Weed Whack Awakening

I woke in the morning with a bee in my bonnet after realizing I didn't even like being around the area with our raised garden beds because it was too hard to reach. With spring hitting, the fast growing weeds between the garden gate and beds towered over two feet high, making a 30 foot walk a tough slog.

I heard an Echo. After I dropped my youngest son off at school, I headed back home with a myopic focus on reclaiming by lower garden (the middle garden is heavily mulched. Weeds still flourish but not to the degree of the lower yard. I haven't mulched the lower yard beyond the oak leaves because I'm soft on the naturalized nasturtium that spills over the area. That may change.). I powered up the Echo and felt an unexpected camaraderie with my fellow weed whackers humming in the distance coupled with a strong desire to curse.

In a hour an a half, I made a decent dent in whacking and now happily stroll without impediment to my planter beds. All the better for watering the freshly planted sorrel and arugula transplants.

Making Potato Boxes

I made this potato box for Julia's Valentines day present. She has some spuds that are on the counter just crying to be buried. I used some of the 2x4s left over from the last planter box to build a simple design I've had in my head for a while. The picture on top shows one side with the corner braces flush with the bottom and an inch and a half from the top to allow another section to sit on top (I'll build that later).


Next I nailed the other boards to the sides and ended up with a box. I used galvanized nails so they won't rust too soon.


Since gophers are a big problem for us I nailed quarter inch hardware cloth to the bottom with smaller galvanized nails.


This detail shows the overlap of the hardware cloth and how it is fixed to the bottom of the box with nails.


Here is a picture of the tools - chop saw, a hammer, tape measure. The nails are in the shopping bag.


Here is the ever present quality inspector checking my work.

The way the box will work is that we'll fill it with compost and stick the potatoes in there. When the vines grow out the top we'll add another box on top and fill it with more dirt. After we add a few sections, we'll wait a while and harvest the potatoes inside by taking the frames off.

We'll post more pictures when we plant the potatoes.

New Raised Planter Bed Up and Running

OK, it's been 3 and a half months since I finished building the planter bed but this weekend I finally finished filling it. Things have been a little busy around here and with my work. I try not to worry about it too much but we are behind with our summer planting.

The dirt in the picture above is just plain top soil from an area over by the beehive. I am working on terracing that area a bit more. The soil isn't very rich but we are using it mostly as filler. It took between 20 and 30 wheelbarrows full of dirt to fill the bed to this level. They were all carted from about 120 feet away in a straight line but the hillside and the stairs forced a circuitous route from the source to destination.


Once I got it nearly full I added a wheelbarrow of oak leaf litter. Something in the oak leaves helps keep the clay soil loose. I figure it will break down and work it's way deeper over time.

After that I piled another five or six inches of compost on top. The compost will also work it's way down into the soil over time as we water the plants. With each successive planting we will add a few more inches of compost so the bed will become richer and richer over time.

Here is a handful of the compost up close. You can see eggshells and lots of organic material including worm castings in it.


While piling the finished compost into the bed I found several larvae. I am pretty sure these are about to become crawly backs which then become green fruit beetles. [Update: these are black soldier fly larvae which are beneficial - see the comments for more info] Since they don't pose much of a threat I put them back into the bottom of the compost pile. I figure they'll help the worms and other bugs break it all down.


Finally I planted it with 2 seedlings which were labeled sunflowers but which I believe to be zucchinis. In any case, I am almost positive they aren't sunflowers. I'm not sure what else we'll plant in this bed since it wasn't ready in time for our tomato seedlings but I think we'll plant beans for sure and who knows what else.

Raised Planter Bed Completed

Yesterday I was able to complete the planter bed that I started last week.


In order to keep the gophers out, I tacked hardware cloth (really it's a coarse wire mesh) to the tops of the lowest boards with a staple gun.

I notched the corners of the hardware cloth to go around the posts and trimmed the excess but I made sure to staple the tabs to the post so that a gopher wouldn't be able to push through. I may have gone a little overboard with the number of staples but gophers are determined animals and I figured that adding a few extra staples now beats trying make repairs or beef up the defenses once the bed was complete.

I attached the boards with deck screws this time. I alternated the overlap with each new row of boards to create a more attractive corner.

The bed doesn't match the previous bed but that's ok with us. It is about the same size and pretty close to in line with the first bed. The corners aren't perfect but that just adds character in my opinion. Overall I am happy with the way it came out and the construction technique was much easier than with the previous bed. Now I can't wait to fill it with dirt and compost and get some seeds planted.

More Planter Bed Related Posts

New Raised Planter Bed Started

This weekend I started another planter bed. I wasn't too far off my optimistic estimate of "a week or two" 3 weeks ago. And this time, as we had hoped, we were able to use salvaged wood. (the wood was previously used for a temporary wall in our friend David's gallery - By the way, David Patton Los Angeles is hosting an artist talk tonight with artist Aaron Brewer which looks really interesting)

I started by creating a level spot in line with the first bed where the new bed would be located.

