How I Save Money When Filling My Raised Beds
Вставка
- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- There are lots of ways to fill the bottom of your raised beds but here’s what I did here:
Straw
Leaves
Grass clippings
Then once I was 8-12” from the top I used:
Top soil
Mushroom compost
The soil level went down in this bed almost overnight so I did end up adding a few more bags of compost but overall I saved a lot by starting the bed with these natural materials that will break down over time.
Shop this garden by clicking the video or head to Gardenary.com.
This garden uses:
4’ x 4’ x 2’ cedar raised bed
Medium pillar obelisk trellis
Copper plant tags
Here’s to your own garden dreams coming true this spring!
#kitchengarden #kitchengardenrevival #dreamgarden #organicgardening #organicgarden #vegetablegarden #raisedbed #raisedgardenbed
Learn the basics of growing your own vegetables, herbs and fruit in your backyard with Nicole Burke, Owner of Rooted Garden and Gardenary.
Take the Green Thumb Quiz: www.gardenary....
Follow Gardenary Here:
Instagram: / gardenaryco
Facebook: / gardenaryco
Garden Coaching: www.gardenary....
Find a Garden Coach Business in Your Area: www.gardenary....
I’ve taken a university class on soil science to complete my degree-if you mulch your leaves and grass clippings and leave them in your yard, you’ll help keep your lawn fertilized and you’ll promote beneficial insect populations for your garden
I agree I tried it as an experiment 😂
some of us hate our lawns and wish they were covered in gardens or fruit trees or non existent. useless waste of space, time, gas, energy, money to tend to it for many of us. So we certainly don't want it to be healthy and to grow MORE. We want it dead. 😅 If my lawn weren't full of dandelions, I'd totally keep the clippings to compost...but the seeds will just ruin my gardens.
@@johnjanedoe1676 *the biggest change needed in our world .. starts in each of our yards* ..
*Replace the grass with editable plants and watch the World Change one yard @ a time* ...
@@my_flippin_journey yep wish I could. Landlord won't let me do much. But I'll be adding guerrilla gardening to my to-do list... I'll find places to plant free food for people somehow...
@@my_flippin_journey I will start laying out my yard soon. Will have one patch of grass for future kids and dogs to run around, the rest will be as many edible plants, trees as possible and some flowers in between to make it pretty :)
FYI some straw is sprayed or treated and can kill your plants. Just lots of leaves are ok and freeeee and you can use them as mulch for the top layer. Doesn’t look pretty but works great to keep weeds out
Tree branches and logs on the bottom to help fill the beds & then add the soil. They will slowly break down and add lots of goodness to the soil
But be mindful of establishing a
termite abode, where they needn't leave the shop to get a meal (Like Google n Facebook spoil their employees with!🤭). The logs/wood can be pristine when it goes in, but termites can smell their favorite meal from a mile away, and burrow through the ground to garden "basement" and start a colony. 😮
Isn't this the same woman that said that's a bad idea. Even tho everyone agreed to the methods you stated here.
I've read logs can make the soil nitrogen imbalanced for years.
Yeah hugelkultur
@@celita8183 you are correct. It can cause an imbalance.
I ruined my very first garden by using straw that was contaminated with grazon. Everything came up deformed. I hope yours is safe.
The farmers (not Organic Farmers, thank God) actually spray herbicide on their cover crops, as instructed by Universities! I was looking for instructions on cover-cropping for the purposes of building soil structure, as well as Nitrogen-fixing via legume cover crops. You're supposed to smash them down without cutting them off, to allow them to pull nitrogen right out of the air and release it into the soil directly to the plant roots you've planted in veggie garden.
I was shocked to read that the farmers kill the green manure cover crop with CHEMICALS! Then till it under, and plant ! Sometimes they collect the "hay" and ppl use it inappropriately with food animals!
BUY ORGANIC WHENEVER POSSIBLE!
I first place all the empty cans I can. Then backfill when I have to w some potting soil. Saves us alot of chump change.
@@annharris2109 don't cans have heavy metals in them?
Last year I threw waste pine logs in my latest raised bed, ~1 ft depth, so far no problems, saved lots of money
All those twigs branches small logs from the surrounding trees would have made a fantastic base which would soak up rain over the months and years ahead and release it like a sponge as they composted down .I have a neighbour who gives me a sack or two of rabbit and guinea pig used bedding hay per week
Starting with old logs is also excellent
Your straw from autumn decorations most likely was treated with herbicide.
not great advice. grass clippings, logs, sticks are better
Great! That's what I do to fill raised beds. It really brings in the worms. I do that with all my big flower pots also. I fill them with fall leaves .Really saves on soil and plants love the organic matter on the bottom.
