Raised gardening beds....

[Imaexpat2]

Oh yeah, I am doing everything I can. I was thinking about starting some raised beds to start growing assuming that uses store bought soil so I can get my land ready. Ideally I can get a big enough area to provide all of the fruit and veggies I need, year round, canning when I can to keep stock when not in season but still be able to stock pile long term. My goal there is to get enough soil ready as I can, however long it takes, but then start small...maybe a 5x5 area and then as I get it under control, expand it as I go.

That would be awesome. I would suggest though that you do beds no wider than 4 foot unless you have the arms as long as an orangutan so that you can work it from both sides of the bed or harvest as appropriate.

While there are many methods to construct them with the method I prefer the most is the use of cinder bricks. I prefer these for a number of reasons. Number one they will last for ever. Number two if I want to increase the size of a bed its stupid easy with little effort or expense to do so. Third is a very cheap route to go. Fourth, I can move them if I need to, to make better use of the space I have available. Firth they are easy to convert into cold frames to extend your season. I have a couple that I grow strawberries or Spinach in that I put a cold frame on top of the bed and that works out great. I usually stack my cider bricks two high to give me a nice reasonable deep bed to start with. The other thing I like about the cinder bricks is they have 2 holes in the top of every brick used. This is most excellent for growing Herbs or growing some flowers to attract bees to better pollinate my veggies and give me more fruit per a square foot than I otherwise might get.

I cant remember the exact mixture that I used in my best beds but I believe it was 2 bags of cow manure and a bag of compost/humus until the bed was filled. This has given me some very rich soil right out of the starting gate and bumper crops. It seems to be a good solid mix of nutrient rich soil with enough compost in it to keep it from compacting and hold enough moisture to survive the hot Texas summers here with out massive amounts of watering required.

Just a few suggestions...I would recommend.

[omegabrock]

I need to take notes lol. Honestly I'm not sure how the summers are here (central Oklahoma) but I would assume fairly dry as well) I could use te horse manure, but I would need to supplement some stuff in to balance it out...I have a couple reference points on how to do that but not on my phone lol

[James m]

Those blocks are heavy. I purchased some from the local lumber yard a number of years ago. They were the cement ones that I put a grill on. We only had a car at the time so they went in the trunk. The back of the car was a little low after that. It was a v6 dodge.

[Imaexpat2]

Yeah that is a problem for someone without a truck like myself that can haul about 20 at a time. Might be worth while to rent the Home Depot truck and make one haul and be done with it. I have noticed too they come in 2 different weights...one being considerably lighter than the other. They run about 1.47 a piece and if you got a military ID retired or active duty at Home Depot or lowes they will give you a discount of 10%. When I did my first bed I didn't have access to a truck and hauled about 10 a day for several days on my way home from work to get the job done as I had to pass one on the way home everyday anyways.

[Imaexpat2]

I need to take notes lol. Honestly I'm not sure how the summers are here (central Oklahoma) but I would assume fairly dry as well) I could use te horse manure, but I would need to supplement some stuff in to balance it out...I have a couple reference points on how to do that but not on my phone lol

Should be pretty comparable to North Texas where I am at in Denton County Texas. In central Oklahoma you probably have a later frost free date than I and a earlier one than I by a few weeks. Here we are right on the raged edge of whether we get hammered by a surprise late freeze or not than you likely are. But for the most part things should be very similar.

[omegabrock]

So I'm assuming there is a planting timeframe for different seasons...what's the next time to start planting?

[omegabrock]

We are starting to get cold weather...40's I mean. That's cold for me

[Imaexpat2]

So I'm assuming there is a planting timeframe for different seasons...what's the next time to start planting?

I think you have missed the fall planting season for cool weather crops for the most part. If you buy seedlings you might still be able to get in something like Broccoli if you get hot right now! I just barley got in my snow peas in time to sprout, but maybe not early enough to produce much before the cold hits in earnest. The up side is I have had them survive the winter and due to size produce very heavily from March through May before the heat gets the better of them. That's what I am hoping for at the moment. If we have a mild winter again they may produce more or less from December through May.

The next window of opportunity will be happening around March when we typically get the last hard frost. I generally try and have most things sprouted and up to about 12 inches tall by the first week of March so I can put them out mid-late march. You might be about 2 weeks behind me though being further north a bit. I generally plant cooler hardy things such as Spinach, Lettice, Peas first and follow that a couple of weeks later with Tomatoes and melons and such as it warms up a bit more.

Right now I am still getting Tomatoes, Bell Peppers faster than I can use them although that's about to come to a screeching halt. I now have lots of Broccoli, Snow Peas and Spinach going strong.

[omegabrock]

Yeah Even if I had a week or two, there is no way I could be set to go for planting anything by then. I'm hoping I can get some spring planting in and if March is where I'm looking, I might be able to get set up by then. I feel like there is 100 different things I need to do but I guess with raised beds, most of the stuff can be put off (like deciding where I want to plant, setting up the area and focus on getting the soil good) and just focus on the beds. Thanks for the info, I'll ask some locals about weather and stuff