New Beds finally done

The last few days I've been frantically working to get the garden
reconfigured the way that I have been planning for two years. The hard
part is finding the time to do it while the weather cooperates. Our
previous setup consisted of 1-20'x4' bed on the North side running East
and West and 3-8'x4' bed to the South running North and South. I took
up the 3-8' beds and built 3 new 20'x4' beds in their place running East
to West. Our previous setup was 176 sq ft and the new setup we now
have 320 sq ft in almost the same space. I have 2 ft isles between each
bed for access.

For each new bed I first marked off the plot and did an initial till to
break up the ground. Then to each bed I added the dirt from one of the
old beds, two wheel barrows full of compost, and two 3.8 cu ft bails of
peat moss. I then sprinkled on lime and fertilizer, tilled that in and
built the bed frames using 2"X10"s.

I've got to figure out a way to keep the chickens from scattering my hard work all over the yard and eating my greens.
The top pic is the old configuration and the bottom beds are what I finished today before the rain started.

Wow, Richard!

That new set up is going to give you so much more room and now you could put up a 20 ft trellis or two, depending on your crops.

Since I am chicken ignorant, would a fence around the garden take care of them scratching in the garden and eating those new plants? Looks like you had a fence around the old configuration, did it work before?

Great job. Keep us posted.

Furbalsmom wrote:Since I am chicken ignorant, would a fence around the garden take care of them scratching in the garden and eating those new plants? Looks like you had a fence around the old configuration, did it work before?

Thanks so much. Looking forward to finish getting it planted.

It worked great, but I am trying to come up with something that looks better and works as good.

so tell me what kind of greenhouse,hoophouse do you have in the background, looks awesome

That is really impressive, good job

Awesome...

Thanks again. It is basically a hoop-house that I tilted on it's side so I could get more space along the sides. It's where we keep our aquaponics system. I have more pics on our blog if you want to take a look at it. It is
www.green-cityzen.com

So sick! Just crazy sick! What an amazing plot! I can't wait to see it growing. How the heck you gonna put a grid on all that???

I hope I don't get shunned for saying this, but I haven't used the grid in over a decade. We use the outside beds to grow bulk stuff so, for me, it is easier to mix in stuff 4x4 or 4x8 at a time rather than 1 SQF at a time.

ribarr4 wrote:I hope I don't get shunned for saying this, but I haven't used the grid in over a decade. We use the outside beds to grow bulk stuff so, for me, it is easier to mix in stuff 4x4 or 4x8 at a time rather than 1 SQF at a time.

I was only being sarcastic. But, now since you admit it.....lol.....NO SOUP FOR YOU! j/k. I do think that garden is super impressive.

NICE!!!! I'm jealous!

What a nice neat job!! Looks really nice. I have a question about your house What kind of fish do you have in there and how long does it take them to grow if they are for eating? I love that idea !!! My husband has looked at doing that before. Just a matter of what to do first.
Ha-v-v
P.S. I found the part of your blog discussing the fish, what kind and how much !! that is totally exciting.

Outstanding job. I trust you will be filling the space between the boxes with some walkway material since that mower/tractor won' fit. I salivate over your setup.

Ha-v-v wrote:What a nice neat job!! Looks really nice. I have a question about your house What kind of fish do you have in there and how long does it take them to grow if they are for eating? I love that idea !!! My husband has looked at doing that before. Just a matter of what to do first.
Ha-v-v
P.S. I found the part of your blog discussing the fish, what kind and how much !! that is totally exciting.

We are growing 25 catfish and 60 tilapia. Catfish take 12 months to get up to 1lb. Tilapia are supposed to take 6 months, but it takes us about 8 months and we have had about 16 in there for a year and are now getting up to weight. We are trying to get them up to 1 1/4lbs this year. I started with a manual for "Barrelponics" that shows step by step instructions for building a small training system. It will give you alot of background info as well. Just google it.

westie42 wrote:Outstanding job. I trust you will be filling the space between the boxes with some walkway material since that mower/tractor won' fit. I salivate over your setup.

Thanks, I need to. I keep slipping around all over the place, but I can't decide what to use.

We are growing 25 catfish and 60 tilapia. Catfish take 12 months to get
up to 1lb. Tilapia are supposed to take 6 months, but it takes us
about 8 months and we have had about 16 in there for a year and are now
getting up to weight. We are trying to get them up to 1 1/4lbs this
year. I started with a manual for "Barrelponics" that shows step by
step instructions for building a small training system. It will give
you alot of background info as well. Just google it.

Thank you for all the information ! I found the page you had with the how to and diys. I enjoyed reading your site, you and your family has done a nice job. Google is my friend
Ha-v-v

Took some pics today of the beds and thought I would post them. We love the new beds and the daily bounty they provide our family. I was worried about the amount of water they would require, but this spring we have been getting a tone of rain so that hasn't been really tested yet.