1. You should water between each layer to help it settle 2. You need to mound it up as high as you can before planting anything because it will sink a LOT 🤗
My raised beds sink a foot each year so it needs a lot of refilling. The level is low at the moment I think I might scrape off the top compost layer and refill with organic matter like woodchips as high as possible before topping it off again with the compost layer
I've been doing the same thing for years and my own harvest is a complete success 💯👌👍
Wish my strata council would let us do this..... Instead of paying BIG bucks to people to mow the "lawn"..... 😭 SUPPORT "No mow May"!!!! Support the pollinators!! 👃✌️🥰🇨🇦
You can put the paper bags you are using in, also.
they should have no wax coating. Can also ask neighbors that had a tree fall if you can have limbs to go in as bottom most layer.
@@loristrout4741 If the bag's coating is wax, it will be fine. Wax will biodegrade. If it is plastic, no. Since it it difficult to tell with any certainty, they probably should be avoided.
I just found out my city has FREE COMPOST!!! We have a composting facility and every Friday you can get as MUCH COMPOST AS YOU WANT! (I’m sure farmers can’t get huge quantities lol) but the little bit I need for my first garden this year won’t be a problem! Holy crap!
That is awesome!
Way to go! Way to go by recycling ♻️ all that wonderful compost. 💜💚💙🥰
I use pruned branches and stick at the very bottom. Then other yard waste topped by leaves to 1 ft from top. Then topsoil topped by compost, at least 7 inches.
I do a layer of logs and sticks in the bottom
The first year we build our beds, we filled them with sawdust (free from cabinet shops), washed concrete sand (15.00 per 2 truck beds full) and a little bit of perlite. Pile up your leaves and grass clippings ...Then you can keep amending with worm castings and chicken manure, straw etc each Spring & Fall. You will need to use more fertilizers the 1st year, but it will pay off over time.
if y’all are wandering why she puts flowers around her vegie plants its bc the flowers distract the bugs to go to that instead and they hate flowers mari golds are very good to put around the vegies
Yep! Lavendar is also great!
Flowers are also used to attract beneficial insects
Use mulch and leaves can quickly fill the bed. If you or your neighbor got tree pruning and you can ask to use the free wood for the bottom to fill the space as well.
It’s fabulous ! I have pots all over the patio ! I would love to have something built like that , we have some lumber 😊
I used a tough plastic stapled to the sides of my raised bed to keep the soil from rottening my wood .
Looks great. Keep up the good work. If you get a chance you should remove the honeysuckle from the woods and turn it into mulch or organic matter for hugelmounds.
I started with some rotting logs i found in our woods. Then continued like you did. Works great!
Bless your heart.
Bless your heart, which is Southern to say you have no idea what your doing lol.
That's how I filled a 8x16 raised bed hay bale garden. 5 cubic yards of good stuff, hay, straw, leaves, grass, misc. Yard waste, ect. Top dressed with 6 in. Of compost.
I have coffee creamer bottles upright on the bottom with the caps off. This way it can fill with water and help during the hot points of summer. I then do the same thing you did, wood, straw, chicken coop wonder, and leaves.
That trellis is dreamy!
I cant find any straw around here that hasn't been over sprayed with Grazon "grass herbicide ".
I use leaves. It’s not pretty but has always worked great.
Get straw at feedmills,where they sell chicken feed.
Pennington seeding straw at Lowes is not treated. But really you don’t have to put straw. You can use logs, branches, woodchips, etc
@@Orangepie86 yes, yes it was grown and sprayed with Grazon. I still have the bag and almost to full bale left.that was 2021 ,I was using straw to grow my potatos ,not to cover the base of my plants. But yes its contaminated .
I think if you use straw you are looking for weeds from hell. and straw is going to go through a heat as it continues to decompose. might kill deep roots
Very good work !!😊
Good job, I'm excited to see the greens!!
💟☮️
I’m in northern Alabama. The weeds and grass clippings would have taken over the bed. Happy planting! I enjoy watching what works in other parts of the world/States!
I want to see your kitchen garden when you get it ready or even when the plant start blooming
Awsome thanks for sharein I soo need this ideas❤❤❤❤
Beautiful and approachable! Thank you for explaining all these details.
Extremely smart
I use cardboard and paper products>>Cardboard egg cartons work too>>pizza boxes>>>>I just collect and fill as far as i can and wet it down..and pack it down wet some more>>>top it with the dirt The paper products break down as the plants grow>>you can add more soil as the plants grow if needed.I flipped all of last years and it is full of nothing but beautiful soil
It amazes me that people spend 3 times more on building a garden than they save on food.
