Raised Beds

Hello All,

All three of you, that is. :)

I had a meeting with my sponsor. Unfortunately, he made me aware of a few mistakes in my system. I won't have enough PSI to make my automatic pump work, or the sprinklers, for that matter. I could have the tank raised, and just use the average drip heads, but I have the sprinklers, so I'm going to use them. As of now, I have simply attatched the timer to the hose spigot and left it temporarily.

I plan to test the greywater/float valve system either way. I'm hoping the PSI will either build up, or magically be enough to work the sprinkler drip system that is in place. If not, I will do a simple laundry to landscape system that will be effective for my fruit trees.

I'm building two raised, double dug beds and focusing heavily on soil ammendments. One will be above soil, the other above concrete. It will be interesting to see the amount of water lost and the difference in plant growth on both beds.

I am planting seeds now so  I will have a harvest during the winter months. The only winter we have here is some rainfall, and the ground may get below 50 degrees once. I doubt the plants will show the least sign of struggle.

It was a good day to be outside, the weather was great, and my aunt and cousin came to help me with my project. I've been showing everyone I know this blog, and my garden, and it's getting around the community already. I even went out into the Farmer's  Market and told people of my project. I have met with the agricultural director of Irvine's Great Park. He is working towards a Urban Gardening proposal for the Great Park and really liked the ideas in my proposal. I look forward to working with him.

Here are some pictures.

 I had a few hiccups in building these beds, but I am grateful to the folks at Elk-East Farmstead for teaching me the basics during my internship this summer. I used 1x6 by 6 ft cedar fencing reinforced at the corners with a 2x4 cut to length. The bed over the soil will be one plank high (6") and the bed over the concrete will be two planks high (12"). It is very important to use a wood that is unlikely to rot, like cedar or redwood. If you can spend the extra money to get redwood 2x6's instead, I would recomend it. You can even screw right into the ends of the boards, due to redwood's tendency not to split. In my beds, I simply tacked the ends to the 2x4 with 21/2" screws.

Setting up the drip irrigation near my nectarine.

 My aunt Karen and cousin Natalie helping out.

The (almost) finished soil bed.