Easy, Cheap, TEMPORARY Raised Gardens

I couldn't find a forum topic nor any posts regarding temporary gardens. Temporary?  Yes. I have my THOW semi permanently parked in a private campground. I have lower back issues, so my gardens need to be raised so I don't bend to tend them. I'm talking 36" or 3ft off the ground. Most campgrounds are not going to let you bring in massive timbers for huge raised beds, understandably so. So I came up with these.. works excellent,  total cost was 6-1×6 12' sitting on 8-36" h tree stumps. Lumber and screws was maybe 50 bucks, the stumps I sourced with my firewood. The only issue I have had, is because they are quite shallow, they dry out quickly and daily water is a must. I think this year I might buy 3 more 12' 1x6 and turn them all into 3 sided boxes instead of the V's. ..but they worked beautifully even for carrots! Plant them in the middle and 6" carrots are perfect size for canning My peppers, tomatoes all grew a thick mat of roots and I had 4doz pints canned just from these little, cheap, easy on the back gardens. ..The boxes attached to my tiny is all I had before, now it's dedicated to beans..and they love it
There's also a pic of my outdoor canning kitchen, again, temporary structure,  and my bee watering station because it was all in the same album on imgur ..and I am a total newbie on that..lol

https://imgur.com/gallery/sWODFRL

Have you seen where people grow stuff out of the bottom of hanging buckets? Might be worth considering.

I love this-- it's so beautiful!

I've seen people growing a garden on squares of scrap carpet that worked really well. They could be set on any platform,  but I like these alot better.

If you wanted them deeper you could make plywood planters the same length.

How about wicker?  Poke some sticks in the ground and then weave vines & thin branches between them.  At three feet it will probably work for a season.  I don't know how long past that season, but it will be ok for a while.

A thought though--what if the "wicker" or whatever we want to call it, was put in place and before filling with earth and soil, we took a torch and Sou Shi Ban ed the whole thing?  Think we could preserve it by giving it a charcoal outer layer?  Maybe at least get a couple of more seasons out of it before it finally surrendered?

Maybe worth a thought.



Eric

You mentioned firewood.

I am experimenting with using 2x4 welded wire fencing, cut to 24" height. I have 1/2x1/2 mesh at the bottom due to the proliferation of moles here. You could omit that if you do not have issues with moles.

I lined the outside with ~20" oak splits and filled it in. I am on my second round of planting in it and it looks like I should get many seasons before the wood is broken down. It'll be easy to dismantle and rebuild.

150" length of fence yields QTY-2 48" circles at 24" high. The 1/2x1/2 mesh I had was 48" tall so I wanted to do 48" circles. I plan to do more over the winter and when I split rounds, I will keep this in mind and cut some into rectangles verses triangles to make filling them in easier, if that makes sense.

I had all of the materials on hand so the cost was only what I previously paid for the fence and mesh.

You could increase the size of the splits and fence to get to 36" or 48" height.

Jackson Bradley wrote:You mentioned firewood.

I am experimenting with using 2x4 welded wire fencing, cut to 24" height. I have 1/2x1/2 mesh at the bottom due to the proliferation of moles here. You could omit that if you do not have issues with moles.

I lined the outside with ~20" oak splits and filled it in. I am on my second round of planting in it and it looks like I should get many seasons before the wood is broken down. It'll be easy to dismantle and rebuild.

150" length of fence yields QTY-2 48" circles at 24" high. The 1/2x1/2 mesh I had was 48" tall so I wanted to do 48" circles. I plan to do more over the winter and when I split rounds, I will keep this in mind and cut some into rectangles verses triangles to make filling them in easier, if that makes sense.

I had all of the materials on hand so the cost was only what I previously paid for the fence and mesh.

You could increase the size of the splits and fence to get to 36" or 48" height.

How is this temporary? For a temporary location?

Eric Hanson wrote:How about wicker?  Poke some sticks in the ground and then weave vines & thin branches between them.  At three feet it will probably work for a season.  I don't know how long past that season, but it will be ok for a while.

A thought though--what if the "wicker" or whatever we want to call it, was put in place and before filling with earth and soil, we took a torch and Sou Shi Ban ed the whole thing?  Think we could preserve it by giving it a charcoal outer layer?  Maybe at least get a couple of more seasons out of it before it finally surrendered?

Maybe worth a thought.



Eric

How is this temporary? For a temporary location?

Carmen Roth wrote:How is this temporary? For a temporary location?

The fencing will come apart in a couple of minutes, the loose ends from where I cut it are just twisted back around the other end making the circle.

Stack the wood and then spread the dirt out. Or move the dirt to a new bed. Done.

Carmen,

My thoughts are that the char might extend the life of the wicker a season, maybe two.  I suspect that wicker will be lucky to survive one season on its own without a little bit of help.

Anything after that first year is just a bonus.  At the end of the time at the location, if you wanted you could tear out the walls and burn them if you felt it necessary.  In no way do I expect that the wicker will last very long unless truly drastic steps are taken, but that’s beyond the scope of this post.



Eric

Oh, I like those baskets that Jackson made.  That is a great idea.

When we stayed at campgrounds my temporary solution was to plant in containers.

The containers with plants sat on the picnic table.

When we got ready to move the container went into the bath tub where the plants were happy until we got to our next stop.

Carmen, what time-frame are you thinking of when you say temporary? We might all mean different things by that.

I like your idea, it just sounds like alot of effort for something temporary. Whereas with my 1x6's, they're all at 6ft, you can just slide em onto a truck bed or trailer to move.

Jackson Bradley wrote:

Carmen Roth wrote:How is this temporary? For a temporary location?

The fencing will come apart in a couple of minutes, the loose ends from where I cut it are just twisted back around the other end making the circle.

Stack the wood and then spread the dirt out. Or move the dirt to a new bed. Done.

To me I guess, temporary means easy, quick set up and dismantle. Time frame is more so on the set up than the actual time spent using it.. good point though. You're absolutely correct in your thinking!

Christopher Weeks wrote:Carmen, what time-frame are you thinking of when you say temporary? We might all mean different things by that.

I like the idea, and if I didn't have cracked vertebrae and MS, I might even try a few of these on the ground..I think I might find a way to raise a base this idea could sit on once I'm on my own land..

Eric Hanson wrote:Carmen,

My thoughts are that the char might extend the life of the wicker a season, maybe two.  I suspect that wicker will be lucky to survive one season on its own without a little bit of help.

Anything after that first year is just a bonus.  At the end of the time at the location, if you wanted you could tear out the walls and burn them if you felt it necessary.  In no way do I expect that the wicker will last very long unless truly drastic steps are taken, but that’s beyond the scope of this post.



Eric