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JennGM
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From a tangent on #1 Item on your Christmas Wish List
JennGM wrote:
Mackfam wrote:
And we're thinking about a bigger tiller, too, but I think instead I really want to work on building my kitchen garden out of cedar planks. So maybe....cedar planks.  |
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Off-tangent, but I'm intrigued. I'd love to visualize what your plan is. I know you have a bigger garden than I have, but we need to replace our boxes this year, and I'm looking around for ideas. |
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SusanMc wrote:
Jen,
A bit off topic but I made three garden beds out of cedar fencing planks and some cedar 1x2. I found the plans on ana-white.com.
As for me, I'd like to get mostly new clothes: a workout outfit from Athleta, and some new gym shoes! |
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Mackfam wrote:
:: THREAD TANGENT ::
SusanMc wrote:
Jen,
A bit off topic but I made three garden beds out of cedar fencing planks and some cedar 1x2. I found the plans on ana-white.com. |
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Oh!! Thanks, Susan! I'm immersed in kitchen garden/potager books right now - many with just lovely plans in them! I can't wait to get over to that site you recommend!  And, I'd love to hear more about your cedar boxes!
Jenn - We're planning on building about 3 (but maybe 4 if I can flash my big blue eyes enough!  ) 3' x 6' cedar boxes to start with, and have plans to expand the garden more in the future. We garden in a mishmash way - I love lasagna gardening, and what we do is a combo of square foot/kitchen potager/lasagna gardening, but I hope that our little gardens will be more of a kitchen garden not unlike the lovely French kitchen potagers. I've got runners from my brother's raspberry bushes and blackberry bushes and grabbed leek heads that have gone to seed while I was at Mom's. And I have dreams of a fig tree, peach trees and other berry bushes surrounding our little kitchen potager. And flowers. Always flowers!
Lots of plans for now - we need to find an affordable source for our cedar first. We had planned to do much of this earlier this year (early winter/spring) but it wasn't God's timing so we're really hoping to get rolling this fall and winter with the beginnings and hope to get a little kitchen potager in by this spring.
Maybe we should start a seasonal garden planning thread?
:: BACK TO CHRISTMAS WISHING!  :: |
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This has been a good week for me in finding new interesting sites on the WWW, bad in wasting my time! But I have never heard of ana-white.com until now!!!! At first I couldn't figure out the site, but now that I have, there are way too many ideas. I have a "Honey-Do" list (or me, if he won't).
Here are my top three:
Lego Table
Train Table
Cedar Raised Beds
Sewing Table for small Spaces
Worm Compost Bin
and I'm looking at Closet ideas...too many to decide.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Rebeccca
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Just some quick info I wish I had had *before* I made raised beds. Plants have to have a dormant period every 24 hours and if the plant can't cool down overnight to a certain temp, they can't go dormant. If they can't go dormant, they can't produce.
For two yrs we had gorgeous, lush plants covered over in thousands of blossoms. The flowers would eventually die and fall off but we never got fruit (tomatoes, okra, peppers, greenbeans). At the end of last growing season we went to a garden problem solving event at our county extension. She said that the number one reason that gardens in our area is the heat. B/c of high temps, soil temp can't get low enough for the dormant cycle. Then she gave a long list of things to do and there was even a make-and-take. I thought this was great until someone asked the question I should have asked. So this is what we do for our raised beds, too? "Oh," said the county extension person, "in the case of raised beds you're pretty much fighting a losing battle b/c they get too hot and have little to no chance of cooling off overnight." She said we could try those ideas but it's really hard to get it cooled off enough.
Just trying to save you some money if that's the case in VA.
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MaryM
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| Posted: Nov 05 2011 at 5:33pm | IP Logged
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This thread is eye-opening. OK so tell me about Ana-White.com. Like Jenn, I'd seen some of those pieces on Pinterest but not paid attention to where they came from or that there was a whole blog/website of plans. It looks overwhelming. So, I will add to Jenn's questions. Are these seriously as doable for beginners as claimed? - and are the cost estimates accurate?
I'm skeptical (or chicken  ) so would love to hear more from experienced folks.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JennGM
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Rebeccca wrote:
Just some quick info I wish I had had *before* I made raised beds. Plants have to have a dormant period every 24 hours and if the plant can't cool down overnight to a certain temp, they can't go dormant. If they can't go dormant, they can't produce.
For two yrs we had gorgeous, lush plants covered over in thousands of blossoms. The flowers would eventually die and fall off but we never got fruit (tomatoes, okra, peppers, greenbeans). At the end of last growing season we went to a garden problem solving event at our county extension. She said that the number one reason that gardens in our area is the heat. B/c of high temps, soil temp can't get low enough for the dormant cycle. Then she gave a long list of things to do and there was even a make-and-take. I thought this was great until someone asked the question I should have asked. So this is what we do for our raised beds, too? "Oh," said the county extension person, "in the case of raised beds you're pretty much fighting a losing battle b/c they get too hot and have little to no chance of cooling off overnight." She said we could try those ideas but it's really hard to get it cooled off enough.
