raised vegatable garden any pointers?

[greyebeard]

I am getting ready to build a couple of 4 x 12 foot raised garden boxes. Any pointers or suggestions. Mostly will be for tomatoes, onions, garlic, and kitchen herbs ( cilantro, rosemary, oregano, etc

bob

[greyebeard]

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 12:45:34 -0600, greyebeard painted grafitti on my boxcar saying: oops, forgot to mention that I am in central Texas, Dallas area.

[Tom Randy]

Work in compost whenever possible and mulch up and dig in leaves in the fall. You'll do GREAT with that garden!

Tom

[Ricky]

Get a couple of hundred pounds of chicken manure and mix it with a good quality, clean, top soil.

[MC]

A raised bed is no more than an oversized container. Treat it as such and you should have no problems. Soil prep is critical as is maintaining the right moisture for what you decide to grow. You shouldn't have any problem with drainage.

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Ricky]

Yeah, RIGHT. I built a raised garden for vegetables many years ago in our first house. The garden was 8 feet wide and 24 feet long and 3 feet high. I mixed in 300 pounds of chicken manure in the late fall. The vegetables I got that spring and every spring for 12 years after that were the most flavorful and healthy I've ever grown. We grew eggplant that was over a foot long and

8 inches wide. Tomatoes that were 4 to 5 inches in diameter, beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce, carrots. You name it, everything grew and grew without stopping until I pulled out the plants the first week in December. This was at a house in suburban NJ! I've never seen anything work as well as chicken manure. And by the way, once it was mixed into the soil and overwintered, there was no smell.

[David Ross]

Do some soil preparation under the bed first. Tomatoes are deep-rooted, sometimes sending their roots several feet down. Rosemary is a woody shrub that also has deep roots.

If gophers or ground squirrels are a problem in your area, line the bed with 1/4 inch galvanized wire mesh, bringing the mesh all the way up the sides to the top of the frame. You can put the mesh on the surface under the raised portion Tomatoes and rosemary (and anything else) will send their roots down through the mesh. The plants can survive if those lower roots are sometimes nibbled, but the varmints are really most interested in the thicker roots that will be protected.

[dr-solo]

the operant conditions...

"Ricky" wrote: once it was mixed into the soil >and overwintered, there was no smell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.