Kady Carlson

We built 16x4 foot raised beds from recycled garage doors and filled them hugel culture style. I wish we would have put wire on the bottom to help keep out the gophers. The first one we used logs laid horizontal. The next one we laid them vertically on end, which I would recommend if you're using them. We topped the logs with leaves and straw, then composted manure. Each spring I lay down compost, news paper, and straw over it to reduce weeds and hold in moisture. I haven't needed to water very often during the summer - mostly just when plants are first being established. The first year the levels were off a bit with the wood beginning to decompose but yield has been excellent after that. I was surprised that the heat from the logs is enough to keep rhubarb and other perennials from freezing out. Perennials in raised beds usually aren't a great combination with our northern Minnesota winters.

We have a 3 acre farm in rural central Minnesota. The property is on the edge of a largly uninhabited savannah where it meets mixed woods. The surrounding soil is sandy and level. There are several marshes nearby, along with many lakes and rivers. We are in a class A water district - the water table is +/- 10' below grade.

When we moved here a previous resident had built a 200 square foot raised bed that was 42" high. The unfinished wood sides had begun to deteriorate. It was built on pallets topped with steel panels that didn't hold water well causing a need for excessive watering and the layout was awkward and inefficient to water, but they were filled with rich, horse manure based soil that grew beautiful plants. Their location was also hard to reach with the hose and inconveniently far from the house.

As a replacement we began building 3 - 4 ×16' raised beds using garage door panels for the sides. The beds are 23" high and on the southern side of the greenhouse. Having experience with hugelkultur beds in the past, I was familiar with their benefits. The garage door panels have a very clean feel. The total cost for each bed was under $25. We have plenty of access to downed trees. Most are pine but we haven't noticed the tannins being overly detrimental. The beds are able to be placed fairly close together, allowing for better use of limited space.

The first bed, built the fall prior to last summer, was filled with logs, then recycled soil from the other bed. We top the soil with layers of news paper and straw mulch to block weeds and cut down on watering. The first year crop was mediocre, but the plants this spring seem to be enjoying things better, as expected.

We are working on filling the second and third bed now that I'm confident the garage door panels will hold up and work as well as I had planned. I'm considering lining the edge with strawbales placed on end. My thought is that it would help avoid the 'sinkholes' that form along the edges and increase decomposition of the wood by encasing it in a moisture holding medium. It would also be a little easier - using less wood as well as making cultivation a bit easier.

I'm now learning about beds being 7' high and digging out the space between them to make them deeper, creating swales between them. While I could potentially do this, it doesn't seem practical in our area.

We have marshland less than 500' away in 3 directions. Our water is so close to the surface, digging these would lessen the depth of sand protecting it, not to mention runoff would intially pool in the shallow area, bringing potential contaminants with it to an area with reduced filtering capability.

We have a well established tree line surrounding our property. With our cold weather, perennials needs to go directly into the ground. Other spaces around the yard house different man made microclimates and their appropriate gardens.

Are there other reasons to dig between beds that I'm missing?

Hello! I was born and raised on a farm in the central Minnesota lakes area. We purchased our own farm 4 years ago and are working on making the most of it.