Raised Herb Garden for Karen

[madamos]

Karens smile says you did good.

 

[wmonroe]

Nice job. How did you choose the height for the raised herb bed section? Just kept it the same as the compost bins? My wife also wants a raised herb garden beside our existing garden and my plan was to outline it with RR ties and go two high.

 

[EddieWalker]

3ft is counter height and a natural for working on anything. As you can see in the picture, she is very comfortable starting those screws at that height.

Eddie

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Nice job, and mitered corners...fancy

My wife has a several raised beds for herbs(started with one). Currently we have ones of those barrels that can be turned for her compost. However I have plans for something very similar to what you built.

My advice is go ahead and start planning for a couple more herb beds:laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

Karen and I have been planning a garden for a few months now. I had my dad clear an acre of land next to my house of every tree. I spend a few hours on the dozer roughing it out and need to spend a few more to get it right. One of the things Karen wants in the garden is a raised bed for herbs. She also wants to compost. She said that we need three bays for composting, so we can have it at different levels. I just agree and build what she wants. Each compost bay will be 3ft wide x 3ft deep x 3ft tall. The herb garden continues from the compost area 20 feet.

This is what we got done this afternoon.

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Eddie

Nice job. I've had mixed success with boards on the outside when there is a lot of dirt behind them. By mixed success, I mean it lasted 10 years before repairs were in order. I think it would have gone way longer if I'd have put the boards on the inside. However, with that being said, I'm suspecting you have a much better knowledge of fasteners and probably used the correct screws for the application. I may have used screws that were too skinny, so they pulled out of the posts easier. (hey, I'm an untrained amateur! :confused3. A tall pile of dirt with air on a few sides, even with boards, tends to dry out easier, so we water it more, so it weighs more, so it pushes harder. Freeze and thaw (which might not be a problem for you) will put additional pressure. If a problem arises, you can always put boards on the outside with carriage bolts through the posts in a decade or two! :laughing:

 

[EddieWalker]

I just used regular 3 inch deck screws, so maybe I'll need to upgrade that.

We finished the compost bins this weekend. Now we will wait a month or so, then seal the inside of the wood where the dirt goes, and paint the outside.



Eddie

 

[wmonroe]

Looks good.

 

[MossRoad]

I just used regular 3 inch deck screws, so maybe I'll need to upgrade that.

We finished the compost bins this weekend. Now we will wait a month or so, then seal the inside of the wood where the dirt goes, and paint the outside.

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Eddie

Nice! The Cadillac of composters. :laughing: Going to make some brown gold for the veggies. :thumbsup:

 

[jonnyc1999]

wow, looks great Eddie! I wish I made enough compost to justify having a snazzy bin like that!

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I just used regular 3 inch deck screws, so maybe I'll need to upgrade that.

We finished the compost bins this weekend. Now we will wait a month or so, then seal the inside of the wood where the dirt goes, and paint the outside.

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Eddie

Very impressive work! What kind of wood did you use? Are you painting it for esthetics or to protect it from weathering? How do you plan on processing your compost? Do you have a shredder/chipper? I know that it's possible to make finished compost in a matter of a few weeks, provided you reduce the size of the material with, say a mower, keep it watered and add fertilizer. My compost is more of a disposal bin for old tomato and pepper plants and kitchen slop. Keeps the neighbor cats interested, but takes a couple years to decompose.

Sorry for the excess commentary.