My latest garden project has been spurned into action both out of necessity, but also moving into the next phase of aging in place. During the summer there is so much to do, and it all goes from week to week like a circle unending. Not until fall will these jobs slow down. It is a constant rotation of mowing, weed whacking and weeding the gardens... on top of any new projects that transpire. As I get older, I want to have in place systems that can help me to save time, not be so strenuous on the body AND still be productive. Up until now, we have been working on main infrastructures, mainly with the animals and our living space. This year I have decided to start transitioning the garden tasks with setting up new raised garden beds! This project should help me better combat some invasive weeds that have been trying to take over my garden and make the job of maintaining and growing easier.
I absolutely love gardening using the back to Eden and ruth stout methods. I have seen how these 2 methods have transformed the existing dirt into living and breathing soil. Soil that is so rich and loamy and teeming with life. It is an amazing way to build the soil and make it a wonderful producer.
A common problem with raised garden beds is that they drain and dry quicker which requires watering more frequently, compared to in the ground planting. This was one of the first points that Kenny brought up when I told him I was thinking of switching to raised beds. This really got me thinking. I REALLY am not good at finding time to water, especially since we have no water source in the garden, and it needs to be carried. I went to work researching how I could overcome this hurdle using an "off grid" solution. In this past year I learned about building wicking containers and beds. This is a genius idea on creating a garden that can hold water for the roots to tap into, yet not sit in water causing rot. I wrote a blog on building one in the greenhouse earlier this summer. If you missed it, you could find it HERE.
In setting up these new beds, I am taking my experience and gathered information and am adapting my garden bed set up to incorporate both of these methods. I will build the soil by adding layers of organic matter to naturally break down and make a living and breathing soil AND create the bed so that it will hold water.... I have revamped this idea instead of making it a "professional wicking bed" and will tweak it by using materials I have.
A "real" wicking bed is supposed to have an overflow pipe installed at the bottom to keep it from flooding, but I wasn’t too keen on cutting holes into my new garden beds. The next obstacle was gathering materials on the cheap. I really thought about what I could use without spending a lot of money.
I needed something to waterproof the base, something that would hold water. That’s when I had a great idea and solution! I set my sights on finding an old pool liner—I put the word out and found 2! After some careful cutting, I lined the bottom with just enough material to let the water hold the level needed to cover my "reservoir material", then overflow when it gets too high. This way, the plants can reach down for a drink without their drowning and sitting in water.
Now that the waterproof liner was in place, I needed to fill it with a filler that would provide the space to hold the water. For the reservoir material, I wanted to keep things simple, affordable, and easy on the liner. When building this space, materials used can be round washed rocks, blocks, or piping, but I love to repurpose things I already have. One day, we were driving down the road, and I spotted a stash of plastic crates that hold multiple 2-liter soda bottles on the roadside for free. I couldn’t contain my excitement—"I NEED THOSE!" Kenny, with an eye roll, turned the truck around and lectured me on bringing more "garbage" home, but I knew exactly how and where I would use them! They were just what I was looking for and put there for my project! There were about 15 crates, but not enough for the whole project so I kept looking for other materials that could be used. One night Kenny was taking care of some boxes that had thick foam packing in them and instead of throwing them away he thought that maybe they were work well in my beds! They are perfect! Between those crates, some foam packing Kenny saved for me, and a few random pieces of drainage pipe I found, I had the perfect mishmash to cover the space.
After placing them in and getting the space supported, I laid down weed barrier lining the bed. This will separate the soil from the water reservoir below. With everything in place, it’s the perfect setup for my plants to thrive, and all with materials I managed to collect for free!
Next big step is filling the beds with a good material that will begin the new process of building a living soil. I was kind of dreading this job as it is hard to get any machinery into the garden space and maneuvered around and a wheelbarrow would take forever. I managed to back the 4-wheeler and trailer all the way up the garden path and the beds filled way faster than I expected! First layer is a wood chip/dirt and second is a composted dirt. On top of that I will add a nice layer of goat berries and then top of that with cardboard and wood chips. The kids have been happily recruiting and finding worms and putting them in the beds. I will have the garden soil tested to help make sure that it is in balance so that next spring I should be all set to start gardening in a low maintenance space!
It is kind of sad transitioning into this method as I love the look of the mulch in ground garden, but I also am excited to spend less time spinning my wheels, toiling with invasive weeds I cannot control and just get back to enjoying the process. It will be nice to feel a little less stressed in keeping up with all the tasks that require the cycle to keep turning.
By incorporating these methods, I am hoping to lessen the garden workload next year and by setting them up now I should be set to go in the spring. They will be loaded and ready to go!
Picture 1- the pool liner laid in the bottom, on top of the weed barrier. The purpose of this layer is to hold water and keep it from quickly running out.
Picture 2- once the liner is completely laid out and drawn part way up the side, the spacers are set it. The purpose of this space is to allow an area for the water to be but support the upper dirt layer from filling in the space.
Picture 3- Once the spacer is finished, this whole bed gets lined with a weed barrier. The purpose of this is to keep the soil and the space separated so that the space stays intact.
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