Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Concrete Raised Vegetable Bed

We have a concrete theme going on around our house.   


We've made concrete flower beds


and entry walls.


 We've stamped concrete 


and carved concrete


and this weekend Lyle was back at his concrete mixer once more.



The wood around his raised vegetable beds was falling apart, so in his quest for something sturdier, concrete fit the bill.  He first made forms



and then lined the forms with crinkled tin foil


and then hired the kids for some manual labor.


When the concrete had set for a while, Lyle stuck in some copper receivers so that he could put in tubing later to train some vertical growers if the urge strikes him.


The girls crinkled tin foil to press on the top.


and while it hardened up a bit, a cute kid ran down and posed for a picture 
(not necessary for this project, but a nice addition),


And they waited and waited.


The forms came off, and we did some carving with rebar,


And Voila!  
We have a raised concrete bed.
Only about 10 more to go.

7 comments:

Life frome where we are said...

So cool.....I'll have to show that to my son who works with concrete.....great look for raised beds!

Jen Bay said...

Super cool. They are great. I might "need" some at our new place...

Retro Rambler said...

Why did you not build it on a footer?

Eileen said...

It doesn't tend to get cold enough here to have problems with frost heaves. I have dug some post holes in some of the other concrete walls to give it more anchorage but I haven't had any issues with cracking or settling or tipping up to this point---the oldest is 7 years old. Pouring a footing would burn up more concrete and require more labor. If It was colder here I think it would be a good idea.

Unknown said...

Very cool, I like what you've all done. I work for a non-profit in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans (an area that was badly damaged by hurricane Katrina). I have been researching ways to reuse/recycle concrete and brick debris in the making of raised beds. The beds would be 5x20x2.5ft. I would make forms and then pour in debris and cement. I was wondering how much rebar I would need to use and how far I would need to dig into the soil to for the foundation of the bed?

Ana Fidalgo said...

This is absolutely amazing! That raised bed looks fantastic.

Great work and lovely family. Congratulations!

Unknown said...

I had no idea that you could raise concrete! The design you've picked out is perfect for a garden. It gives it something special, and it's a very unique look, and I would love to have something like this for my garden. My husband and I are going to be putting in a whole new garden next spring, and I'm going to talk to him about doing this for our garden.

Sara Welsh | http://www.southernconcreteraising.com/Concrete-Leveling-Bellaire-TX.html