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Raised Beds Revisited

April 18, 2017 By Philip Leave a Comment

When last I talked about my raised bed garden project, you got to witness my garage filled with deconstructed pallets. However, here are the finished product. I have a very short yard and they sit perfectly and inoffensively at the edge, without reducing space dramatically.

The City of Norman have a compost facility and, for ten bucks, I was rewarded with two Ford Ranger truck beds full of well composted compost. I have just built, and will blog about once the herbs and vegetables are putting in an appearance, a strawberry planter. This will necessitate the acquisition of more compost. If I dig it myself, it is free! How civilized.

The upper portion of the photograph features my eighteen-year-old Ford Ranger with 235k miles on the clock. I never worry about using it for anything and, when the deep freeze was stopping others in their tracks, my truck fired-up first time every time.

 The bottom of the frame introduces my polycart. All that I can say is that it was cheap ($19.99) and it only has to do the job until I decide to buy an over-sized industrial manly barrow!

All of the beds got a good foundation of compost and then a mixture of…

Sand…

Peat Moss

And organic garden soil…

The beds were then turned with a gardening fork to blend. Once planted they looked like this . . .

The tomato bed is pre-staked. I know that they are going to get huge!

This is a Sweet 100 cherry tomato and will produce candy-sweet fruit, well into the fall.

This is a variety that has long-ago lost its real name. It goes by the name of “Opal.” Opal is the name of the woman who originally grew it and passed it onto her neighbor. I bought this plant from said neighbor who told me, “I don’t know what on earth it is, but I can tell you that it is the best producing tomato in Norman, Oklahoma!” I will report back later in the growing season.

The large bed is a hodge-podge of plants. There are a couple of Roma Tomatoes that I couldn’t fit anywhere else.  The twine is for the peas and green beans that are sown as seeds in the back of the bed.

Egg plants (Aubergines), Zucchini (Courgettes) and Okra are hanging out with …

Jalapenos and bell peppers.

The herb bed is a work in progress with even a pepper plant that will need to be transplanted soon. Current residents include, but are not limited to…

Sage

Rosemary and Thyme.

The Basil bed also includes some cucumbers. I was craving pickles at the time!

 

Keep checking back and I will let you know how things are progressing.

P.S. A big thank-you to Dawn and Frank, who supplied me with some of the cleanest pallets that I have encountered!

 

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Filed Under: Cooking tools, Ingredients, Misc., Vegan, Vegetarian

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