For me it's a hobby, and veggies generally taste better from a garden.
The initial costs are hight, but later it pays off. Especially if you don't just compare it with the cheapest shitty food.
For me, it's a long term investment in health - I eat something minutes from the garden daily, and live in a climate that allows for year round cropping.
I include perennial herbs and veg, and heritage plants, and the gardens are just outside my kitchen.
Unless you have disabilities, low beds are adequate for most of us. I have several 1' tall beds, and put aged and dried blackberry canes in the bottom, stomped and watered, then layers of Grass, compost, native soil from a big garden area, coconut coir for holding moisture, and a raised bed mix on top. I mulched with more grass clippings, and will add a layer of compost each year.
As mentioned by others, straw is often treated with herbicides, and recently there's been concern about Mushroom compost (grown on manure from animals feed herbicide treated hay!)
In the past I've used the mushroom compost, and plants LOVED it - but the present addiction to killing plants other than grasses is taking its toll!
I also buy from our local Farmers markets, and some things from a natural grocery - fresh, local and organically grown are my go tos, and I live where that's easy!
We do have a large garden area that has good soil, and some crops are great in big patches directly in the ground, while the beds are better for other crops.
I'm also part of an Edible Landscaping project, tending one of 26 beds along a street in our old granery district. Our aim is to interst folks in gardening themselves, and offering access to free produce.
Adding shredded cardboard or perlite to the mix will help retain moisture.
Your kitchen is huge, it looks just like my backyard
Можно сделать полную бочку компоста заранее всего за 18 дней, а не за три года. Пропорции C:N по весу 25:1. Первые 4 дня не переворачивать. 14 дней переворачивать раз в день. Если же посадить растения в такую кучу, не соблюдая правильные пропорции азота и углерода, то растения с длинными корнями начнут компостироваться вместе с той соломой, что вы насыпали. То есть корни растения сгорят. Температура в теплой грядке может подняться до 55-65 градусов Цельсия.
I'm sure she is an American and she thinks she knows it all. we are not good listeners. but what you say is 100% correct. the decomp heat will cook the plants with deep roots. I hate weeds been pulling those little bastards for over half a century. pulled a few to day. and everything she did will cause weeds from the depths of hell. 🤗💖🙈🙉🙊
No cardboard?
Mushroom compost have mushrooms spores. Your garden will be beautiful but the mushroom spors will find themselves in the wood. They will grow and the results will be the wood splitting with their growth. Water will be soaked into the wood and in three years your wood will need replacing. We had to rebuild ours.
Didnt she say she sealed the inside of the wooden box? I would think this prep would prevent said wood from splitting, wouldn't it?
@@ruthannegalera6594 it should plus it looks like she bought really good wood, looks like Cedar in my opinion which are known to last about 10 years anyways for garden stuff. that three years comment that was made is only for cheap wood like pine
Tarp, the newest form of measurement 😂
😅😅
What would happen if you only use soil? Beginner here, obviously. All (gardening) advice is appreciated ❤
It would cost a small fortune!
Logs are great for this
Beautiful
I would have put branches / small logs in the bottom layer for about 8 inches and then the rest.
I'm lucky I get my soil for free at a compost site
Problem with that is you have no idea what is in that compost.
Nice work 👍🏻🌺
What do you use to seal the garden bed?
Question: what was the total $$$ cost to fill up that bed?
Lol. And you have to add the $$$ for the raised bed itself. That fancy thing ain’t cheap.
NICE job!!!
great video, my next project
curious as to how much this cost you to build? its gorgeous! Great job
you could of used that lowes bags if paper n cardboard boxes but awesome love it
You can also fill it with wood debris. Just make sure it has dried out from last season.
What about the chemicals leaching into the soil and then into your plants . Could this be a possibility ?
Great ideas
You might want to top the planter with some black plastic, cutting a X hole were the plants will be growing through. This will keep any other vegetation from springing up and causing a lot of unneeded weeding.
Add a rod with earthing copper coiled around the rod...👍
What is the bed sealed with?
Cool
Grow hanging squash, cantaloupe, and trellis tomatoes, and build a string teepee for beans
What did you use to seal your wooden boxes?
My guess is it might be raw linseed oil. My hints come from the look of the finish and curing was mentioned in the video as well.
One thing to note about raw linseed oil vs boiled linseed oil: Boiled linseed oil cures faster than raw because of petroleum based additives and metal additives, and is therefore not recommended to be used in coating wooden garden boxes, or anything that touches food for that matter. Raw linseed oil is food safe and should provide decent protection to the wood once it is fully cured…2 to 10 weeks depending on thickness of application and environmental conditions.
