O/T Raised Bed Gardens Question

I have some questions about raised beds in a garden. Do you change the soil in them every year? What soils do you use in them, manure soil mix or something else?

Thanks for your input.

John B.

I have and have had 7 or so of them for years now. When I built them I used compost to fill them. I did the compost my self so I know what is in it. I then top them off in the fall or winter with fresh horse manure about every other year.. The first year I did one bed I planted Jalapeno peppers in that bed and had plants 6 foot plus tall and boy did they produce. I do 100% organic is I can

I imagine cow manure would work just as good wouldn't it? No horse manure is available around me.

what did you use to frame your beds with? used rr ties, treated wood or something else. i am interested in starting some but am reluctant to use treated materials due to soil leaching.

What I've seen is RR ties, but I would be worried of the creosote in them. I have some plain old weathered 2x12's that I'm going to use to start with.

I read that untreated 2 x 10s or old cinderblocks work well - you have no worry about the chemicals leaching into the dirt.

how long would western red cedar last in ground contact? i was thinking of buying some 6x8 panels and cut them into panels of 3 boards and laying them length wise. this would give me approx. 36 linear feet 15 inches high. just not sure how long they would last.

My garden is two boxes, 4' X 16' each, made of treated 2 X 12s. Every year I till into each box two or three bags of composted cow manure from Lowe's. I also stir in some leaf compost if I have it.

I don't know if the treated boards are hazardous to my health. If they kill me I'll report back with a heads-up.

The first year my daughter tried raised beds she used untreated 2x6s that were laying around. But the termites found them in a hurry. The next year she used concrete blocks but she said they didn't seem to drain as well.I think maybe she should have turned the bottom ones on their side. When I was a kid we would clean out the stables and horse or cow manure all went on the fields and in the garden, although it does seem like horse manure is preferred over cow. Hmmm. now I'm curious, I'm gonna have to research that.

What has worked for me is cutting Eastern Red Cedar [i:083d464bfe]Juniperus Virginiana [/i:083d464bfe]and Osage Orange and having the mill cut the Cedar 1 inch and Osage 1/2 inch.
The oldest of the beds are 5 year old and holding up well.
I make them 4'wx8' to 12'L x 30"D filled from bottom with 8"leaves and chipped tree pruning,10"60%partialy finished compost+20%cow manure+20%top soil then 12" 50 50 top soil and well finished compost.
I break with conventional wisdom by Standing a 8" preforated cylinder centered in bed every aprox 3 feet. These cylinders are jerry rigged using what I have lying around,example is thin 8" pvc pipe with several 1&1/2" and 2" holes drilled with hole saw. I extend life of pvc top that is exposed uv sunlight by using special pvc primer then top coating with house paint. These cylinders are kept filled with vegetables and weeds pulled from beds,vegetable tops & roots removed while hearvesting,cow manure,kitchen scrapes and other compostabe material. The majority of water gos in these cylinders. I do this to alow airation of the beds. I have a small worm raising set up to give me a supply of casting for pot plants,seed starting and selling a little surplus to keep me in beverage money. I strive to have worms working in the beds yearround. This arrangement replenishes volume lost as the bedding rots.
The soil level drops as plants get taller and season becomes warmer nessitating mulching with wood chips from pruned trees.
I now construct the beds so the lower 6 to 8 inches of one wall can be removed to alow transfering some of lower soil to top once every 2 years more or less as I have time and inclination. It was much easier done when I owned my little trenching hoe but it's a good work out with a shovel now. I grow cereal grains during off seasons not to eat but for benifit to soil and keep bed warmer for the worms. I prefer flipping the soil when time comes to turn the grain under but often till it instead.
Which finaly brings us to my answer about changing soil periodicly. No I don't. I believe the soil would go down hill and might benifit from changing if I did nothing more than top dress. It sounds like more work than it is because the preperations are spread over time rather than thrashing mode 2 times per year.

I add Peat Moss, composted manure (I buy it because we no longer have livestock), and a light sprinkle of general garden fertilizer to mine each year. I just use a shovel to turn the soil over. I only grow flowers in my raised bed, but they do real well.

Last year, I worked in some vermiculite to help it retain moisture better. And topped it with cocoa bean hulls - also to help retain moisture.

Any organic matter you can add in the fall will be fine. Leaves, grass clippings, any sort of manure, composted kitchen waste- anything. It's all worm food. Composted manures are easier to work with, but you'd never take the soil out. You just need to feed the soil.

I'm sure treated can leech a bit, but I really wonder if it could leech enough to cause human health issues. We don't box our beds in. I have a Gravely and I just adjust the plow to throw the dirt and we get instant raised beds. Then in the fall I spread my manure and such and disc the garden. Next year I plow again and get my beds up If I want them, or not.

I don't change it, just add to it.

I started with my existing soil that had been tilled up with lots of organic matter. Leaves, grass clippings,coffee grinds,bedding from the local horse stable etc.

My soil has a lot of clay in it so it doesn't drain well. That's the real advantage to a raised bed. That and it's easier to keep the bermuda grass from creeping in.

The wife and I have used raised beds for over 20 years Some of the boxes are that old. We like the 4x12' double deck boxes for beens. Much easier to harvest. We do rotate crops each year, except for the mators, because of the trellises. We have used treated 2xs, untreated 2xs and tractor tires for beds. We also maintain a sizeable compost pile which I turn about 3 times a year with my Kubota and loader. We throw everything from kitchen waste to paper to carboard, leaves and clippings in it. Gennerally a 200Bu load of cow poo gets added to the pile each spring. Our first anual crop is asparagus.
Loren, the Acg.

Yes cow manure will work just fine also if you compost it well. All I do to compost horse manure it take my loader tractor and push the hay and manure up into a big pile. I then try to flip that pile a few times for about a year. If you can add water to it that helps speed up the composting