My wife and I want to build vegie garden beds around 90 cm high. Here are some issues to resolve.
Here are my unresolved questions thus far:
i) What are the cheapest, most durable and non-toxic materials we should be using?
ii) Are commercially available raised beds, such as Birdies for example, worth their cost?
iii) What do we use as ballast/fill at the bottom of the bed, say for the first 45cmm or so?
iv) What is the best watering system to use?
v) How do we prevent water loss from exposure to sun because the beds are raised and plant's are normally under the ground?
vi) Are there any other issues we haven't covered?
8 answers
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Hi Gregory...
Answers in your numeric order:
1) Timber. Brick. Galvanised iron ready-made beds.
2) Don't know the brand, but would depend on expected lifetime and functionality of product.
3) You can get commercially available fill suited to growing crops.
4) Watering can. Irrigation rack as used at Randwick Sustainabiity Hub's Permaculture Interpretive garden.
5) Mulch the soil surface.
6) Probably. -
Hey Greg,
The veggies growing in the corrugated beds at the PIG are going gangbusters, don't seem to be an issue with heat or drying out. The key is building healthy soil with plenty of compost and organic matter and min 50mm of mulch on top.
Haven't heard of leaching contaminants. I have found the cheap beds are cheap for a reason, they bow out in the middle and feel thin and weak. Others are stronger, have a coating of food grade resin (like water tanks), have 20yr warranty. Best option though is to make one from recycled materials - bricks are great if you can lay them, timber from old fences ok but will rot in time.
Fill the bottom with anything free draining - sandy soil from your land is ok.
Install drip irrigation or hand water. N/S or E/W doesn't matter. Just need to be located in a place with min 5 hrs sun a day. SteveAnswered by Steve BatleyRating:
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Russ, when I was at the Ecoliving Fair, inspecting Steve Batley's raised garden beds, a bloke there said that he'd experienced excessive water loss because of the fact the beds were exposed to direct sunlight on the long side of the bed thereby heating up the soil and unnaturally exposing the roots to heat with which they'd not normally have to deal. I didn't ask him if he'd been mulching it.
Doesn't gal iron leach contaminates into the soil? Here's a link to Birdies: http://www.birdiesgardenproducts.com.au/ They look good and if I can get some folks to buy four or more we get generous discounts. Here's another supplier: http://www.everlastingwatertanks.com.au/>
The issue about ballast/fill at the bottom of the bed is that I don't want to waste money on good soil when the plants only need about 45cm in which to grow. Everlasting recommends Atlantis Mini Flo-Tank/Matrix Tank Modules: http://www.atlantiscorp.com.au/products/mini-flo-tank>
Should a raised bed run E/W or N/S?
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Depending on the response to my q re. The best option for our veggie garden we may be up for one of those birdies Greg!
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Actually a friend works with wood and he's going to drop us off some big off cuts of some kind - hopefully sleepers or atleast not treated wood!
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Yes, hopefully so. Please keep me informed. :-)
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OK, we've decided to go with polystyrene boxes as fill. I've just completed my first no dig garden is a 3m x 1.1m galvanised steel bed .9m above ground level. The boxes, cardboard I used to level and raise the height a bit and recycled shadecloth was about .45, so the garden bed is actually .45m. I used the 'lasagne method of lucerne hay, horse poo, lucerne hay, more horse poo, more lucerne finally hay topped with straw level. I'll install a drip watering system to about 40 plants.
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how about using sticks to fill the bottom of the bed? these will break down over time and provide more nutrients to your soil. I've seen people use styrofoam and rocks but can't see that these will add much in the long term.
Answered by Sarah Grow.Eat.Enjoy.Rating:
