earth hammer + design: 2013

Spring is fast approaching and if there are any passionate urban farmers out there you know the questions like: what plants to start, how should I amend my soil, is my raised bed big enough, will it get too much/too little sun, have I composted enough.....enough. This is supposed to be fun right?

In this post I am going to illustrate out how I pulled up my old small raised bed and built a "high rise" bed which, if all goes according to plan, produce more and be easier to access.

I ended last year with a pretty successful season with lots of production but this year I felt compelled to make some upgrades, no scratch that, a completely new design and way of thinking. This was my bed at the end of last year.

original bed

I wanted to be able to grow more corn, carrots and deeper rooted plants than before so i decided to construct a 18" high rise bed. Tall enough to accommodate but not too tall to reach a 5' tomato plant without a ladder. I set about developing my ideas.

3d sketch

Then it came time to get started. I removed (and reused later) the existing 2x6 on my existing two beds.

tear out

the old bed gone

I then used a few steel posts from a neighbors old fence to corner out the bed.

layout and start of the new bed

Once the post and the concrete was set I placed the reused 2x6s on the post using Simpson brackets.

modified brakets

Now with was time to trim it out with some cedar planks and lumber I found in my alley while my "helper" told me what to do.

getting pointers from the little man

The last few years I have experimented with different types of trellises for my tomato's and beans. With this new bed I wanted to do something sturdy and maintenance free so I installed 2x4 cedar post 6" off the back wall of the bed so I could plant in climbers in front and behind.

the uprising

I then installed my irrigation (per code of course) then filled it in with a good organic compost soil with a little help from a babbling midget farmer I know.