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[fairdinkumseeds]

Here is how I make a raised garden bed.
I use anything I can find for a frame. Timber, tin, fallen trees, rock, water tanks, IBC tanks, 44gallon drums etc. Even used the tray of an old broken down ute once with great results. In this case I am using a heap of cool room doors I cut in half with a grinder. Tin and polystyrene sandwich.

Line with cardboard, and layered like a cake. Lots of thin layers of compost, straw weeds, soil etc. That helps trap the moisture, speed decomposition, and slows compaction.

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[fairdinkumseeds]

Once there is a heap of layers I add a top soil and sprinkle a bucket of what ever seconds seeds I have saved up over the last few months.
All my dusty trash waste from sorting seeds gets saved for this purpose, along with whatever excesses I have at the time.

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[fairdinkumseeds]

We grow daikon or ground hog radish in the beds as they crowd out the weeds and sink a nice deep tap root.
It is about 9months since we started making the beds and the soil is really starting to turn into beautiful chocolate cake by this time.
The growth of the plants is phenomenal. 

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[fairdinkumseeds]

After that first root crop is harvested the bed is ready to plant with anything.
12months since started, but well worth it as whatever you plant there will grow HUGE and its water needs will be about 1/4th of normal.

On a side note, the worms to a great job, but I find the grubs do an even better job. They can handle getting down deep into the layers and everything they eat comes out the back end as beautiful black soil. They can handle the heat and dry better that the can worms too.

The hated "June Bug" (I think that's what you USA folks call them?) is very loved by me.

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[New Wisdom]

Nothing like some worm poo stew.  Thanks for sharing this, it's pretty awesome!!

[Roze]

Great job! I'll try to do a similar bed for my herbs;)

My only concern is about the cardboard contamination.. glue, ink or other chemicals it may contain..  perhaps the worms eat it all ?
 

[MadPlanter]

Basically I think what your doing is building a contained compost pile and planting dead on top of it right? A very very interesting procedure as without seeing the results I'd be afraid to attempt such a thing on my own whim in case I'd fail entirely. That method kinda accidentally happened for me this year. I had all manner of stuff popping up from within my compost pile and couldn't find it in me to kill all the sprouts. So I let the squash vines and tomatoes grow right from the compost pile and I've never seen better results. I've never gotten close to those results even when I thought I added a ton of good stuff to my in ground garden or even pots for that matter.

How many times can you replant the bed before its spent?

Also I'd imagine the first root crop is to fix nitrogen for the following crops right?

I'm gonna have to try an intentionally planted bed like this as what I currently do just doesn't produce the results I'd like. I mean I do good sometimes but not massively bad ass like I wish for...

Can you plant it right away once its set up? I seen you said something like it was at 9 months when that radish pic was taken right? Did you let that thing stew unplanted for like six months first?

Thanks for the tutorial!

[Caium]

Very well done, work of a pro!

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[fairdinkumseeds]

All the cardboard/glue tape/metal staples/bones/hair is totally gone after 12months.
Only thing left is the teeth and bits of glass and rocks. The grubs and moisture recycle the lot.
The grubs will grind up absolutely anything.
I put 50/50 polyester/wool carpet as a layer in one bed and they even completely ate that!

The first root crop is just to crowd out weeds from that last layer of soil, and to eat up some of the excess nitrogen from the last green matter layer.
Its also because I can't have proper root crops when I grow in the ground here. Far to dry and rocky. With the raised beds and the light fluffy soil I get shop quality root crops and they are really quick too.
I only grow them once as I then have to focus on growing stuff that pays the rent.

Planting it at around 6months the results are pretty good, but by 9months its twice as good and by 12months it is unbelievable.
It generally takes me ~6months of layering to set up a bed as I only do 10-20minutes of work every week or so.
The time in between the layer helps keep it even too, as does the odd bit of rain, but there is absolutely no reason you cant do it in a day, then leave it sit for 3months or so. Just monitor the heat so there isn't a fire...
If you let the weeds sprout in between the layers then cover them up, it helps to break it all down too.

I have a bed here that I started planting about 3.5years ago and I have added not to it since then except for water. (it is only 1/3 of the size when I started, but the productivity/yields haven't dropped at al so I haven't bothered to refill it.
My normal tomatillos are maybe knee high with ~30fruit. Plant of say 30cm wide x 50cm high.

The one plant in the corner of the raised bed is 2m x 2m and I have already picked 5liters of fruit off it. Probably get another 2liters. Hundreds and hundreds of fruit.

Have a crack at it, as long as there is lots of layers and cardboard for aeration and fiber, you can't really fail.
You can use wood and branches in the bottom layers instead(like with "hugelkultur logs") but you will have to add a lot of nitrogen or manure to eat it up and make it manageble. The beauty of cardboard is it was once trees, but has already been broken up to a nice cellulose pulp that the critters can absorb with ease.
Oh yeah, and its FREE!

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[MadPlanter]

Hey man just wanted to let you know you have inspired me to give this a try. I did a ton of research on this after the thread was put up. It seems to me that not only will it work but beyond that its most economical, earth friendly, and can help out making everything grow easier being full on organic. The mass nutrition supply and moisture control will have plants so healthy and vigorous they wont need much help repelling pests.

I started looking into sheet composting and hugelkultur as permaculture applications. Its totally realistic and doable. I'm now scrambling to get beds built so I can plant ASAP! I want serious results!!!!!!!

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