IT'S GARDEN BUILDING TIME

I am in the final planning of the garden area at the farm and guess what?  Today starts the construction!  As this post appears, I'll be at the farm building raised garden beds.

There are numerous reasons for raised beds, not the least of which is the poor soil condition in the only real area we have right now to put the garden.  Sure we have 10 acres, but about 7 of those are still undeveloped (other than my big green zen machine trails), so that only leaves the immediate area already cleared around the house.

Several more factors came into play; they have to be close enough to the house to let the water hoses reach them, they can’t be in the low parts of the yard that flood during heavy rains, and of course they have to be where they get the most sun.  I’ve already marked off one site that meets those criteria as the future barn area, so I can’t put the gardens there.  That left me the one area I’ve been making ready the last few months by clearing the small trees out and keeping it mowed so nature wouldn't take over.

Alas, the soil is just not the greatest, lots of clay, very compacted, never been cultivated, etc, so that’s why I’ve decided on raised beds.  I got 2”x12” boards so I can have the deepest planting possibilities.  I will also till the soil below each raised bed just to give the ground a head start and over the next few weekends, I will start layering material in each one that can decompose before I get the soil mix put in.

Photo of 4x4 raised bed gardens, courtesy of Dave's Garden forum

My biggest conundrum was the shape and size.  I am drawn to numerous 4’x4’ beds like the ones in the picture above.  So neat and tidy.  But I decided to have a couple bigger ones as well.  Side note, I have accounted for having a wider path between them, three feet is what I decided on, to allow for garden carts, tools, etc.  So the plan is to start out with six beds; two 4'x8' long rectangle beds as in the picture below, and then four 4'x4' square beds like I posted above.

I planned six raised beds this season because I have purchased six sets of these really neat corner brackets I found online (more on those later) that make it easier (supposedly anyway) to build each one and hold them together.

The six beds will give me 128 square feet of garden space.

Photo of 4x8 raised bed garden, courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

There is plenty of room left for later expansion, so that’s not an issue.  I’ve cordoned off a roughly 36’ x 48’ space in the yard with these starting at the front of that space and then I can expand toward the back in later seasons (or maybe even this Fall).

Photos soon of how much progress I make, fingers crossed!