New raised bed with hoops

[rpage]

We worked on the new raised bed this weekend. Have it all together just needs soil and compost. Also check out the chives are getting ready to bloom, spring is awesome!

More photos on our blog.

[MysticTree]

that looks good.

I have persuaded my other half that raised beds is the way to go and we have four so far 3' x 6'.

We will add more and have another area still to clear. It's lovely having a veg garden again.

Georgina

[DebB]

I love the hoops! And putting them in right from the beginning - what a good idea!

I have a couple questions ~ What are on the corners (inside and out) holding them together?

I am really loving those hoops... We need something similar for netting to keep the birds and other critters out of our beds because something (well, we know quail for sure, but other critters too) munch off our new shoots before they ever have a chance to grow. Pretty frustrating.

Thanks for sharing the pictures! *Ü*

Back to ask - what do you irrigate with (or do you)? We live in the WA desert and right now we're using soaker hosing, but the sun is destroying it.

[rpage]

I love the hoops! And putting them in right from the beginning - what a good idea!

I have a couple questions ~ What are on the corners (inside and out) holding them together?

I am really loving those hoops... We need something similar for netting to keep the birds and other critters out of our beds because something (well, we know quail for sure, but other critters too) munch off our new shoots before they ever have a chance to grow. Pretty frustrating.

Thanks for sharing the pictures! *Ü*

Back to ask - what do you irrigate with (or do you)? We live in the WA desert and right now we're using soaker hosing, but the sun is destroying it.



My wife Martha and I own a metal fab art business (Waking Bear Studio (http://www.wakingbearstudio.com)) so we made the corner pieces ourselves. We based our idea from other ones that we loved on the web, you can see them here.... Art of the Garden (http://artofthegarden.net/)

Ours are not exactly like the M Brace. I made the inside support a little different. I wanted to be able to screw them fast to the boards.

The hoops come off. They are 10' pieces of 1/2" PVC that are just sticking down inside 1" PVC tubes that I have mounted to the inside of the frame. The raised bed is 12" tall and that is how tall the inside tubes are. You can see them a bit better on my blog (http://changinggreen.blogspot.com/). I will cover the whole thing with plastic for fall and spring.

I added the hoops so that I could extend our growing season later in to the fall and start it a bit earlier next springs. I am in southwestern PA and we do not have a shortage on rain, at least not this year. It has been major rain for over a month now. When it does get dry I just soak the beds down by hand at night. If we add more beds next year I may look at putting in irrigation. We are also planning a rain water collection system and I think it will be part of that project.

Thanks!

Rick

[rpage]

that looks good.

I have persuaded my other half that raised beds is the way to go and we have four so far 3' x 6'.

We will add more and have another area still to clear. It's lovely having a veg garden again.

Georgina

If I had my way my the entire yard would look like John Kohler's (http://www.growingyourgreens.com)yard! But we dont have the time for that much right now in our lives. We are just starting down the green path and that will with out a doubt add more desire to grow even more.

Personally I can not wait to eat an entire salad that we grew and did not buy anything for! That will be awesome! It all just tastes better when it is your own!

[MysticTree]

Some of his beds are too raised for me. We need to conserve water and the higher the bed the more we need to water the plants.

I am happy with 12" max but mine are less than that right now because they only just went in.

Georgina

[DebB]

My wife Martha and I own a metal fab art business (Waking Bear Studio (http://www.wakingbearstudio.com)) so we made the corner pieces ourselves. We based our idea from other ones that we loved on the web, you can see them here.... Art of the Garden (http://artofthegarden.net/)

Ours are not exactly like the M Brace. I made the inside support a little different. I wanted to be able to screw them fast to the boards.

The hoops come off. They are 10' pieces of 1/2" PVC that are just sticking down inside 1" PVC tubes that I have mounted to the inside of the frame. The raised bed is 12" tall and that is how tall the inside tubes are. You can see them a bit better on my blog (http://changinggreen.blogspot.com/). I will cover the whole thing with plastic for fall and spring.

I added the hoops so that I could extend our growing season later in to the fall and start it a bit earlier next springs. I am in southwestern PA and we do not have a shortage on rain, at least not this year. It has been major rain for over a month now. When it does get dry I just soak the beds down by hand at night. If we add more beds next year I may look at putting in irrigation. We are also planning a rain water collection system and I think it will be part of that project.

Thanks!

Rick

Thank you Rick for all the information and answering my questions! *Ü*

[rpage]

We finally got the bed filled and planted this weekend. As you can see we are trying the "Square Foot Gardening" method. :) should prove interesting.

[MysticTree]

We finally got the bed filled and planted this weekend. As you can see we are trying the "Square Foot Gardening" method. :) should prove interesting.

