Ground vs. raised bed?

[Chuck]

No they are practically rootless, and THAT is the problem.
They need the ground rock solid around the roots, really tight.
If you have a lawn roller, that's best for cauli's, or invite your friends to a garden dance.
These buggers NEED compacted soil, or heavy clay.

So is this a case of the less organic matter incorporated into the soil the better? If so there is a large area of my garden that hasn't had anything added for about 4 years. In fact there hasn't been anything grown there except weeds since the drought started

 

[headfullofbees]

So is this a case of the less organic matter incorporated into the soil the better? If so there is a large area of my garden that hasn't had anything added for about 4 years. In fact there hasn't been anything grown there except weeds since the drought started

No. They LOVE organic matter and are heavy feeders, but they don't like loose soil, and they don't like good drainage.
I edited my last post whilst you were replying.

 

[Chuck]

No. They LOVE organic matter and are heavy feeders, but they don't like loose soil, and they don't like good drainage.
I edited my last post whilst you were replying.

No wonder my caulis are a hit or miss proposition. My soil is extremely light, fluffy and airy, not all that different from the texture of potting soil. Maybe this fall I will experiment and plant in my walkways where it is compacted and has never had anything added except nutrient runoff and cedar mulch when I first made the garden. In the soil in my rows you cannot make a mudball nor is there hard clods when I turn it over. Compaction will be difficult no mater if I have a garden dance or not

 

[Pat]

The advantage to raised beds to me would be the avoid the need to kneel and the strain on my back. The floods in Texas did wipe out a lot of the ground gardens.

 

[FountainMan]

Went to a friends house today for his brother's graduation, and saw what a real veggie garden is. He used cinder block and did a continuous garden with center beds. The hollows in the cinder block used for herbs.

Needless to say, he's doing better than I am this year. Going to go to Home Depot and get some pricing on cinder block pallets. I plan to get to work immediately after everything dies back this fall.

 

[JHB]

Those sized blocks are 1.05 each where I live. I amm using them to make raised beds. One of the great advantages to raised beds for me is that I can put wire mesh at the ground level. Gophers are prevalent where I live and the mesh keeps them out of my plants. A secondary advantage is my yard was neglected for a long time by past owners. The dirt is horrible and nothing would grow in it. Raised beds save me from having to dig into rock hard clay.

 

[headfullofbees]

No wonder my caulis are a hit or miss proposition. My soil is extremely light, fluffy and airy, not all that different from the texture of potting soil. Maybe this fall I will experiment and plant in my walkways where it is compacted and has never had anything added except nutrient runoff and cedar mulch when I first made the garden. In the soil in my rows you cannot make a mudball nor is there hard clods when I turn it over. Compaction will be difficult no mater if I have a garden dance or not

Then earth them up. Put bricks around them. Anything heavy to stop wind rock.

 

[DeborahJane]

That certainly is an impressive layout. Love that the hollows are used to grow herbs. I'm with you FountainMan. I intend checking out the cinder blocks as well.

 

[KJ Jabbo]

This is an older thread, but I caught that you are wanting to dismantle and be able to move the beds easily. We've been growing both in raised beds and directly in the ground, depending on the crop for years. There are benefits to each, but what has really helped was using beds that were of a flexible design. You can see what we did here: http://www.greatgardengear.com/movable-raised-beds-a-classic-design/

They aren't hard to build and are quite cost effective. Being able to knock them down and shuffle them around has been great!

Happy Planting!

KJ

 

[Corzhens]

I would suggest that you retain the raised beds. We plant our cassava crop on raised beds. That is to protect them from stagnating water due to excessive. Last year we had neglected the crop and the water stayed in the garden for more than 3 days. The cassava plant lost its leaves and had new ones. That means we were back to square one. If we had planted that crop on raised bed then there would be no problem.

 

[FountainMan]

Went to a friends house today for his brother's graduation, and saw what a real veggie garden is. He used cinder block and did a continuous garden with center beds. The hollows in the cinder block used for herbs.View attachment 7076 View attachment 7077

Needless to say, he's doing better than I am this year. Going to go to Home Depot and get some pricing on cinder block pallets. I plan to get to work immediately after everything dies back this fall.

Y'all haven't read my post from June. I'm going to do raised beds using cinder blocks. I'm not planning on planting in the ground anymore. Work to begin in December on the new garden.