Just trying to save you some money if that's the case in VA. |
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I've been using raised beds for about 10 years, and never had this problem, so maybe it's the area? Are you in the deep South?
I didn't use cedar, just regular planks as per Square Foot Gardening style, but they have decomposed over the years (at this location they are about 3-6 years old.) So I was thinking of trying a different wood.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 05 2011 at 7:06pm | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
This thread is eye-opening. OK so tell me about Ana-White.com. Like Jenn, I'd seen some of those pieces on Pinterest but not paid attention to where they came from or that there was a whole blog/website of plans. It looks overwhelming. So, I will add to Jenn's questions. Are these seriously as doable for beginners as claimed? - and are the cost estimates accurate?
I'm skeptical (or chicken ) so would love to hear more from experienced folks. |
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You are asking the same questions I'm thinking, Mary!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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stefoodie
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I just thought it's so cute of Jenn to say "my top three" and then list five. I  U Jenn
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JennGM
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stefoodie wrote:
| I just thought it's so cute of Jenn to say "my top three" and then list five. I U Jenn |
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Did I do that? I started with 3, and then I was talking with dh and started adding. And adding....
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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And math was never my strong subject when it came to parsing or counting words.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 05 2011 at 9:17pm | IP Logged
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Rebeccca wrote:
| Just some quick info I wish I had had *before* I made raised beds. Plants have to have a dormant period every 24 hours and if the plant can't cool down overnight to a certain temp, they can't go dormant. If they can't go dormant, they can't produce. |
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We've never had this problem and we've been growing in raised beds for years now. We've not had problems with plants producing at all. We even line ours in black weed block paper which I would think would warm things up (or at least hold in warmth) even more. There are so many that garden in raised beds here because we have red clay for dirt here, and the gardens are successful and prolific. We're definitely in the south here, so while I don't want to discount this county extension agent, I'm not sure the advice/insight given was accurate in this case. 
MaryM wrote:
| This thread is eye-opening. OK so tell me about Ana-White.com. Like Jenn, I'd seen some of those pieces on Pinterest but not paid attention to where they came from or that there was a whole blog/website of plans. It looks overwhelming. So, I will add to Jenn's questions. Are these seriously as doable for beginners as claimed? - and are the cost estimates accurate? |
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I would imagine the cost estimates are going to vary from region to region. And in the cedar bed plans the estimates are based on a special Ana found at her hardware store where the cedar fence boards were marked down ENORMOUSLY, so you're probably not going to be able to build your cedar raised bed for the same amount, but I do think the project is quite ingenious and the cedar fence posts are a really frugal option, but you'd have to be willing to call a few mills to check out prices for cedar in your area first. AND...while I wouldn't call the cedar raised bed project difficult, it isn't beginner either. You have to rip boards with a table saw or a circular saw. That isn't that difficult, but it can be intimidating if you've never done it before. Most of her projects do not call for that level of building skill though. Now, you could ask your local hardware store to rip the boards for you, but you're probably going to pay for those cuts so it factors into the cost of the project.
I like Ana White a lot! Her plans are doable and detailed, and usually quite simple! I really like the ideas in her cedar raised bed plans that Susan linked originally. I'm not sure we'll build ours in the same way (still think I'd prefer solid sides instead of strips of wood for sides....just because I've seen enough warping issues as wood weathers), but I had not thought of looking for cedar fence boards as a frugal source, so this one is a definite keeper to consider!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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And...I'm ambitious! I want a pergola!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mary Chris
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I want a pergola too!
I agree that the cost varies by area. When I mentioned to my husband some of the figures DIY'ers cite, he replied...not around here.
He has used some of the plans, well at least one, he built me a coffee table.
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mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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MaryM
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Mary Chris wrote:
| I agree that the cost varies by area. When I mentioned to my husband some of the figures DIY'ers cite, he replied...not around here. |
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That makes sense - she is in Alaska, right? SO maybe a good place for timber/lumber prices...
Mary Chris wrote:
| He has used some of the plans, well at least one, he built me a coffee table. |
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It's good to know someone who has actually done a project. And he felt it was easy to follow...?
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Mary M. in Denver
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stefoodie
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Jenn hope you didn't my teasing
I've found cheap good wood at our local ReStore, except when I found them we didn't have a project in mind and I couldn't justify the purchase. I wish now I had gotten them!
That's the only other place I can think of, unless you guys have a salvage store near you. We had one near us when we were in PA. Through the years though I think they've gotten more popular with more people using reclaimed wood from barns, etc. that it's harder these days to find real bargains. The only other suggestion I would have would be Craigslist or Freecycle, but a lot of you gals here already know that.
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stef
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Ana-White.com
