Late Fall>Early Winter Project: 'Raised Bed'

[scott_vt]

This was a 'squeak it in' late fall, long weekend project. The wife requested a raised planting bed to over winter some herbs and to have a place for early spring planting.

The planter had to be portable (broad definition ).
The planter should raise the planting surface to create a more arthritis friendly work place.
Actual size of 'planter bed' was 'to be determined'.....

Disclaimer: Anything I can move with the tractor is considered 'portable'.

I interpreted 'raised bed' to mean 'lift' with tractor.

Don

Hey Don,
Boy thats one heck of a ballast box !

 

[Rob-D]

I don't know how high up you are in Mi. but we're about the 42nd parallel. We get some real bitter winters not much worse then the wind coming off Lake Michigan.

Just a green house will extend our season a month on each side. If you run a hot water heater in your garage you’ll easily keep your bed warm enough.

I know what you mean about that extra few weeks. It’s the difference here between an ok harvest and a bounty especially with the crops that need a longer season. There are some tomato varieties that we like and we seem to be running out every night as fall approaches to cover them with sheets because of a frost threat!

Oh well, I shouldn’t complain, we’ve got sixteen nice acres that we wouldn’t have if I lived further south with the population. We have friends in the South that have to pick ticks off each other after coming in from the garden. We don’t have ticks here or chiggers either. Gee the cold doesn’t seem so bad after all!

 

[Doc_Bob]

Do you move that thing empty or filled with soil
Bob

 

[TBDonnelly]

Do you move that thing empty or filled with soil
Bob

It would depend on how much weight I need to lift with the Front end loader.

Actually, depending on what prized plants the wife has growing, it might need to be moved full of soil.

Don

 

[TBDonnelly]

I remember back in the '50s, my uncle having a hotbed for early planting, and he used an old casement window over it. I bet I could cobble together a fairly nice little greenhouse from the materials in this old shack. It even has 1x12 planks on the outside like barnwood. Now you got me thinkin'....

......and I've always thought 'hot bed' referred to the jalapeno section of the garden.

Don

PS: .....don't forget the pictures!
___________________________________________

I'm also keeping my eyes peeled for some lightly used water bed heating pads. They are geared for moisture & already set up with an adjustable thermostart. Might be just the ticket.

 

[Buckeye_Jim]

Several factors have to be met.
First I'm not sure you need a pump, the natural hot water would rise and circulate the system. The hot water line (from under ground) would enter at the top of the tank and the cold water return would be at the bottom. I think this would create your natural circulation condition.

What you will have to do is run the pipes deep enough to sit where the ground is 55 degrees F all year long. The other thing is to have the diameter of the pipes large enough to keep the tank at the 55 degree temperature.

Actually I've been thinking about making a system of this type in my cold climate to help heat our house in winter and cool in the summer much like a heat pump does.

This poster is refering to a thermosiphon system. A common example would be to place a tank above a fluid type solar panel. In your example, the tank (the source of heat) would need to be lower than coils in your raised bed. Probably simpler would be a 1/16 hp circulator pump controlled by a thermostat in the raised bed. The temperatue might just be about 45 degs F. That way you would try to balance you energy requirements.

I can guess that you might start off in mid March. On days with good sun, but temperatures near freezing, I might guess that the system would run less than 8 to 10 hours per day. Might be 30 days prior to getting to the point when the system would be rarely on. Usage would then be: 30 days x 10 hours x wattage of the heater. Even at this the heating element would not always be on.

Jim

 

[TBDonnelly]

The Raised Bed Planter/Greenhouse/Cold Frame/Hot Bed/Hoophouse update.

I have been researching all the good suggestions. The planter box has been lined with 3" foam insulation acquired from a construction job surplus sale. I'm working jointly on the waterbed electric heating pad and the electric water heater options. The 'infrastructure' is mounted on a 3" aluminum clad foam scrap(see pictures) and will be buried under the surface of the soil to radiate heat upwards. The waterbed heating pad is enroute and will also be mounted flat on the 'infrastructure' piece. This keeps both options open for future development.

All comments/suggestions are welcome....

Don

 

[andrewj]

If you take a run at the gate you'll never have to worry about that little problem again.

you guys are hilarious!

 

[TBDonnelly]

Today the waterbed heating mats arrived. It's getting dark by 5 p.m. and there's rain predicted this evening and all day tomorrow and with s-n-o-w predicted for the following day, there's no time to spare.

The large white piece of 'infrastructure' was installed in its permanent place and then the two waterbed heater pads were laid in place. I used an old waterbed-bag to slide over the heating pads for some additional protection.

Don

 

[TBDonnelly]

With a rain storm moving in from the west and darkness upon us, I called in some heavy equipment to move dirt from the compost area to the planter bed. The top soil I used was from this summers grass clipping harvest........and now it's rich black gold.

The first picture is the heavy equipment doin' their 'thing'. I parked my tractor in front for size comparison.

The second picture is the finished product.

Don