Square Foot _ Raised Bed

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Comment by Pema on January 12, 2009 at 12:14am

Oh my, i sure don't want more grass plants! How thick a layer of wet newspaper; how many layers of cardboard boxes?

Comment by Ann G. on January 11, 2009 at 9:40pm

Well sure. Just keep in mind that each little piece you chop it into might be a new plant. <<shudder>> I had a bad experience with grass that would not go away, so I guess I am being extra sure it is organic matter, rather than live. :-) Ann

Comment by Pema on January 11, 2009 at 6:42pm

This is very helpful info. I'm about to put in a 4x8x12" bed. My neighbor is going to rotor till the grass in that area and I'll rake it clean. I then planned to lay cardboard to discourage any lingering grass roots, add soil mix and plant. Is that OK?

Comment by Ann G. on January 11, 2009 at 6:32pm

I want them 18 in deep because I am placing them over well established grass. I will place flattened cardboard boxes, then wet newspaper, then a soil mix to grow in. Eventually I will dig down into ground level as the cardboard and newspapers and the dead grass decompose. I may even remove the added 6 in boards.

Comment by Pema on January 11, 2009 at 12:02pm

Hi Ann,
I am new to raised beds and square foot gardening and am curious as to why you want beds 18" deep?
In my next bed I am planning to follow Mel Bartholomew's (www.squarefootgardening.com) soil recipe for one third each compost, peat moss & vermiculite but in 12" deep beds (as opposed to the 6" beds Mel uses). I recently planted a 2' wide tomato bed, also 12" deep, in a combo of compost and potting soil and have 6' plants with fruit. With your 15 years experience I am looking forward to any wisdom you share about this type of gardening.

Comment by Ann G. on January 10, 2009 at 9:53pm

Hi everyone, I am new to the site and to this group. Been using raised beds for about 15 years in various places at home and at school where I teach ecology. Starting over again in yet another home -- hopefully my last one, a 1932 farmhouse -- just scored twelve 1 ft x 24 ft planks from a demolished bridge. Woohoo! They are 1 ft wide, and I really want my beds to be 18 inches, so we are constructing them with the bridge planks as the base, then add some 1x6 boards above them for the 18 inches. I can't wait to get started!

Ann

Comment by Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal on December 23, 2008 at 11:50am

Sure, You will be glad to know that Vegegarden signed 3 MOUs for the development of organic vegegardens, on farms ranging from 10 - 30 acres. Also starting Schhol Garden Program with Lahore Grammer School. Having workshop for their faculty, will definetly invite you on this one..... still waiting for your tea invitation.

Comment by Salma Kamal on December 23, 2008 at 9:04am

Hi Nadeem,
Hope you will invite me over to your work shop?

Comment by Salma Kamal on December 23, 2008 at 8:57am

Thank you Annie for your usefull coments.
It has cleared up my mind.
Happy Christmas and happy new year.

Comment by Annie C on December 20, 2008 at 8:08am

Hi Saba,
I have found two advantages to the square foot raised beds: 1) space. You can grow a lot in the small squares; the method (esp in the book I mentioned) maximizes how many seeds or seedlings grow in a one foot square. For someone like me with a small yard, that's a huge benefit, and there's a lot less weeding because everything's packed in. 2) drainage. This year most everyone I knew complained that their tomatoes got moldy; mine were up off the ground so that all the rain drained away and they thrived.
We got a big delivery of loam and compost from a local garden center and then I added things like peak moss and my own compost and it became a really nice soil. Then you just stir up each square as you harvest something, add a little more amendment, and replant with whatever is growing in the next season. So crops get naturally rotated, too.
Good luck!
Annie

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