Raised bed gardens?

[Jimmy]

It can work in 5 gallon buckets. Just make sure you have drain holes on the bottom, and get a determinate tomato not an indeterminate.

It's all about the right amount of water and sun, and some decent soil.

 

[Rokbar]

I saw where one guy would take the used rubber tracks off mini-excavators and use for raised beds. They are heavy though.

 

[Rbyrd]

Check out grass roots fabric beds. They work great. The are fabric with a pvc frame mine hold up well in my greenhouse.

 

[Luked]

Mad some for my wife last year.
Just used treated 2x8
She has 2 both are 5'x10' placed end to end.

 

[LostArra]

Buy some old stock tanks a rancher has for cheap. They work great

I do this and it works well. Easier weeding since they sit higher.
I plant a "bush" type tomato so no cages needed. Some arugula early and late.
I also have a well established asparagus bed nearby and will always have some volunteer asparagus in the raised beds.

I'll probably add more soil in the future
Pre planting

 

[TaperPin]

We tried traditional raised beds and they were so far away from where we like to hang out in the yard, that we looked for something that looked better, but was large enough to retain water well in 100 degree dry weather. A local grocery store had a crazy good deal on half wine barrels so we tried a dozen and they are ideal for us. They can also be stacked in pyramids if the wood is in good condition, although 4 high might be a row too high. We have a 3-high stack with flowers right next to the deck and visitors seem to like it better than anything else.

Getting water in these is really easy - just run a 1/2” plastic line into the bottom or side of each one and up to the surface. Then branch off drip lines however you like. Going in over the top never seems to work or look quite right.

 

[Danny Hoey]

Super simple raised beds.

1 8' 4x4 cut into quarters for the posts
6' cedar fence boards for the rails and cut in half for the ends.
I lay fabric up the sides so the soil doesn't bleed through.
I'm into each one probably $45.

 

[zacattack]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas! Unfortunately our garden aspirations took a bit of a hit over the weekend. I was gone for 3 days and no one watered our plants. Hoping for some to recover.

 

[BananaHands]

You can use large metal livestock water troughs.

 

[doc holiday13]

I garden... A lot. Like put up enough to eat through the winter amounts. So take what I'm gonna say with a grain of salt.

If you don't know how long their desire to garden will last, go to a plant nursery and buy a bunch of their 5 gallon size tree/bush pots. They get them for peanuts and sometimes will give them away. BUT ask to buy them because sometimes they reuse them and its kinda rude to ask for free ones

Buy some good topsoil from the same garden nursery and plant into those pots.. This is hands down the best method for weed control. Put down a long strip of landscape fabric. align all the planted pots and put down non dyed hardwood mulch to the point of completely obstructing the pots from direct sunlight

Do not water the mulch, its there to air gap/insulate the pots from getting too hot

Get some pots for a wide variety of flowers that will continuously bloom throughout the spring/summer/fall. Flowers attract beneficial bugs and birds. This helps tremedously with pest control

Learn a bit about interplanting to get your plants to grow well. Lots of good books on this. Your library might have some of these resources.

https://www.amazon.com/Carrots-Love-Tomatoes-Companion-Successful/dp/1580170277/ref=asc_df_1580170277?mcid=701f3ba4f16d33b29d4b813d3f5c99ed&hvocijid=17374364015308215250-1580170277-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17374364015308215250&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007714&hvtargid=pla-2281435178098&psc=1

 

[doc holiday13]

It can work in 5 gallon buckets. Just make sure you have drain holes on the bottom, and get a determinate tomato not an indeterminate.

It's all about the right amount of water and sun, and some decent soil.

Don't confuse beginners with determinate and indeterminate at this stage. Indeterminate are great for trellising and trimming. Its fun to see how long of a main stem i can get through the summer. I've gotten the main stem over 10ft many times

 

[zacattack]

This is what I came up with. It’s built with 2x4s for the frame and deck boards to make it prettier for the wife’s inspection. The 5 gallon buckets I got from local grocery store for free. Really liking it so far.

 

[SloppyJ]

Sand to level, 8' landscape timbers 3 high on each side, big ass drill bit, rebar, sledge.

Pretty easy and a good excuse to buy a nice battery powered grinder to cut the rebar off with.

Be sure to till up the existing ground first then buy a bulk mix to fill it.

We (my wife) seems to fight more squash borers, and aphids with this setup for some reason.

 

[Broken Twigg]

This is what I came up with. It’s built with 2x4s for the frame and deck boards to make it prettier for the wife’s inspection. The 5 gallon buckets I got from local grocery store for free. Really liking it so far.
View attachment 902197

This looks good. I would guess the buckets are food grade due to your source. I think you only issue will be UV breakdown of the buckets. You can always replace every year or two.

 

[zacattack]

This looks good. I would guess the buckets are food grade due to your source. I think you only issue will be UV breakdown of the buckets. You can always replace every year or two.

Yeah they were just used for like cake icing or cooking oil.

 

[TR308]

For raised beds. I use a combination of cinder blocks, hugelculture, and straw for covering.

I live near the Gulf Coast in a pretty drought-stricken area with high summer temps and crappy dirt.

My method has increased my vegetable production significantly, and reduced watering requirements to just a couple of days per week.

If you have to ask… just google “hugelculture”. It’s the poor-man’s method to making dirt and it’s fantastic.

 

[BBob]

just google “hugelculture

hugelkultur will get better results

Pretty cool, have never come across that before. Probably work well here in the desert.

 

[ZeeGermans]

I’m going to start using cattle lick tubs. Can get then for cheap on facebook marketplace, about 30 gallons in size and strong enough to hold dirt without bulging.

 

[TR308]

hugelkultur will get better results

Pretty cool, have never come across that before. Probably work well here in the desert.

I try and fill the deadspace with as much leftover dead organic matter that I can find.... it's a good way to get rid of sticks/leaves/grass/compost/shredded paper.

There is an argument against "hugelkultur", namely that it reduces available nitrogen in the soil due to the decomposing wood (carbon) being a sink for the nitrogen. I haven't experienced any nitrogen deficiencies in the three years I've been using my beds.

Anyway, with appropriate ground cover (I use straw), it really does trap in a lot of moisture that would burn off in your desert conditions.