Hügelkultur Raised Beds

[NanaK]

I did hear the flowers are edible. I’ll see how my husband likes them first. He’s a good sport at trying new things.

This gave me a laugh this morning!

 

[DuckLady]

This gave me a laugh this morning!

Well, if I get sick, who’s going to water the garden and more importantly, feed the cats and be the house elf??

 

[DuckLady]

So I tried a nasturtium flower. It really didn’t have any taste, but had a pleasant feel. Apparently you make pesto with it. How colorful would that be?

 

[Sally PB]

But nasturtiums are so pretty!

They are hard to grow here in NC because of our heat and humidity. I have grown them early spring but they don't last long for me.

You do know they are edible?? To me the leaves have a peppery taste but I've never tried the flowers. You can add them to salads.

I've never eaten nasturtium leaves, but I've had some of the red flowers. I swear it had a cinnamon taste to it.

 

[DuckLady]

How’s everyone’s gardens doing?

I picked our first few half ripe tomatoes. I don’t trust the crows. I have more peas, radishes, dill, salad onions, carrots and turnips planted. Strawberries, green beans and cukes are coming on well.

Not too sure about the turnips. My sweet aunt told me they are delicious and sweet eaten raw. The only other time I grew them, they smelled like feet, but I’ll try them again. She’ll hear about it if they end up being toe-nips again.

 

[akroberts1085]

My metal raised beds are losing the soil. The big stairstep bed is losing it pretty bad. I think something moved in under it and that's why I have only gotten 2 zucchini from the garden this year. I picked 2 pumpkins Friday and made pumpkin bread Saturday. I'm getting tomatoes just no cherry tomatoes.

 

[fuzzi]

A couple of my raised beds need to be reinforced. Now that most of my vegetables have died I can remove enough soil to put the boards back in place, and add support so the horizontal boards don't pop out of the slots again.

 

[fuzzi]

Not all, but a couple of my raised beds have issues.

The boards are rotted on the ends...and it's cedar wood. Huh.

Temporary fix:

Thoughts on something more permanent, perhaps some sort of reinforcement on the inside?

 

[DuckLady]

Oh no! Sorry that happened! Maybe a t-post on the outside of each corner post to keep them from shifting? Can you bang them back into place with a sledgehammer?

When (if) we ever get some pallet beds made, my plan was to put a t-post or 2 on each side to attach trellises to as well as to stabilize the beds and prevent blow outs down the road. I may do that with the metal beds I have now for next year to attach cattle panels to. My cukes are over running the small trellises I have them on and are sprawling over the ground.

Keep us posted on how you solved that.

 

[fuzzi]

Some sort of fencing on the inside...?