So, I built this raised planter thingamabob.

[Diggin It]

My ground is junk. My dirt ain't worth squat. Mostly rock and clay. A few months back, I dug up some hedges and Cedars that had been in for 15 years or more. None had tap roots, nothing but surface roots. County road crew pushed over a tree for me while they were widening the road. Thirty foot tree, no taps root. They just can't get down trough the red rock gravel. Plus, what dirt there is tends to be 'too sweet' for acid loving plants like blueberries.

I like blueberries. Tried to grow them a few times and the plants died. Tried again last year in a different place and they GREW!!!! I got a handful of berries for the first time ever!!!

So, I decided to try this planter thing along a sidewalk near the place they grew last year since they had to be moved for another project. Now I need to find stuff to fill it with. I placed a couple of plant ring type things to get them in some decent (store bought) dirt to get them started before spring. I don't have enough decent dirt to fill it and I ain't buying that much in bags. Not a big enough volume to get a truck or trailer load though.

Guess I need to make dirt. Started with some left over leaves from last fall and some peat moss. Will add more of those, plus grass clippings. All coffee grounds will go in there too. I have a couple of areas I can dig some dirt from, but I don't want to dig enough to leave holes to fill. I'll also be adding some sawdust ... seems to be some debate about that on the web gardening sites, but the consensus seems to be it will work for acid loving plants.

What I'm after is to create a sort of compost pile within the raised planter. Soil amendments like acidifiers will be necessary as well as fertilizers.

 

[oosik]

Sounds like you are well on your way. I've tried grapes around here. Just too many critters found that they like grapes also. Even the grape leaves. Three years and all I had was dead grape stems/trunks. How do you plan to keep the "blueberry thieves" away from your hard earned crops?

The wife and I made two round planters. Both around three feet in diameter. I plant squash - acorn & butternut - in them.

Surprise, surprise - nothing seems to like the squash plants or the squash. I'll get 35-40 every fall.

 

[Tinhack]

Sounds like a lot of work for dirt. But I guess you're young and can do stuff like that.

I bet if everyone here sent you a zip-lock back of soil, you might get enough for planters. Me, I'd order a load of top soil for a head start. A 5-yard load isn't that big and you'll go through it in no time. You might even start growing flowers. :laughing:

 

[Budweiser John]

No organic material ever leaves my farm. It doesn’t take long to make a difference in soil quality by continuing to add organic material.
Last fall the guy who rents 40 acres of my tillable ground planted Dicon Radishes as a cover crop. They are left in the ground to decompose and corn will be no till planted next spring. The radish tubers are amazing, about 3” in diameter and 18” long. I have no idea how much organic matter will be added to the ground but it would have to be hundreds of tons.
Now that the weather is below freezing the deer have discovered them and it is not uncommon to see 30 or 40 head chowing down every evening

B. John

 

[Diggin It]

How do you plan to keep the "blueberry thieves" away from your hard earned crops?

Part of the reason for the raised bed is to keep the rabbits out. Sides are about 12" on one side and close to 24 on the other due to the ground slope. I'm rigging it up with chain link fence rail driven into the ground so I can insert pipes and rig netting once the berries come on. It'll be open while in bloom for the bees to work, then get netted off later to protect against the birds and deer.

Me, I'd order a load of top soil for a head start. A 5-yard load isn't that big and you'll go through it in no time.

I may still do that since I want to rework the front lawn. Spreading top soil over the red rock gravel would help .

No organic material ever leaves my farm. It doesn’t take long to make a difference in soil quality by continuing to add organic material.

Not here either. Leaves and grass clippings all go to use when I need them. Smaller brush gets piled for critter habitat, bigger brush gets burned which leaves ash I can use in some places.

 

[/pine]

...My ground is junk. My dirt ain't worth squat. Mostly rock and clay. A few months back, I dug up some hedges and Cedars that had been in for 15 years or more. None had tap roots, nothing but surface roots. County road crew pushed over a tree for me while they were widening the road. Thirty foot tree, no taps root....

This is more of an indication of a lack of moisture and or ground water than just hard, rocky soil etc...Roots have been known to crack and grow through several inches of concrete...Also many species of trees and plants do not produce tap roots...regardless of the type of root system there main purpose is to supply moisture and nutrients they get the nutrients via the moisture that is what they seek...

 

[chim]

................................What I'm after is to create a sort of compost pile within the raised planter. Soil amendments like acidifiers will be necessary as well as fertilizers.

Depends on where you live, this might work:

Turning human bodies into compost works, a small trial suggests | Science News

........................ How do you plan to keep the "blueberry thieves" away from your hard earned crops?............................

Let them know where the compost came from

 

[oosik]

Diggin It - so your netting will keep the deer, birds & rabbits away. You don't have chipmunks, mice and squirrels? Then - what about raccoons & weasels.

The raised beds should keep the pocket gophers away from the tender young roots.

It's no wonder that Adam & Eve ate apples in the Garden of Eden. The raccoons couldn't get out the skinny limbs at the apples. It was all that was left out of the Garden after all the critters got done.

 

[Diggin It]

This is more of an indication of a lack of moisture and or ground water than just hard, rocky soil etc....

Last four years have all been 'excess rainfall'. No lack of moisture, just the ground is so hard, nothing can penetrate. A full sized trackhoe would almost stand on the nose trying to get down deep enough for a water line when the county ran it. Only the top few inches are usable. Below there is had packed red rock gravel. This hill probably has more value as a gravel pit than home site.

You don't have chipmunks, mice and squirrels? Then - what about raccoons & weasels.

Mice, coons and squirrels, plus a few other things like possums and skunks

Net will be more like chicken wire, so not much should get through it. Just need to figure out how to make it so I can get in to pick without removing it all every time.

 

[oosik]

My wife, God rest her soul, was about as level headed and reasonable a person as I ever knew. EXCEPT when dealing with her strawberries. She finally had me install small mesh chicken wire over her strawberries. I had to build a large "box" around the bed, "beams" across the box top, lay the mesh screen across the top.

I was surprised - it worked pretty well. Occasionally there would be one chipmunk inside the box. The beastie would go wild when my wife saw it and began shouting. I think after the little fellow would finally get out - it would run out in the bushes and have a heart attack.

The wife would head out to pick strawberries. The dog and I would head out, the other way, to the far reaches of the property.

I put wood strips on one side and nailed the strips down to the box top on that side. The chicken wire was under the wood strips on this side. I put wood strips on the opposite side and stapled the chicken wire to the wood strips. A few rocks kept the "open" side down on the box top on this side. It was kind of Rube Goldberg but if you were careful - it could be opened/shut fairly easily. It made the wife happy and saved her berries.