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I'm trying to turn my LA back yard lawn into a non-standard vegetable garden (low water usage, beds of several food plants in clumps rather than neat rows, etc.)
First step was letting my lawn die! It's nice and dead now (makes kind of a thick straw mat ... the kitties love it!)
I've gardened before, many times, but I've never used raised beds, and I think they might work well in the space.
Any tips on getting started with raised beds, assuming they're even a good idea here. BTW, for reasons I don't even entirely understand, I'm really sick of right angles and squares, so I think I'd like to make circular or elliptical beds. What are pros and cons of raised beds? I suspect, in this low-water situation, I may face some unique challenges. If anything, slightly *depressed* beds might work better to catch and retain more moisture. I wonder how the Anasazi used to manage it?
First step was letting my lawn die! It's nice and dead now (makes kind of a thick straw mat ... the kitties love it!)
I've gardened before, many times, but I've never used raised beds, and I think they might work well in the space.
Any tips on getting started with raised beds, assuming they're even a good idea here. BTW, for reasons I don't even entirely understand, I'm really sick of right angles and squares, so I think I'd like to make circular or elliptical beds. What are pros and cons of raised beds? I suspect, in this low-water situation, I may face some unique challenges. If anything, slightly *depressed* beds might work better to catch and retain more moisture. I wonder how the Anasazi used to manage it?
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French Intensive
Mon, March 3, 2008 - 9:47 AMThere are many, many excellent books on raised-bed gardening, often under older names such as "biodynamic" or "French intensive." Alan Chadwick was an early author, as was John Jeavons. More recent popular books often tend to have cutesy names such as "square-foot gardening" or "postage-stamp gardening," but all are essentially similar in that they focus on (1) deeper beds, (2) soil health and (3) dense plantings of (4) various plants to (5) provide high yields, control "pests" and save water.
Most gardeners have their favorite books, usually based on what they read first, but a visit to your local library will help quite a bit. Because of what I read first I am a huge fan of double-digging super-deep beds and then gradually building those up, but my soil depth and structure supports that. Three main benefits of raised beds are (1) simple increase in soil depth with (2) elevation for increased atmospheric warmth and (3) less stooping. One good book I read that simple instructions for building raised beds from scratch was "The Twenty-Minute Vegetable Gardener." If your soil is deep enough (and you have the back for it), double-digging and introducing amendments halfway down accomplishes much of the same thing.
With this much info you should be able to find a lot of great data at a library or bookstore. -
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Re: French Intensive
Wed, March 5, 2008 - 1:02 PMand if you don't have a library or a bookstore nearby, or money for books, you can do what I did: Look on the internet!
journeytoforever.org has some great starters, and access to digital libraries with some of the books you would find at the brick'n'mortar library.
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Re: Cheap Easy Raised Beds?
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 6:50 PMyou can try a recycled tire garden... google tire garden and you will see all sorts of neat stuff -
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Re: Cheap Easy Raised Beds?
Wed, April 16, 2008 - 12:26 AM,y ,o, does her tomatoes, all squash/melons and her spuds in tire planters. She swears by them...
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A Few Good Links
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 10:58 PMHad a client who turned me on to a cool technique for doing raised beds which might be of interest, and can probably be adapted using old door hinges or standard lumber brackets such as are used in hanging joists or building decks: www.gardeners.com/Stackable...lt,cp.html
At this site were also some good basic articles on creating simple gardens.
www.gardeners.com/How%20to%...lt,pg.html
www.gardeners.com/Vegetable...lt,pg.html
www.gardeners.com/How%20to%...lt,pg.html
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Re: Cheap Easy Raised Beds?
Thu, April 17, 2008 - 10:47 AMStumps work really well. You can usually get them for free. They can also be arranged in any shape. They are obviously made of non toxic organic matter and they help store water and enrich the soil once they start decomposing. They will last a long time. You could even grow mushrooms around the edges of your garden. Anyway, whatever you do, good luck!
