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Post by lilolpeapicker on Oct 5, 2019 12:44:55 GMT -5
pepperhead212, how tall are those beds? And do you put any chicken wire or hardware cloth at the bottom of those beds?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 5, 2019 13:06:43 GMT -5
lilolpeapicker They are about 15" deep. And I put a layer of 1/2" hardware cloth in there, before the filling. Although I don't have a problem with moles and voles and the like, I didn't want to take any chances with things crawling in underground.
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Post by binnylou on Oct 19, 2019 11:06:05 GMT -5
pepperhead212, Are you still liking your raised bed? How does your garden grow? I broached the subject of three more raised beds...hubby didn't resist. I know I said I was done, but when that ash tree was taken down, I started thinking about three more hugelkulture beds.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 19, 2019 12:47:52 GMT -5
Things are growing well under there, and that cover stayed on during that intense wind for almost 2 days! I have no plans for more, but things change.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Nov 3, 2019 20:26:32 GMT -5
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Post by binnylou on Nov 12, 2019 11:25:18 GMT -5
I commented earlier that as of 11/10 I still had lettuce growing under cover in a hugelkulture raised bed. Overnight low was zero, I need to go look. I may have mush down there.
If the hugelkulture method can help moderate watering needs, I’m wondering if it also moderates heat loss from the bed, thus extending the growing season.
What are your thoughts on this? As you might surmise, I’m still pondering three more raised beds. More about that later.
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Post by tom 🕊 on Nov 12, 2019 11:42:32 GMT -5
I still had lettuce growing under cover in a hugelkulture raised bed. Overnight low was zero, I need to go look. I may have mush down there. I'm interested in what happened. Lettuce can be tough. My lettuce has survived down to -1. Landis Winter Lettuce maybe can take much more cold. I am growing lettuce to overwinter. Last year it worked, and I had an abundance of lettuce in late winter and early spring. |
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Post by binnylou on Jan 6, 2020 10:37:55 GMT -5
pepperhead212, are you still loving that raised bed? and ready to build another one? Are you still harvesting, or has it been too cold? I've wondered if an active, but small compost pile at one end of the raised bed could generate enough heat to grow under cover. Something to think about. 
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jan 6, 2020 11:44:05 GMT -5
That bed is still going strong, but then, it has been much warmer than average here, this winter. The forecast has it going to 62° late this week!
However, I think that if it had been colder than normal I would have had the plants last longer in a covered bed in the ground. The raised bed cools off faster, just like they warm up faster, and I noticed this in those two brief cold spells we had, when it took longer for the air in the bed to rise, than it did outside, which I figured was because the soil had gotten cold.
I have one of those compost tumblers, and when it gets cold out, the heating up seems to stop. I think you'd need a much larger pile to generate heat, but it's a good idea.
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Post by binnylou on Jan 27, 2020 16:18:56 GMT -5
daaku...you might enjoy reading the comments on this thread. Welcome to the forum. There’s lots of good gardening info and folks are more than willing to share advice.
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Post by binnylou on Mar 23, 2020 1:35:59 GMT -5
The decision has been made. There will be one more raised bed...this year. I really didn’t want to spend the money for another bed made of cedar...sign of the times, I guess. And he has ALL that oak lumber above the garage. So, the bed will be of oak. I priced hardware cloth and decided we would use some chicken wire, double layered with an offset
This will be bed #10 and will probably be used for tomatoes or honeydew.
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Post by binnylou on Apr 17, 2020 22:43:03 GMT -5
Bed #10 was installed today. The poultry wire idea didn’t work, so I had to spend the bucks for hardware cloth. Hubby put the bed in place and the hugelkulture slabs pretty much cover the bottom. We have a pile of oak bark, aged and crumbly, that will be added along with bags of mulched leaves. And there’s a bit of finished compost and a pile of soil from when hubby leveled the ground where the bed was placed. If we don’t get rain for a few days, that bed could soon be ready for planting.
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Post by nathan125 on Apr 18, 2020 2:08:20 GMT -5
My raised beds are 22" high. Made from trex deck sourced from auctions and marketplace. I am a cheap man....like Costanza
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 19, 2020 23:40:12 GMT -5
Today I put together that second 10 x 4 raised bed for my garden - not the easiest thing to do by myself, but I managed! I was out there several hours, and when I came inside, I knew that if I sat down, I wouldn't want to get up, so I went in the kitchen to make that black bean soup. Tomorrow, I'll go out (after the rain) and lay that hardware cloth in the bed, and eventually start putting in the hugelculture additions, before some soil goes on top.  New raised bed, not quite done, but I'm sure done for the day! by pepperhead212, on Flickr |
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 20, 2020 19:59:21 GMT -5
Today, I got the Hugelculture items in - branches and leaves from around the yard, some organic straw that I got last fall (weeds grew on top, so it is safe, except for the weeds, but they're everywhere!), and a bunch of rotting logs, from behind my neighbor's house, in the alley. They were mostly falling apart, which is perfect for this! I also cleaned out my workshop - small bits and pieces of wood that I keep in a can down there, and I dumped it out, and kept the better, more useable pieces, the rest, went in there. And all that sawdust that I emptied out of the dust collector - some was composting, but most was in a bag, and that was sprinkled around. The compost was not getting real hot yet, so some of it was still recognizable, but I put it in anyway. I pulled all of that soil to one end, put half of the hardware cloth down, and put all of those Hugelculture items down, then pulled all of that soil over the finished end, and repeated the process. Tomorrow, it is supposed to rain heavily, so that should wash it down into the nooks and crannies.  Second half of Hugelculture bed, with a lot of rotting logs, just like I wanted! by pepperhead212, on Flickr  Generous amount of soil added to the latest bed, with all of the Hugelculture stuff underneath. by pepperhead212, on Flickr |
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