It looks fabulous so far!

kudos to hubs for his craftmanship on your boxes. With the boxes off of the ground, can I suggest making them deeper next year - if your results aren't what you expect?

EG

Lianna,
Those boxes are so beautiful, I could cry. They are perfect, too, for when you age up a bit and don't want to bend over anymore.
I'm jealous,
Keski

Thank you! I'll be sure to pass along the compliments to my hubs.

EG - do you think they're too shallow? The soil has settled and is not as deep as when I first filled the boxes :( I am sure I will at least fill the boxes up with compost next year, and give them time to settle (and add more as needed) before planting, if not make them deeper.

bamasfg - I fear that because the boxes are only around 6" deep, suspended in air, and due to a climate even warmer than mine - the end result will be far less than expected.

Raised beds built on top of the ground have the sides and top exposed to the sun/wind, but the earth underneath is a constant, cool temperature. This helps keep them from drying out so fast - where yours are exposed from all sides. To counteract this problem, deeper boxes would create more soil mass - making it more difficult for the elements to have a negative impact on them.

12-16" would be my recommendation - with as much soil as you can get in there. (Mounded even)

EG

Lianna, your boxes are *very* lovely! I can tell your husband really put a lot of time and effort into making them!! Good luck this year!

EG, thanks for sharing your knowledge on the elevated boxes. My beds are raised about 4 inches off the ground on blocks, and last year I just couldn't keep enough water in them during the worst part of the Texas heat even while watering twice daily. I didn't even think the problem could be because they're up off the ground! (Mel never mentioned that in his book - or maybe he did and I just glossed over it.)

It also never occurred to me to make the boxes deeper, but I did notice the other day when I was planting my zucchini that the one 12" box that I have had a lot more moisture in it than the 6" boxes did. I just figured it was because there are 6 inches of sand in the bottom of the 12" box...

If I take my beds off their blocks and let them rest on the ground will this help reduce water loss, or will there still be a problem because the boxes have plywood bottoms?? Also our ground where the boxes are isn't level, so there will probably still be some gaps underneath the boxes. Should we get out there level out the ground if we do decide to put them on the ground?

And we thought we were being so clever to put the boxes on blocks so we could move them with his tractor if we decided the spot we had them in just wasn't working...

Rachel

Here is a link that might be useful: Look Ma No Weeds

rachel - no problem, i'm glad to help. If your land isn't too bad unlevel, you might just backfill the gaps with native soil - which would pretty much be the same thing. A person's climate is the biggest factor involved...

EG

Your gardening success will be less than desired sorry to say and all that hard work by your husband. From the pictures it appears that you have 4 inches of soil depth max. I want to encourage you in your endeavor to garden but more important is that you experience success. Would it be possible to have your talented hubby remove the legs and bottom on those beautiful boxes and set the box directly on the ground AND make the sides higher (10-12 inches would be perfect). Then fill the boxes to the rim with good, rich topsoil mixed with compost. Happy gardening.

bummer.

Well I guess I will learn a lot from this year's gardening experience.

I added 2 more inches of soil to my tomato and okra bed, so the soil in that bed is now about 6 inches deep. I will add more to the pea/cuke/pepper/turnip bed tomorrow. The zuke/bean bed; well I have sort of a 'hill' of soil for the 2 zuke plants, probably 6 inches at the top where the plants are. Then the soil is built up high for the beans too. So maybe that bed will be ok; will know in a few months won't I! I was going to take new pics but ran out of time. I'll try tomorrow.

Everything seems to be growing up great so far. I planted my tomatoes and peppers a couple weeks ago and they're thriving.

Thanks everyone for all of the tips, comments, and constructive criticism. I really do appreciate it!

bamasfg - We all have limited success during our first year, but do much better after that. I planted 4 zucchini in my first, and got only 4 fruit from the entire planting. Talk about being bummed out.......

EG