Still figuring it out at 61, but I think you're right.
What did you do in the garden today?
- Thread starter Dara77
- Start date
Thank you, I have 4 of those exact beds & they are rotting already. They're what we're looking to replace first. We're looking to go much more permanent - hence the cinder block idea. Wood doesn't last very long here for some reason. Same with the galvanized beds, they are newer & are already rotting too.
Been doing funeral stuff the last couple of days, need to get caught up...
So hot. And dry. Tomorrow will be hotter, and still dry. I have 3 hoses running water right now. I planted some flowers yesterday that I’ve planted before. When planted they were solidly planted as had the soil pushed in around them, watered well and mulched. Today, by noon (less than 24 hours later) all were wilty, some looked green but dead. So I watered very well again. Will repeat in the morning.
Called Stark bc one tree (7 weeks after planting) only has one sprouting area right at graft, on the variety part of the trunk. They said test it’s life by scratching on main trunk -green/white/yellow means alive. It’s green. But that I could shock it a bit by cutting off the “dead”portion until I found green. So a couple inches off, I found green then watered the tree very well. I also noticed that another tree with a main trunk that wasn’t really growing, but still had plenty of green, could also use same treatment per the guidance of the CS rep. . A couple inches off that one too, where there was green. So hopefully they will begin to enjoy life and burst forth with green.
Called Stark bc one tree (7 weeks after planting) only has one sprouting area right at graft, on the variety part of the trunk. They said test it’s life by scratching on main trunk -green/white/yellow means alive. It’s green. But that I could shock it a bit by cutting off the “dead”portion until I found green. So a couple inches off, I found green then watered the tree very well. I also noticed that another tree with a main trunk that wasn’t really growing, but still had plenty of green, could also use same treatment per the guidance of the CS rep. . A couple inches off that one too, where there was green. So hopefully they will begin to enjoy life and burst forth with green.
I bought a hollyhock plant a couple weeks ago. It was in the ground when we had our frost (a week ago today, hard to believe) and the leaves have turned yellow and spotted. The many, many buds have done nothing.
Is it toast?
Is it toast?
I spread some compost material out over the garden that I will just till in. It will have to at least fall to break down. I'm just not up to planting much more than the few tomatoes and a couple of dill plants this year. I need to check on the black berries and blueberries tomorrow. I know they need to be weeded and mulched.
Not toast just shocked. It should recover but may not bloom this year. Seed is its goal. Biennial so if it does not bloom it should bloom next year.
I drove the remaining 120 tomato plants into the city and dropped them off at the community garden head office. The community gardens is a program, where you can rent a plot of land in a large neighborhood garden and tend it as your own for the 6 months it is open. Some of it is based on need, and the rest lottery, and plant donations are always welcome. So I guess they won't be wasted.
But that was it, no more mass plantings or sales. I'll grow out 50 plants from here one out, enough for me and the two neighbors.
But that was it, no more mass plantings or sales. I'll grow out 50 plants from here one out, enough for me and the two neighbors.
Found a ton of aphids on my kale, spinach, and collards, ugh! My garden seems so stunted this year and now this crap 
Another cross post from the thread Show Me Your Pallet Projects!. This one is improving the design of raised garden beds which I hope might be helpful to some people here as well. I hope it helps people not make mistakes I made in the past...
I was out in the main garden this morning planting some Roma tomatoes in one of my earliest raised beds built from using fence panels. Basically, I had a number of 4-foot-high wood fence panels that were not being used for anything, so I cut them in half down to 2 feet high and made these raised beds about 5+ years ago.
Now, I have mentioned that using framing on the outside of my pallet wood raised beds is a much sturdier design than having the framing on the inside. All my new pallet wood raised beds have the 2x4 framing on the outside for increased strength. What I am going to show you with the following pictures is what time and outward pressure can do to raised beds if you don't have the framing on the outside, like I did years ago when I built the raised beds with the fence panels.
First of all, let's look at a blowout. Here is what time and constant outward pressure can do to your raised bed without framing on the outside...
That corner gave out because the wood inside the corner piece softened up and the screws holding that corner came out due to the constant outward pressure of the soil inside the raised bed. Mind you, this raised bed is just over 5 years old, and I can't complain too much about how long it has held up, but I think if I would have used framing on the outside of the build it would have lasted longer.
