Hello there, I am a first timer veggie gardener. One of the things my wife has wanted for a long time was a functional, easy to work and maintain Vegatable garden. This is what I built. Pic 1 is before Pic 2 from this afternoon, it is a total of 7 cubic yards, I ordered more so that I was sure to have enough :) Pic 3 is from eye level, does anyone have an opinion as to how much lower it will compress, it is very spongy and when i step on it is really sinks alot. Pic 4 is a close up of the mix, it is called Rainforest mix from Got Dirt Ltd. Pic 5 some of the baby veggies getting ready to be transplanted. I plan to build an "L" shelf all the way around the garden along the fence, about 3 feet above the surface. Using pressure treated 2x6 and using the mix with perlite in 1 gallon pots. I plan to place about 40 of them on this shelf. Do you think it will interfere with the growth of the plants in the garden bed? Do you think it will be hard to water? Do you think it would be better to build more raised garden beds instead of the 1 gallon pots on shelf idea? Do you know how long the mix will last? will it last a whole summer and be ok next year after I have added my compost to it in the fall? I apologize for so many questions, but I really don't know what I am doing, I just want to do a good job for the wife. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions,
Don't use pressure treated wood, the chemicals used to treat the wood will leach into the soil and will contaminate your veggies, plants, etc.
It looks lovely, though maybe a little too wide. Ideally you don't want to ever walk on your raised bed, so 4 feet wide is usually the maximum that you want it too be. I would guess that the soil will compact down a couple of inches. One gallon pots are really not big enough to grow veggies in and would take a lot of watering. How would you water them without stepping on the garden bed. You could set up an automatic watering system. 5 gallon pots would maybe be an option, but you would need a pretty strong shelf to hold them up. I would build another raised bed instead. It would be a lot less work in the long run. You would need to replace the soil in a one gallon pots every year, as it would get pretty depleted. Plants on a shelf would probably not impact the ones in the bed. What direction is the sun coming from. You wouldn't want them to shade the garden in any way.
Hi ManniBoo, Dang, it's too late, do ou think if I put some corrugated plastic to seperate the soil from the wood could work out ok? pondliner? expensive :( Any suggestions? TY
Hello JanR, thanks for reply Hottest part of the day is coming from about 7pm on the picture attached. Thanks so much JanR and MannieBoo
A 6" walkway is maybe a bit narrow, but as long as your balance is good it may be adequate. I'm not sure that your can grow asparagus in pots. At least I have never heard of it. I think they have deep roots. I think it would be best to plant them in the garden and put other veggies in pots. You have a lot of veggies growing. In some case too many, I think. What will you do with 30 lettuce plants all being ready to eat all at once. Eat lots while it is young. :) It would be much better to start a few lettuce plants each week to provide a continuing supply of lettuce. The same would apply, I think to things like bok choy sui choy and spinach. All the previous plants would grow okay in pots and even maybe in 1 gallon pots. Certainly lettuce would. Beets should be sown directly in the garden. I don't think they will transplant well. Since you already have them growing you may as well try it. I would though, sow some more seeds directly in the garden. It looks like your garden mostly faces west. As long as it gets at least six hours of sun, most veggies should grow okay. Your lettuce would actually like part shade, so against the fence with some other taller plants in front would work well. I admire your ambition. You will learn as you go along. Good luck with your garden.
A pond liner would be my guess has to your best choice, anything that wouldn't hurt a fish or pond life should also be able to keep any chemicals from treated wood from the soil. Just remember this rule for the next time you build a planter, "never use treated wood" Hope this helps.
Hello JanR Thanks I just took about 40 peat pods and planted them into the 1 gal pots, do you think they will make it over the night? I misyed them and put them in the shade, im not 100% certain how to harden off. The sui choy and lettuce hatch very fast. lavender does as well, Ive got a bunch of lavender to go around the yard. :) Do you know how much a wheelbarrow full of composted mix is in cu. yards? I have so much dirt, ive been filling holes from the dogs urine in my lawn just trying to get the level down so I can start the garden. I am thinking to give some dirt to my neighbors, was just wondering the approx. value out of curiousity Thanks again JanR
Thanks ManniBoo, I think the pondliner will have a longer life as well, a little more expensive but longer lasting. Do you know what the arsenick will do if consumed through eating the contaminated veggies?
Most pressure treated wood, no longer contains arsenic. I would check with where you got it from. They should be able to tell you. Treated wood is still not good stuff for a vegetable garden, but not quite as bad as it used to be. Sorry about the lettuce. :( You could now plant some seeds directly in the garden. Make sure that no part of the peat pot is exposed about the soil, otherwise it will wick the moisture right out of the soil. To harden off your plants, just put them out for a short time each day and gradually increase the time. Start off with an hour or so. How much soil your wheelbarrow holds depends on the size of the wheelbarrow. I would guess 2-3 cubic feet.