Constructing Raised Bed Frame

I want to make the raised beds as close to 1'/30cm deep as possible. Mel Bartholomew, author of The Square Foot Garden claims a 6"/15cm depth of soil is OK. I think 1'/30cm is required. Therefore, my choice of lumber was 2" x 12"/ 50mm x 30cm boards.

The finished dimensions of the beds will be 4' x 4'/ 1.2m x 1.2m. There were only two lengths of 2x12s available at my home improvement store, 12' long and 16' long. I didn't want to have any waste but that wasn't possible with only those two lengths available. I calculated the most efficient purchase to be two 2" x 12" x 16'/ 50mm x 30cm x 4.9m and one 2" x 12" x 12'/ 50mm x 30cm x 3.6m for the sides. Adding one 2" x 4" x 8'/ 50mm x 101 x 1.4m board to connect the corners.

I had the boards cut at the home improvement store in order that they fit into the car. The 16' 2x12s were cut into four 4'6"/1.37m, two 4'/1.2m and two 3'/.9m lengths. The 12' 2x12 was cut into four 4'/1.2m lengths. The 8' 2x4 was cut into eight 1'/30cm lengths. The 3'/.9m lengths of 2x12s will not be used and are therefore, waste.

When you are buying the lumber choose the straightest boards with as few knots, checks and cracks as you can find. This is not absolutely imperative but will get you the best product and keep the splitting on the ends to a minimum.

The first task is to check the ends of the boards for squareness. To do that use a framing square. The one in the photograph is a 2'/ 31cm square. The reason to check is that the saw may not have been set up correctly. If it was not, the ends will be out of square. Out of square ends will make construction more difficult. You can see in the above photograph the end is square. 

Next task was to screw one 1' length of 2x4 to each end of the same side of the 4' 2x12s. I used three 2-1/2" exterior deck screws to attach each 2x4 length.

To keep the end splitting to a minimum place the screws in the above pattern. The top and bottom screws are spaced about 1-1/2"-2" from the top and bottom of the 2x12. If the screws are placed closer to the edges they will probably split the 2x12 reducing the holding power and stability of the joint. Place the middle screw to the inside of the 2x4, as you can see in the above photograph. If the three screws were placed inline with each other, the 2x4 may split from end to end if you kept the screws inline. If the 2x4 split in half, it would need to be replaced.

Attach all the 2x4s to all the 4' 2x12s completing that part of the construction.

Next task was to screw the 4'6" lengths to the 4' lengths. So why are there 4' and 4'6" lengths when the frames are 4' square, you ask? Well, I will explain. If all the lengths were 4' long, only the inside edges of the ends would touch. There would be no overlap so the two boards can be fastened. 

Then you may ask, if the boards are a nominal 2" thick, actually 1-1/2" thick, why didn't I cut the other sides at 4' 3"? Well, here is the answer. End grain does not hold nails or screws well. The fasteners would just pull out of the ends. So, increase the lengths of the sides by 6" or 4x the 1-1/2" thickness of the boards and you can fasten the sides into the 1' lengths of 2x4s I fastened to the ends of the 4' lengths. Get the idea?

Next step is to fasten the corners. Stack several of the 4' lengths atop each other and then stand one of the 4' lengths up right next to the stack. This will help keep the upright 4' length standing upright. Then bring one of the 4'6" lengths to meet at one of the corners.

This is what the corner will look like. You can see that if the surface on which you are working is level and flat the corner will come together squarely. If not you will need to shim one of the sides to the corner meets squarely. You can see the end of the 4'6" length is already cracked. A screw placed near that crack will weaken the joint. Be careful of the screw placement.

So now is the time to screw the two boards together. If the screws are placed too close to the end of the board they will split it. Start the screws in from the end more than the thickness of the 2x4 on the 4' length and place the screws at a shallow angle. An angle that will go into the 2x4 but not exit the 2x4.

Get the picture?

Originally I wasn't going to paint the frames. But, after speaking with a few friends and my wife, I decided to paint them. Start with an exterior undercoat. Make sure to get paint on every bit of board that can be reached with the roller and then use a brush to get in even tighter crevices. 

Still there were places that had gaps. Gaps that needed caulking. Fill the gaps with paintable caulk before applying the finish coat. Two finish coats, if necessary.

To be continued ...

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Taste of Garden Harvest

The best producers measured by weight have been reported. Now it's time to talk about taste.