When I fix this problem, I think I'll just use some salvaged 2X4 wood and build a frame for the outside. The bed is 4X8 feet, so I need to use some of my longer salvaged wood or long pallet 2X4 to rebuild this raised bed.
In addition to the corner blowout, you might start to see sidewall pieces blow outs for the same reasons. This fencing panel that I cut in half does not have any sidewall pieces blown out - yet - but a few have rotted and will need to be replaced.
Another issue that I learned from building these first 4X8 beds is that you can get significant bow out in the middle of the 8 foot side. Here are some pictures of how, over the years, the sides of one of the raised beds is starting to fail...
I put a straight rake handle in this next picture to give you a better idea of how much the sidewall is bowing out. The only way I know how to fix this problem is to rebuild the raised bed and add some cross support pieces at the half-way 4 foot mark.
Well, lessons learned on all of these early attempts at making raised beds. I think my new designs using pallet wood and having the 2X4 framing on the outside has been a better idea to prevent blowouts and keeping each raised bed to 4X4 feet should eliminate the bowing out problem with the longer 8-foot sidewall.
Having said that, these fence panel raised beds are 5+ years old and my newer 4X4 foot pallet wood raised beds are only a couple of years old. So, time will tell if my newer designs with 2X4 framing on the outside will hold up better. I think they will.
Picture of my newest pallet wood raised bed design with framing on the outside, for comparison....
If you have any thoughts or experience in your raised bed builds, I would love to hear your comments. I hope to learn from my mistakes, but it is always better to learn from others mistakes and not make the same ones. In that light, I offered my experience from building raised beds and I hope others will not make the same mistakes I made.
I was out in the main garden this morning planting some Roma tomatoes in one of my earliest raised beds built from using fence panels. Basically, I had a number of 4-foot-high wood fence panels that were not being used for anything, so I cut them in half down to 2 feet high and made these raised beds about 5+ years ago.
Now, I have mentioned that using framing on the outside of my pallet wood raised beds is a much sturdier design than having the framing on the inside. All my new pallet wood raised beds have the 2x4 framing on the outside for increased strength. What I am going to show you with the following pictures is what time and outward pressure can do to raised beds if you don't have the framing on the outside, like I did years ago when I built the raised beds with the fence panels.
First of all, let's look at a blowout. Here is what time and constant outward pressure can do to your raised bed without framing on the outside...
That corner gave out because the wood inside the corner piece softened up and the screws holding that corner came out due to the constant outward pressure of the soil inside the raised bed. Mind you, this raised bed is just over 5 years old, and I can't complain too much about how long it has held up, but I think if I would have used framing on the outside of the build it would have lasted longer.
When I fix this problem, I think I'll just use some salvaged 2X4 wood and build a frame for the outside. The bed is 4X8 feet, so I need to use some of my longer salvaged wood or long pallet 2X4 to rebuild this raised bed.
In addition to the corner blowout, you might start to see sidewall pieces blow outs for the same reasons. This fencing panel that I cut in half does not have any sidewall pieces blown out - yet - but a few have rotted and will need to be replaced.
Another issue that I learned from building these first 4X8 beds is that you can get significant bow out in the middle of the 8 foot side. Here are some pictures of how, over the years, the sides of one of the raised beds is starting to fail...
I put a straight rake handle in this next picture to give you a better idea of how much the sidewall is bowing out. The only way I know how to fix this problem is to rebuild the raised bed and add some cross support pieces at the half-way 4 foot mark.
Well, lessons learned on all of these early attempts at making raised beds. I think my new designs using pallet wood and having the 2X4 framing on the outside has been a better idea to prevent blowouts and keeping each raised bed to 4X4 feet should eliminate the bowing out problem with the longer 8-foot sidewall.
Having said that, these fence panel raised beds are 5+ years old and my newer 4X4 foot pallet wood raised beds are only a couple of years old. So, time will tell if my newer designs with 2X4 framing on the outside will hold up better. I think they will.
Picture of my newest pallet wood raised bed design with framing on the outside, for comparison....
If you have any thoughts or experience in your raised bed builds, I would love to hear your comments. I hope to learn from my mistakes, but it is always better to learn from others mistakes and not make the same ones. In that light, I offered my experience from building raised beds and I hope others will not make the same mistakes I made.
What mill do you take your alpaca fleece to?
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