After cutting the lumber to the same size (7'5" was the size that led to the least waste - most boards only needed to be trimmed an inch or two) I attached the lengthwise bottom boards to the posts, then propped each up and then attached with a temporarily attached piece of scrap 2x4 then attached the widthwise lowest boards.


Once I had the 4 posts connected, I tipped the whole thing up on its side while I dug the holes for the posts. For me this is faster and easier than measuring and squaring etc. I set the frame back down into the holes, see how it fits, tip it back up and repeat until it sits the way I want it.

Before filling in the holes I temporarily tacked two of the boards I'll use later on the sides to the tops of the posts lengthwise. This is just to give the structure some rigidity while I fill the holes, staple on the hardware cloth and attach the sides.

The sun went down and it was time to stop but the bed frame was level and the bottom was filled with dirt. When I get back to work on it I'll level out the dirt so that it is even and at a level just below the 2x4's that frame the bottom of the bed. Then I'll staple or nail on the hardware cloth that will keep the gophers out and add the rest of the sides.

More on this project to come. I am excited about the forecast for rain in L.A. this weekend but I half hope it lets up long enough for me to finish this project.

Fall Planting Update

This the latest progress of our fall planting in our large raised bed. In the front row are lettuces which we have been eating almost every day. Behind the lettuce are various kinds of kale (syberian kale across most of the bed and being harvested by our son, and black kale on the far right). Hard to see, but next are some parsley, arugula and we think we planted some cabbage too. In the back are fava beans which are not yet producing beans I think due to a lack of bees to pollinate the flowers. We are still seeing bees here and there but no beans.

We just planted a single two foot row of spinach behind the black kale today where the radishes we harvested were. We also planted carrots in the three remaining wine barrels we hadn't replanted yet. We need to plant more lettuce, many more beans, some broccoli, etc. but need more space first.

We plan to add another planter box within a week or two. I have been moving dirt down to this part of the yard from above to fill the bottom half of the next box. I'd like to build it next weekend and get some more seeds in the ground. I think we have enough compost to cover the top six inches but our most recent pile never really heated up. The Santa Ana winds really dried it out (even with daily watering) right when it was started and I was never able to get it back into gear.

The worms have been doing a great job on the food scraps but they don't break down the sticks the way the hot composting does. I'll have to filter out sticks when we start the new bed. Weeds are coming up all over the yard now so we'll be back to hot composting in a week or two if I can pull some before they start to create seeds.

Winter Planting

The other day, when I posted about a cool planter bed from Australia, I realized that I had never posted the finished pictures of our own raised bed.

We have black and regular kale, various lettuces, radishes parsley and fava beans growing now. In other wine barrel raised beds around the yard we have herbs like basil, mint, more parsley and arugula. We tried cilantro but it got burned in our recent hot spell. I think we have three empty wine barrels right now. We are hoping the heat has passed and we can get on with the winter planting.

I 'd like to make another bed, something like this one, as soon as I can. The thanksgiving break from work may be a good time.

Raised Planter Bed

We have recently planted the bed I built back in the summer with some kale, lettuces, radishes, beans and something else that I am forgetting right now. I want to make another but would prefer to make it with found materials this time. We'll see if I can find some materials before the urge to plant becomes too strong.

Plants in the Ground

My oldest son and I planted this cilantro, mint and black kale while the youngest slept.


I've been obsessed with kale salad as of late and figured growing it myself was the best solution. I confess, I've already eaten leaves off of this small plant. It's growing well despite my raging appetite.

Raised Bed: Almost Done

Just a few finishing touches to go. I wish it had been done months ago but as my father-in-law says, wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which fills up faster.

Today was probably physically the hardest part - digging out the slight slope so that the box will sit level. Yesterday I put the sides on and stapled the hardware cloth to the bottom of the bed to keep the gophers out.


Hopefully we'll be planting next weekend.

Previously on Ramshackle Solid: Raised Planter Bed Progress

Raised Planter Bed Progress

job-site supervisor

We've been planning to build a raised planter bed for months. I wasn't able to finish it this weekend but we are very close.

The bed, when finished, will be 8 x 4 feet and about two and a half feet high. I used 2 x 10's for the sides and 4x4's for the posts. It is made of douglas fir so it will rot though in a few years, but that's how we like it here at Ramshackle Solid - kind of dilapidated, but in a nice way. Once it has completely fallen apart, we may decide we want to change the location or the materials.

I'm always happy when I get to use my Japanese hand saws. This time I used them to finish the cuts made with the skill saw.

The pieces of the box are cut, drilled and half assembled. Next I need to finish assembly, cover the bottom with hardware cloth to keep the gophers out and paint and prep the inside to slow the decay a bit. More to come.