Since the majority of plants in the square foot garden were tomatoes, that is where I will start. Here is my list, starting with the best taste.

1. Black Krim
2. Mr. Stripey
3. German Johnson
4. Super Sweet 100
5. Husky Cherry
6. Big Boy
7. Early Girl
8. Chocolate Cherry

The first three tomatoes are heirloom varieties. The taste of all the heirloom tomatoes far exceeded the taste of the hybrids, except for the Super Sweet. The Super Sweet were just delightful, small, sweet with just enough acid to say tomato. The taste of the Husky Cherry was good but the thick skin detracted a great deal from the eating experience. The Big Boy and Early Girl were just pedestrian compared to the heirlooms. Compared to tomatoes available in supermarkets these two were much better as was their texture. Probably because they were vine ripened. I had great expectations for the Chocolate Cherry. Thinking that they would taste somewhat like the Black Krim because of their similar color, they fell short of my target.

The cucumbers had good taste and very few seeds. There was quite a bit of flesh compared to seeds. The cucumbers were firm and great raw in salads.

The bell peppers were crisp with good taste but there just weren't many of them. The cayenne peppers were productive for one plant but they were not spicy. At least not as spicy as I thought they would be.

The green beans had a strong taste. Especially when eaten raw in a tossed salad. They were good when boiled or steamed.

The potatoes, as small as they were, tasted quit good and very fresh. I will adjust the method of growing them next year with hope that they will grow larger.

In the early growing season the snow peas were very sweet and much fresher and smaller than if bought in the supermarket.

Even though the lettuce had a slow start the taste was delightful.

After evaluating the fruits and vegetables from the garden in 2012, I have decided which will return in 2013. And the winners are, in order of priority -

1. Super Sweet 100
2. Black Krim
3. Mr. Stripey
4. German Johnson
5. Snow Peas
6. Loose Leaf Lettuce
7. Burpee Burpless Beauty Cucumber
8. Russett Potato
9. Yukon Gold Potato
10. Red Norland Potato

Planning of the square foot garden for 2013 has begun.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Square Foot Garden - Season Yield Totals

From the very start of the gardening season 2012, I weighed and recorded the yield from my square foot garden. All the entries are below on the spreadsheet.

The top three producing vegetables in the garden by weight were:

1. Cucumber - 3835g / 7.85lbs.
2. Super Sweet 100 Tomato - 30g / 6.85lbs.
3. Husky Cherry Tomato - 3099g / 6.34lbs.

The two patio type tomatoes were planted in mid-May and produced fruit steadily from mid-June through late September. The cucumbers were planted in early June and harvesting started in the third week of August. Once they started to produce, it was like a cucumber explosion.

The total weight for the full size tomatoes was 9022g /19.89lbs. The full size tomatoes were, as usual, late to harvest. There were a few that ripened in mid-July but most were harvested in mid-August.

There were a few bell peppers of orange and red and dozens of cayenne peppers harvested. All the peppers weighed in at 1371g / 3.2lbs.

Lettuce amounted to 805g / 1.77lbs.

Snow Peas totaled 321g / 0.71lbs.

Although two squares were planted with four melon plants, no fruit materialized.

Several varieties of potatoes were planted in two towers. Only three varieties produced potatoes.

Yukon Gold - 237g /0.48lbs

Russet - 418g / 0.88lbs

Red Norland - 376g 0.77lbs

Potato total - 1037g / 2.27lbs.

Not a great total and no where near my expectation.

Now can I get a drum roll, please?

The 2012 fruit and vegetable total weight harvested from the 4' /1.2m x 4' /1.2m plot, two potato towers and one pot containing the Chocolate Cherry tomatoes was 23.323 kilosgrams / 48.39lbs. (Crash a cymbal, here, please!) Not a bad amount for the small space.

However, the plot could have produced much more. If I had used the plot to its fullest potential. For there were several 1' squares that went unplanted the whole season and several other squares that were fallow for some of the season. Plus the melons needed something I wasn't giving them.

One of the reasons for not utilizing the plot to its fullest was the heat. I just didn't want to go out into the high temperatures this summer. Maybe its because I am old. Maybe its because I am lazy or disorganized. For what ever reason I just didn't get it done in the garden this year.

I did, however, enjoy beautiful home grown organic tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, snow peas, cucumbers and potatoes. As for the garden's potential? 

