So our first year with raised beds were somewhat of a success. We did a test run that year to see how long we could extend the season and planted everything straight from seed to see the results. The second year we decided to see how early we could plant and were going to increase out beds, but we would make them a little more permanent and integrate some hugelkultur via Sepp Holzer. The second week of march we started clearing out our beds.
We decided to move the carrot bed to one of the new beds because they were going to be deeper. So I removed the frame and started raking out the bed.
I found a carrot I had missed the previous fall
A little scraggly, but still good, so you can overwinter root veg in the raised beds as well
I picked up some 1/2 in and 3/4 in cpvc pipe
And several rolls of plastic and some soil to top off the beds with.
I filled the low spots in the beds.
I broke out my chop saw to cut the 3/4 inch pvc
I just spaced the chop saw about 2 feet away from shed to get a rough cut for length.
and proceeded to cut a pile of sleeves
I took my sledge and hammered the pipes into the ground around the perimeter of the beds.
I spaced them every two feet and raked out the soil as I went
I left the half inch pipe the full ten feet and slit then down into the sleeves I had hammered into the ground
To be honest, I would cut the sleeves out (which I did on my other beds). As long as your soil is thawed enough you can just shove the 1/2 pipe right into the ground. The sleeves allow some play back and forth, and if they aren’t driven the same depth, it can throw it off when you put the plastic on
All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space
