6
I am very interested in raised beds. SWC, I had hopes you might return and ask more questions. If ever you do return please do ask.
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Post by Garden Happy on Apr 1, 2012 13:04:27 GMT -6
We're putting in handicap L SHAPED BEDS IN EACH CORNER OF THE COMMUNITY GARDEN. the plans we have call for a false bottom 1' down.We are going to fill the space(false bottom) up with wood chips and leaf mold.The owner of MOTHERS ORGANIC HUMUS FARMS,was the think tank with us for this plan.He Say's it will work and give the plants tons of growth area for roots. Our beds will be about 34'' high and 2 will have a backing of cattle panel to grow summer squash or mini melons up and then 2 foot of garden growing space hip high.We also are putting in a mat to stand on and a stool to put 1 foot on(this takes the stress off your hips,back and joints.I worked with a chiropractor to come up with this plan and looked at ton's of gardens on line. For the wheel chairs the beds will have a lip area they can pull up under with their legs covered and the grow space in front of them. There reach is only about 2 to 3 foot once the plants get growing we figure and there will be no back vertical growing on these gardens Hope some of this will help you out!
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Post by mogarden on Apr 2, 2012 5:23:15 GMT -6
Sounds good, GH. I hope it will encourage more pholks to garden there.
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