This is how the garden looked in August 1997. All those beautiful raised beds are now rotting into the ground after 16 years and need to be replaced.
Trex-built raised bed 5-5-13 Don’t look at the background…it’s messy. I’m linear. I can only work on one bed at a time!
We built most of our raised beds in 1996 and ’97. The lumber came from a small sawmill using white cedar that had been passed over by the big timber companies. It was sawn to a full 2 x 10 x 16′ (5.08 cm x 25.4 cm x 4.87 m) It was beautiful wood. We had less personal time then but more energy…lots more. As good as that wood was, it still rots when in contact with the soil. So after 17 years all those 16 beds have got to be replaced. We found this decking material on close-out. It’s not cheap but is supposed to outlast wood. It’s a little wobbly so I had to set the corners in concrete, but if it outlasts wood, it’ll be worth it. We’re trying to replace ONE raised bed a year now. The green one was built last year out of old siding…much cheaper than this one, but won’t last as long.
Soil leveled, drip water grid laid out, tires centered over drip holes. The tires extend the warm temps into the cool evening.
Hoops added with 1 x2x 8 re-enforcement. I use this to hold the tent open too.
Don’t glue any of the pvc like I did for many years. That way you can have more options like this swing-away hose connection
Clear plastic over hoops, held up by rope and the re-enforcement wood. Why have ‘tents?’ Our night time temperatures will dip to 45 deg. F (7 deg. c) even in the middle of summer. Use 6 mil UV stable greenhouse film. It’ll last for years of opening and closing every day. We like our tomatoes to be warm and happy.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Your raised beds beat mine! I’m going to have to do a lot of work before getting my precious little seedlings in the ground.
Fantastic work, beats mine hands down; you have given me something to work towards 🙂
Eddy, you are building your own house. If anything, I ought to be aspiring to do what YOU are doing.
I really enjoyed seeing how things aged with your raised beds and where you are now. You’ve done a marvelous job!
Thanks…you can see I’ve got my work cut out for me. When I fired up my old Troy-bilt rototiller after 4 or 5 years of not using it we both had an idea…take out some of those really rotten beds and use the tiller again. btw, it started on the second pull. I bought it in 1975…IT’S 37 YEARS OLD.
We’ve had to change our goals a little. I wanted to use NO fossil fuel in the garden. My wife pointed out that it’s a great goal, but she does most of the spading and, well, we’re not getting any younger. So if I want to quit my job and spade that’s fine, but she can’t spade the whole garden herself anymore. Incentive enough to haul out the tiller and put it to use. 🙂
Oh, I get it, completely! We started out wanting to absolutely everything by hand, but we’ve had to invest in some tools that make use of fuel for really hard jobs. We realized that we’d never battle through acres of bush and thorn trees without the help of a motorized bush cutter this year, and bit the bullet. I’m so impressed at your tiller starting up like that after years of disuse – what a nice surprise!
Could you explain the use of tyres in the bed. Do they remain there permanently?
The tires are used to extend the day’s ‘warmth’ into the evening…something you probably don’t have to worry about in Australia. On the Oregon Coast (north of California) the temps in the day are 55 to 65 F tops (12-18 C)…the night temps can dip to as low as 45 F (7 C). I’ve grown tomatoes like this for over 30 years. This year I’m using fewer tires (tyres) because of the moles. Since I’ve been gardening here so long, the moles have established tunnels. Every year, no matter which beds I have the tomatoes in, they (moles) will burrow tunnels down the line of plants. The tunnels bring air pockets to the plants’ roots and one sunny day, all the plants will look like they’re dying. Then I’ll have to take a stick (or an ell shaped rebar) and cave in the tunnels…it’s easier without so many tires.
To prevent mosquito and slug problems, I’ve sawn, drilled, and handcut holes in the tires (a very tedious job)