Where we live, beds like this are a recipe for fire ant colonies. They love raised beds. Here, if you want to have a raised bed, you need a bottom that lifts it off the ground.
You r right.. raised bed shd b lifted off d ground.. 😮😮😮 esp if d raised bed is made of woods...
I would have crumpled or shredded the leaf bags & put them in there, too. (Unless they'll be reused for leaves)
How do you test for chemicals and heavy metals in the soil?
My raised beds are 6x4 foot and 2 3 foot high. I started putting loads of stinging nettles when weeding. Do you know if this will be ok or will the weeds grow?
nice!! what kind of wood is that and what did you seal the inside with?
What did you plant? It looks beautiful.
Thanks! I planted lots of leafy greens, herbs, and flowers, plus some radish seeds
@@Gardenary What did you use to seal the inside? I’m just starting out and going to be putting a wood raised garden bed! Could you recommend some products you used? Thanks for sharing
Next time consider doing hugel culture in your bed. Fill the first half with logs and sticks.
WORMS?? You need worms. I assume the bottom of the bed contacts the bare ground, if so, you’ll get some worms that way but maybe not enough. I’d add a small amount of either nightcrawlers or red wigglers if you can before putting in crops….assuming you didn’t carry any over with your compost or leaf litter.
Also when you have a chance, add poles for netting to try to keep pests out (cabbage butterflies, sawflies, potatoes beetles, mice, birds, deer, etc.)
You may also want to consider ringing the boarder of the box with Mexican marigolds, geraniums or mint as a natural pest deterrent; especially around tomatoes, potatoes and cabbages. If you use mint, stay on top of it or it will take over the bed pretty quick (within a season).
Outside of that, you’re well on your way to a bountiful summer!!!
Good Luck
Did you take out the weeds that were inside that tarp? If not they will add weeds to your new garden.
Early additions to the beds will have weeds well buried, and unlikely to sprout.
With raised beds, it's fairly easy to pick our baby weeds that may blow in, snipping at the root line and just dropping the leaves on the soil (chip and drop) using a mulch over the soil limits the space available for weeds to Sprout - and awareness of which are Edible and desired helps the gardener make choices about what stays.
Will the grass clippings cause more weeds.
Do you pre-moisten the soil at all when you are filling up the beds?
Yes, in layers
You should paint the inside with pool paint
What did you use for seal?
Would heat treating the wood do better than the seal?
Any issue with grass or weeds from yard clippings growing thru?
Depends, If the grass and weeds have gone to seed then it’s a possibility they could grow through the soil. Thick layer of compost or soil should smother the grass and weeds. I’d recommend putting a layer of cardboard that has been soaked with water underneath the garden bed before filling the bed.
Loooove my JoraComposter
Mushroom compost hmmm. I have not heard that one.
Food grade straw only
Compost from mushrooms they don’t care about the herbicides the mushrooms grow fine it’s the vegetables that will suffer
Use logs and sticks first!
I've seen some use layers of cardboard. What do you think?
YOU DIDN'T SHOW THE END PRODUCT!!!! 😔😢
What did you use to coat your raised bed with?
Wait? Was I supposed to seal the inside of my cedar beds?
Noooo! You did great! Cedar will be long lasting, pest resistant, and you avoided toxic chemicals. Grow forth and prosper 🌻
What did you use to seal the wood?
Hi, this is what we used: www.amazon.com/dp/B01F78DM2W/?ref=idea_lv_dp_vv_d
Excellent, thank you 😊
What were u using to paint the inside of the planter?
I am guessing linseed oil. As it's non-toxic and a food grade product. I see a lot of people with wood beds using it.
You gotta wet and pack down your leaves so your bed doesn’t sink
Why don't you use the normal soil which occupies this box bed to plant instead of using a box bed which requires extra soil and other stuffs to fill it up? I frankly do not understand the advantage. Can someone educate me? I am planning to cultivate few things next year when our new home is ready
❤❤❤❤
Be careful of that mushroom compost if you have any trouble growing start with a pot of just mushroom compost and plant peas in it then if it grows well try separate items you put in it
What’s the reason for raised bad?
For some that's the only way to be able to garden. Variety of reasons - gophers/critters, physical limitations, space/land, etc. If you can do an in ground garden, be thankful!!😃
No cardboard or sticks?
Make two short beds you could skip that and save time. I can bend and work my beds
Smarter way than logs they take 50 years to decompose so no roots veggies when you use logs
Miles of youtubes on this….good reminder short and sweet
But remember “toxicity”
Should have thrown in those paper bags too