(Music Playing)
Living in the city, you can never be to sure what is in the soil.
Having raise beds allows you to control what is goes into the soil, into the vegetables and into your body.
I cover this whole area with the 3-inch layer of grabble and placed the raise beds on top. I added concrete pavers to finish it off.
I think the whole design fit into the urban landscape beautiful.
Every fall, I feel my raise beds with fallen leaves and grass clippings from around the neighborhood and allow them to compose.
Throughout the winter, I rotate my livestock from bed to bed.
Because my raise beds are consistent in size, the cages fit perfectly in every bed.
I place plastic over the soil. It jumped start the warming process using passive solar energy.
Now because I am using raise beds, I can plant earlier in the season. To help do that, I am going to use a hoop house.
A hoop house is very easy to build and creates the perfect micro environment for your early plantings.
I am using 6 half inch PVC pipes cut at 8 feet. I drill holes every 2 feet on one pipe and I drill one hole at 4 feet on the remaining pieces.
The next step is to assemble the frame.
I am using 1 ½ inch long bolts and wing knots to fasten each pipe to the center ridge pipe. The ridge pipe keeps the hoop house level and stable.
I individually bend the pipes in place and level the hoop frame.
Now, this bed is ready for planting.
Raise beds take a back breaking work out of gardening by bringing the garden to you.
The 4-foot width keeps everything at arms length.
Containing your garden allows you to maximize the growing space you have, but producing greater yields in a smaller area.
Other advantages include good water retention in the soil and better yet, you can never over water because it has great drainage.
For the most part, I find it that I only have to water on hot/dry summer days.
(Music Playing)