Just wait until next year! There is always next year.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Summer's Garden Gone - Recipes Needed

The last day of summer and the plants in the square foot garden had just about given all they could. Many of the leaves were yellow or brown and the fruits were very slow to ripen. The daytime temperatures were fluctuating between 68ºF/20ºC and 85ºF/30ºC, the night time temperatures dipped as low as 51ºF/10ºC. Not much more ripening was going to happen this year.

It was actually a couple of days past the last day of summer when I cut down all of the plants in the square foot garden. There were already signs of cold temperature damage.

There were some ripe fruits.

and even more immature fruits.

Once the produce was weighed and put into a bowl, it looked like this.

Above you see Mr. Stripey, German Johnson, Big Beef, Early Girl, Husky Cherry, Chocolate Cherry, Super Sweet 100 and some green volunteer grape tomatoes. There are also Cayenne, Red Bell and Orange Bell peppers along with cucumbers and two green beans.

I have been weighing all the square foot garden produce since first I planted a seed. I will post the graphic once I have it ready. For now I present some figures from just this one harvest.

Total weight of ripe fruit was 2187g / 4.8lbs. The immature fruit weighed 2889g / 6.4lbs. for a grand total weight of 5076g / 11.2lbs. 

The ripe fruits will go into salads, grilled cheese with tomato sprinkled with oregano sandwiches, omelettes and fritattas. I am not sure what to do with the immature fruits. I guess, what I need are recipes for fried green tomatoes, green tomato relish and the like. Maybe a mixed pickle would be good? If you have favorite recipes for green tomatoes and or cucumbers, please leave a comment so I can get to work.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Mid-September Harvest

I picked more fruit from the vines today and a beautiful day it was. High temperature was 81ºF/27ºC with mostly sunny skies. Night before the temperature dipped to 61ºF/15ºC. For tomato ripening, the daytime temperature was great, overnight temperature is low and will retard or stop ripening. Tomato harvesting will not last much longer. 

Above you see cucumber, cayenne peppers, Big Beef, Super Sweet and Husky Cherry tomatoes. I also harvested two Early Girl tomatoes.

I have been recording the weights of all the garden's produce since planting the first seeds back in March. I was and am curious to see just how much a 4' x 4' garden will produce and which were the most prolific plants. I will put up some charts once harvesting has ended. In the mean time, I will enjoy eating the harvest.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

September Embraces the Garden

September embraces the garden. Autumn is but a fortnight away. The plants have grown tall. The vines climb and the tomatoes tied to the remesh. The potatoes are eager to be freed from their cages.

The main square foot garden is 4'x4'/1.2m square with two potato towers nearby.

Most of the summer has been dry, very little rainfall. Now, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac are passing over.

 Wet ripe Super Sweet Tomatoes are ready for their sacrifice.

Leaves are beginning to turn yellow and wither. The reaper stands in the shadows. 

Only to wait for Persephone's return.

Soon Demeter begins to wail.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Ripening Continues

Only a few days remain in August and only one month remains 'til the first day of Autumn. As the evening temperatures dip below 70ºF/21º the tomatoes will struggle to ripen. It won't be long before I will be looking forward to next summer's garden tomatoes.

I harvested the lot above on 29August. In the bowl are Black Krim,  Husky Cherry, Super Sweet, Early Girl and a mystery yellow tomatoes, along with a cucumber, green bush beans and one cayenne pepper.

The total weight of all the produce was 6.5lbs/2957g. The largest total was in Early Girl tomatoes weighing in at 2.4lbs/1101g.

A few cucumbers remain to ripen as well as many Husky Cherry and Super Sweet tomatoes.




The potato towers need to open, as well. A Super Sweet tomato was planted atop one of the towers and a Husky Cherry tomato atop the other tower. I don't think I will do that again. Because of the tomatoes planted atop the towers, I must either wait until the tomatoes are finished producing with the potatoes possibly being ruined or open the towers now and the tomatoes will be ruined. I will decide soon which I will do with only the hope that the potatoes will be in eating condition when I do open the towers. With Autumn approaching and cool evening temperatures, the decision will soon be made.

I never did get my third planting into the ground. I will blame that on the hot weather. No broccoli, cabbage, radishes, carrots or lettuce to harvest. Laziness had something to do with it, too.

Of course, planning of next season's garden will begin soon enough. Enlarging and raising the bed is a main consideration, at the moment.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved