Saturday, March 5, 2011

Brick Raised Beds

There's nothing like a new raised bed to get you off to a good start this spring. We just finished these beautiful brick raised beds for friend and local water store owner, (Water Connection), in time for the rain to bring a good soaking to the newly planted seeds. Denise's new garden site has plenty of sun and is located right outside her kitchen door for easy care and harvesting.

The beds are four by ten feet and two feet high, just the right height to sit comfortably and reach the center of the bed. We used old Phoenix brick to coordinate with the house and add to the character of the central Phoenix home. 
 The boxes or planters were nice and deep and we had lots of room with which to work. First we filled them with Baker Nursery top soil, and mixed in a little sand. Then, we layered a combination of leaves, manure, mulch, Singh Farm compost, straw, and a few bags of Patio Plus potting mix. Lastly, we added organic amendments; bone meal, blood meal, kelp and  humate.
A timer and drip line were installed. This all sounds quick and easy, but there was a lot of digging and shoveling and turning!
Of course, the fun part is choosing the seeds and transplants. Start small and plant what you will eat. Here's Daisy, the Water Connection Store dog and his owner, a happy, new gardener!

5 comments:

OrganicMama said...

Ah - I'm waiting for my brussel sprouts to show up. So far they're very pretty plants. These look great!

Lylah Ledner said...

I LOVE it Jill. You guys are wonder workers! It's beautiful!

xoxo lylah

Sweet Life Garden said...

Thankyou girls, these kinda boxes are on my Christmas list!

Unknown said...

Those raised beds are beautiful!
My farmgirl chapter is all working on our own individual raised beds,out of stone, wood and who knows what else? The possibilities are many, but brick beds are classic and pretty...
This too would make a lovely farmgirl Friday blog hop entry for next week!
So glad I popped over here today!
I'm following so I can check in now and then...:)
Happy Gardening!
Deb

Sweet Life Garden said...

I promise Deb, after all of our spring markets I'm gonna get over to that blog hop! It looks like a great time. Thanks for checkin' in! Jill