Part of a MUCH LARGER farm project but this is one slice of it. Someday when I have a couple of free weeks, I want to use this same technique to build a hideout for MR. T5R or a root cellar of sorts. Or even a small home under a terraced garden on top Day 1 of Transforming the machine shed. Day 2 Day 3 When I pour the concrete floor I am going fill the space between the tin and the boards that will be on there with concrete as well. Will drive 3 piece of rebar welded together in a # pattern and use fiber concrete. Should make a pretty stout 4" thick 36" high wall. Day 4 First section of the terraced raised bed finished. Only 32 more feet to go Top terrace is Sweet Spire, St Johns Wort, Coreopsis and some dahlias. Second terrace the same just ornamental stuff. Bottom terrace is going to be all herbs, mints, sweet basil, Oregano, Sage, Rosemary and Chives. LOL the bench part on the bottom terrace was because I wanted to sit down and take a break and didn't have any place to sit but had the nail gun and plank handy... and thus a bench was born. I like it and am going to widen it out one more board and put it on all the way down. Using a couple sheet of old heavy gauge barn tin for backing. I built the ends with 10 year old post oak planks that were replaced with new ones in the the high tunnel. On the ends I go top to ground with lumber on each terrace. In between the West End and East End I will just build a layer then put the cross lumber, fill and then build the next layer without the lumber going all the way down to ground. The end are the anchors that hold the bulk of the weight/Pressure. When completed it will be 7 feet wide and 40 feet long. Going to do the same thing on the North side but will use more shade tolerant plants on that side. And I still need to take a plank over to wood shop and rip it to make a piece to fill that front gap I have about 3 hours into building this to this point, but had the planks already stacked in the machine shed and a mountain of fill and a mountain of top soil 30 feet away. It makes a pretty good bench to shoot cans and stuff down by the South barn from as well
In this case it builds a 36" wall on the back side of it that is pretty much bullet and blast proof Saves space as well over a typical 36" or 48" wide raised bed, no space between the beds. And cough the wife thought it would be a good use for the old planks and mountains of dirt
I get the shielding application, now you mention it. Still a long reach to the middle bed for picking and weeding. SWMBO has long arms?
Top can be reached from behind, but it and the middle are all low/no maint ornamental stuff and it will have fabric topped with rock so not many weeds.
I see you're putting that little tractor to work .. I like your idea for your planter wall ,, don't forget the finished pics ,,,
It gets put on hold today. Looking like rain tomorrow and for a couple of days. And it is barely not quite dry enough to do some planting today. I am really wanting to get the 2000 remaining tomato plants off the benches in front of my shop! And I finally got my order of another Jersey Knight Asparagus Roots and my 200 horse radish crowns yesterday, so I need to get the raised rows for the asparagus built up and the trench made down the middle for the asparagus. Horse Radish on the other hand I can plant in the swampy part of the property and it would grow, it loves very wet soil. Rare is the year that I can get all my dirt work and planting done by mid June. The shallow aquifer under most of the farm (I hit water at 1-3 feet down year round even on most of the hill tops. So when it rains it takes forever for the top 6-8 inches to dry out enough to work and plant) I am loving that little Kubota I can keep going when it is wet under the surface. The Massey or Oliver both weigh so much they like to break through the surface and create craters. Little 2000 pound kubota zips around right over it with a 500 pound load of dirt in the bucket. When it is dry enough down under the Massey is more efficient since it has a 7 1/2 foot wide and 40" deep bucket can move 1800+ pounds of dirt in one bucket load with it vs the 400-500 with the kubota. Course can't move anything with the Massey when it breaks through and is sunk to the frame. That Massey 285 UK Model is a piece of work a 90 HP tractor that weighs 12,700 pounds.......... and gets stuck on wet concrete Me and the Massey HATE each other but somehow manage to work together.
Apart from the utilitarian bullet / fragmentation /blast protection, better access to sunlight for each level, and as was suggested...ornamentals for the middle...bee pollination attracting plants for preference, covering the flowering seasons of the front and rear sections.
Good to know that you're on my case, and that you have your eyes on me... Other enhancements for the raised garden beds would be to place a water reservoir in the top level...and run percolating tubing along each of the levels to keep the water up to the plants during dry weather.....and hollow out a section of the bed as a hidden cache...you just never know when you might need to hide your tractor porn.
Front section is all herbs sweet basil, sage, mints, chives, rosemary, oregano and thyme. Eventually the Mints and Thyme will take over the ends and be contained to the ends. Although a 36" wide 40' long bed of mints would smell nice. Going to put mostly flowering shrubs like the sweet spire, St Johns Wort, butterfly bushes and Spirea stuff that get in the 4'x4' range on the top level to make a screen and provide shade. Hit the middle with as many perennials as possible that range in the 2-3 foot tall range. Mainly want the lower terrace to be easy to reach and harvest useful stuff. Although I am seriously thinking about doing the middle 30ish foot section of the top in Chocolate Cherry and Juliette Grape tomatoes. Guess knowing what the Machine Shed will ultimately be would help this make more sense as well. It is Going to be the T5R Machine Shed Bar and Grill.
The PFD reference was probably directed at me for cheeking a fellow mod. Mods are such sensitive petals sometimes. Other raised bed mods to consider would be a tubular framework for shade cloth, bird netting, or frost protection, depending on climatic / seasonal needs. Obviously with some modifications. How to make garden shade | Sustainable Gardening Australia
Same here, If and it will the L3901 breaks thru the top soil and hit the clay then if the bucket can't push you back then its stuck like chuck time. Luckily if I can grab a root with the rear tires ,It will come on out !
