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dheltzel said:
From my perspective, containers have a bottom that breaks the continuity to the ground underneath, but in a raised bed the soil is a continuous column. That is why you must use very loose, fast draining soil in a container (think potting soil). You can put really dense, clay-rich soils (whatever you dig up from between the beds, usually) into a raised bed and the drainage will still be quite good.

The key here is a continuous column of soil to provide capillary action that moves water up and down in the soil. My college professor used a sponge to demonstrate this. Saturate a regular sponge while laying flat. It holds a lot of water. Now stand it on end and what happens? A lot of water drains out of that same sponge because the sponge is "deeper" when the held vertically. Now, when it stops dripping, touch your finger lightly on the bottom and more water will run down your finger because adding your finger suddenly "deepened" the sponge. A deep column of soil, even of poor quality, acts like the sponge on it's end, pulling water down from the top and increasing the drainage. Of course, capillary action will also bring water up as the top dries. It's self-regulating within a wide range of rainfall/watering.

That is the "magic" of raised beds, rock gardens, etc. It's far easier to get the amount of water right than it is in a container.
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we can always count you to give us the true explanation! thank you for this.

I was thinking it was primarily related to drainage....................but otherwise I augment the soil and keep both systems light an airy soooooooooooo then I was just thinking why build a raised bed?

maybe a bottomless container might be similar to a raised bed? for the capillary action? not sure but I know who knows..................
 
Kinmera said:
Well TECHNICALLY.... I'm from Falconer, NY.

However, I'm only 30 minutes from Warren, PA (Warren County).

My husband works at TSC in Warren.

So I'm gonna come hang out with all you awesome PA people too!
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Howdy Kinmera:

Not to start a stir...but the kewl folk are from Chester Co.......
 
LisaYolkUm said:
Okay Here is my question for today......................

What is the difference between raised bed squared foot gardening vs

container veggie gardens which may or may not have dirt in them by the square foot?


Just wondering?
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Imho:

raised bed= and new good soil over existing ground
square foot is a methodology to mix and match planting and harvests based on size and time...ie. the lettuce is done when the tomatoes shade that area...I have the book to lend you if you promise to give it back
 
400


Did you guys know this? I just learned it obviously and thought it was so cool :)
 
eryan7 said:
So... does anyone know the rules on keeping a rooster in upper Montgomery county? I am now looking to re-home my little guy because I suspect I am not supposed to have him. Omelet is a 9 week old BR rooster. The family that he may be moving to consists of 4 hens (their rooster die of old age about a year ago and the are looking to get another). We are concerned whether the fact that their hens are a bit older and full grown will pose a problem of him being accepted. They also have one hen that is a bit mean already. Omelet, has been raised with 6 ladies up to this point from 1 day old. Any thoughts?
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Since I'm a posting hog tonight.....

My roo was brought into the flock 1/2 the size of the girls....they kicked his tucas pretty good...and thats normal...over time he learned to 'rule the roost'....and does nicely....a Rooster needs to earn the respect of 'his' girls....

A mean girl will only do two things: A) toughen Omelet up..., B) will bully him until he can't be in that flock...(imho, "B" is highly unlikely)
 
LisaYolkUm said:
we can always count you to give us the true explanation! thank you for this.

I was thinking it was primarily related to drainage....................but otherwise I augment the soil and keep both systems light an airy soooooooooooo then I was just thinking why build a raised bed?

maybe a bottomless container might be similar to a raised bed? for the capillary action? not sure but I know who knows..................
Click to expand...
Yes, as long as you make good solid contact between the soil in the container and the ground under it. No rocks or gravel like they used to advice to improve drainage, that only helps if your container is on a solid surface like concrete where it has no hope of getting drained straight down.

If you follow this thought to it's conclusion, you might consider not amending the soil in a raised bed to make it too "airy". The ideal consistency is a close match to the soil under it. Avoid a sharp delineation, where you dig down to solid rock and replace it with soil amended to be like a house plant. That seems like the right thing, but in reality you have created a giant bowl in the ground that will trap water. That is ideal for certain plants and certain situations (where you are more likely to battle drought than excess water), but it is not what most people are intending to do when they dig dig out the soil, mix in a lot of peat and then put it all back into the bowl. What you probably want is a gradual transition from the old to the amended soil.

I've become a very lazy gardener, I don't dig peat into the soil any more, if it is already reasonably healthy (do you see worms when you dig?). Instead, I mulch and let the soil pull the humus down into the bed gradually. The "way of the forest" is how I like to think of it.
 
chippysmom327 said:


Did you guys know this? I just learned it obviously and thought it was so cool
smile.png
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That is cool! This explains why our one broody has her chicks out and about in the run at 0530.... We have another hen who has chosen to go broody in our 'condo', DH and I debated on moving her back into the coop but have decided to allow her to stay there since there are already 9 other broodies in the coop. Since she is in the condo we have left a pop door open to the coop at night in case she felt the need to go in, Janeway is taking full advantage of the open pop door in the mornings.
 
dheltzel said:
Yes, as long as you make good solid contact between the soil in the container and the ground under it. No rocks or gravel like they used to advice to improve drainage, that only helps if your container is on a solid surface like concrete where it has no hope of getting drained straight down.

If you follow this thought to it's conclusion, you might consider not amending the soil in a raised bed to make it too "airy". The ideal consistency is a close match to the soil under it. Avoid a sharp delineation, where you dig down to solid rock and replace it with soil amended to be like a house plant. That seems like the right thing, but in reality you have created a giant bowl in the ground that will trap water. That is ideal for certain plants and certain situations (where you are more likely to battle drought than excess water), but it is not what most people are intending to do when they dig dig out the soil, mix in a lot of peat and then put it all back into the bowl. What you probably want is a gradual transition from the old to the amended soil.

I've become a very lazy gardener, I don't dig peat into the soil any more, if it is already reasonably healthy (do you see worms when you dig?). Instead, I mulch and let the soil pull the humus down into the bed gradually. The "way of the forest" is how I like to think of it.
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in the square foot gardening book they make a big deal about the soil quality and the fact that it is airy and not compressed.
but forests have nice dark dirt under the leaves............they are not great places to grow veggies due to shade

peat moss
vermiculite
good soil like miracle grow
compost
these are the kinds of things they list in certain proportions..................I actually think it maybe compost or soil.............

people who dig their veggie gardens and turn the soil are aerating the soil.................and fluffing it up..................


the raised bed idea was to eliminate the need to dig so much and to raise up the bed

digging is hard work
bending is hard on the back...............yet some raised beds are really not that high...........just put soil on top of the existing ground with a border...........


I am looking to keep my gardening efforts easier because my body aches! knees back energy etc and

I would like to have the garden be something that I don't have to keep redoing so much.............that is why I just LOVE PERENNIALS!

I also have only a few sunny locations.
one is in the front yard
one is on my deck

because of this I use containers on the deck and want to have a few raised beds up front.

I didn't get the raised beds built because I built a new coop.!

I also planted 2 gooseberry bushes in the front sun..............with the usual digging a hole method.
 
Soo it was in the low 90's today and humid. I have my coop in the garage with four hens I got right after Easter. I am new to all of this. My New Hampshire reds were panting a bit so I put a fan on top of screen pointing down into the open part of coop. They seemed good after that. Should I leave fan on all night? I keep reading about ventilation and don't want to lose one this summer. Any thoughts? Thanks
 

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