Im going to build an elevated raised bed for me sister. About 3 x 8 feet.
How deep should it be to grow some good vegetables ?
Im thinking 2 feet !!!
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I don't think it would need to be that deep, Philip... Gardener's Supply sells some nice (also pricey!) planters that might give you some ideas: http://www.gardeners.com/buy/p...

Are you building on hardpan?

No hardpan. My sister has bad back. She likes growing veges. but cant bend to much. Arthritis and both knees replaced. So im gonna build it at elbow level. No bending. She is 69. So you can see the picture. Im gonna make it like a little arbor design. And shes afraid the litte sticks across the top will make to much shade. Haha. No! Not in this heater of valley we live in #!!! Aint gonna be no store bought for my sister.

You are a nice brother.

Your box will have to be at least 18 inches deep to accommodate things like tomatoes and eggplants. I think the challenge will be keeping the soil cool enough. You might want to insulate with a roll of that aluminum foil insulation.

What are the sticks across the top for?

My growcamp which is designed for vegetable growing is about 20 inches deep.

Hi Phillip, you really are a wonderful brother. So thoughtful.

I also garden in raised beds for some of the same reasons. I use cinder blocks, as they seem to keep the soil cool in our hot dry summer season (90s & occasional 100 degree days).
I have the raised beds at a height that I can sit in a chair and reach half way across the bed to weed, plant and harvest. My beds are 4 x 8 and about 2 feet high.

@tarve. Great then 24 will be better huh ! 😎😎😎
@daisyl. Sticks on top. Like a arbor.or whatever they call em. Short 2x2s 12inches apart across top 8ft high. 😕So you think i should insulate it😕??? Hadn't thought of that !!!
😄GOOD ANSWER! GOOD ANSWER! Plants no likie hot soil. Thank You 😇
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Yes, after I posted I was thinking you should use brick. It will insulate and also give your sister a place to sit. I have made raised beds with stacking brick - the back edge locks onto the brick below so you don't have to mortar the bricks in place.

Philip, I hope you'll come back to this thread and post photos of what you come up with!

@weedwhacker.
I will Sandy !
But dont be to impatient ! Ok
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Philip, I think I know what you have in mind. Vegies need full sun for most of the day. If you can position this so that it gets shaded only in the middle of the day, it should work. You are surrounded by farm land. Observe that those crops take all that sun in stride.

Its gonna be 4-8ft 4x4s for legs.
2-2x8x10ft across the top.
9 or 10-2x2x4ft perpendicular across top of sideway 2x8s.
Like a arbor .pagota. Trellis. I cant think what there called ###👺👺👺
I may use 2x4x4ft standing on edge for perpendicular across top ???
Not much shade.
Now y'all got the picture? 😎
Now!😕whats those darn things called👺.👹👺👹👺
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Sounds a bit similar to what I built last season. I called it my 'mini-pergola raised bed'.

I look forward to seeing what you build.

THATS IT :~ :-* :-} :-\ :-[ :-)) :-))
A PERGOLA !!!
I knew there was some fancy name.
Thanks again Green !!!😎
Im i so old that i call them arbor's ???
I mean whats the difference? Is it one you walk under and the other you garden under???
Do they also call them pogota's ? Or is a pogota a boat??? Im so confused
Butt thats easy for me. Lmbo. Thats laugh my buns off !
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
😎😎😎

I forgot to say that in the photo of my mini-pergola bed there is supposed to be wire fencing going up the narrow sides and over the top. That will give the vines something to grab onto. (No photo)

Yes ! Wire. I got a story. A guy,ownce told me he grew his tomatoes on welded wire fencing. I grow yard long beans every yr. So i tried beans on wire fencing. It worked great. Until the heat of the valley came on.
Well ! you can guess !
Plants got fried ! 😠 !
Back to jute i went !

Philip, I think what you meant to say was pagoda and not pogota. A pagoda meaning in a tower-like, tiered form.

My growcamp, the one I mentioned before, is constructed with an A-frame, and then it has roll-up plastic foil and shade netting, so it helps my plants hiding inside during the warm months. Though I don't use my growcamp for vegetables, I have repurposed it to protect my orchids from our long valley heat months. Or if it is too windy, I roll down the plastic foil to shelter them from the strong winds too, or to protect some succulents during winter when it rains too much.

Maybe you can incorporate something similar to your elevated raised bed too, to protect from our nasty thermal heat.

@tarve. Thats GREAT Tarve !😎
oh yea. 4 veges. Shade cloth to keep em cool when to hot and plastic to warm em up in the cold ! Oh yes !
Hadn't even thought of that. 👹 pagoda was unintentionally designed for that.😎 A little side benifit !
Ok now what is this plastic foil you were talkin about ? Some kind of super strong plastic or ??? and where to get it ? Is it cheep?
I need cheep !!!! Im in competition with Greene for the whos cheepest contest. So i need to know ? 😎😎😎
Now lets sing...Lalalalaaa ! ! ! !
Potato potatoe Pagoda pergota pogota pagoto i dont think i otta...
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Hello Philip, it was just called a plastic foil, but it is a heavy duty plastic. Maybe you can just choose a 6 mil heavy duty clear plastic sheet for your project. Home Depot and Walmart sells them in a roll. In my growcamp it is set in place once rolled down with velcro on the sides. During the warm to hot months, I either roll them up or totally remove them, just the shade netting is in place to allow continuos air flow and also to protect the plants from adventurous insects.