Looks fabulous.

I have had good results from square foot planting.

[levamssg]

Love your raised bed and hoops. I'm going to experiment with some hoops later this fall to extend harvest if possible. I built 60 feet of raised beds this year (60x2) and did the square foot gardening. It is working perfectly ... I love the concept!!

[Mary Kay]

Thanks for sharing rpage ---How did you attach the 1" PVC that the 1/2 slides into - to the frame?

Mary Kay

[rpage]

Thanks for sharing rpage ---How did you attach the 1" PVC that the 1/2 slides into - to the frame?

Mary Kay

1" pipe strap. one at the top and one at the bottom of the 1" PVC. my blog shows a better picture of this. and here is the picture off lowes site of the strap...

[Mary Kay]

Wow! Pics and everything! Thanks!

I use those all the time around our yard. and I was actually going to use mine (without the 1 " pvc) to slide the 1/2 " PVC hoops into! Why couldn't you have just used those without the 1 " pvc? Hmmm, maybe they would help stabilize the hoops?

But I decided to not use a frame --didn't do raised beds and due to a lack of time, put 18" pieces of rebar at angles on either side of my kale==then hooped the PVC to fit into it. I ran a board across the top with holes in it where the pvc went through them ---as support for them to not slide sideways and to hold the top up under heavy snow.

You may want to consider taking a board with holes in it for the same reason. It really came in handy when the snow piled up - so that the snow doesn't cave in the plastic between the hoops.

I'm not as good as you though!! I don't have any pics! Sorry!

I'm in Ohio and I got fresh kale all winter. Up late because I just finished making three diff't sauces to make kale chips! The kale is starting to bolt, so I have to use it up!

Thanks again for sharing.

Mary Kay

[rpage]

kale all winter... nice! there is hope for me then. here in western PA we have a serious lack of sun year round. truly it is bad. I think we have the lowest amount of sunny days in the state.

I will attach a pic here of the tubes. I had to use them because they are on the inside of the frame with the soil. My hoops will have a support that comes up the side of the hoop about 2/3rds and run the length of the bed. there will be one on each side so I think it will work ok. It is all a big experiment anyway, I will no doubt learn :)

[Mary Kay]

Aha! I see! You use rather long pieces of the 1" PVC and this will keep the the hoops from rocking! Probably a little more stable than just using the two pieces of /metal strapping. the other advantage to using the 1" PVC with the strapping is that you could easily slide the hoops in and out. I like that!

So, in that case, you probably wouldn't need the holes IN the wood to keep the hoops from rocking side-to-side.

However, if you're going to use them for kale in the winter, a board across the top that you could wire on or something, will help keep the plastic from sagging with heavy snow.

There was a hoop house guy on YouTube, who used a piece of plywood cut like an arch (solid) on each end of his too. He bought a vent that opens automatically if the temp gets over 50 F (I think? that's what it was). Looked like a good idea, but since mine is only on during the winter, I didn't need it.

Last year, I left the plastic on too long and my kale really bolted quickly. This year, I was prompt at taking it off before it got warm, and it still bolted, but not quite as quickly as when I spaced out .

Just curious why you're doing a hoop house this time of year?

Oh. One other thing! Have you ever heard of remay? A hoop house this time of year is especially good for broccoli --covered with one layer of remay to keep out those easily hidden green caterpillars. Remay lets the sun in, but not the bugs.

But I don't bother...LOL. Just thought I'd let you know!

Also, I hope that's not pressure-treated lumber! Last I knew, it shouldn't be anywhere near a garden. Leaches bad stuff. But IDK, maybe they've reformulated it...I heard they've taken out the arsenic...but have not kept up with it.

Mary Kay

[lil fairy z girl]

like the pics. we have recently moved and the garden is something in need! We were thinking of doing raised beds too ...

lil fairy z
~*~*~*

[rpage]

like the pics. we have recently moved and the garden is something in need! We were thinking of doing raised beds too ...

lil fairy z
~*~*~*

Thanks! We are already talking about more for next season. Our garden is growing like crazy. Weather has been pretty good for growing, just enough ran and sun. Some would say to much rain but wow, I have a forest of tomato plants :) and the broccolli looks like a bush! this is so much fun!

[big foot marty]

Building new beds and building the UP ( lasgana garden style)I have "planted" tubes to hold my PVC pipes for the bed cover for the one plot I will grow greens in all winter and Broccoli cabbage in spring.

Will send pics later

[shasha]

Glad you enjoyed it snappy. I love to see photos of other, and share photos of my own kid beds (http://incredibeds.com/kids-beds.html). At first it seemed tricky, but I got used to it quick, and their is nothing to it.