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today we’re going to follow cover the following topics we’re going to learn about raised beds and their benefits we’re going to learn an interpret criteria for building a raised bed on your site not every yard is flat right we’re going to learn the steps to make an unframed raised bed gain knowledge of the materials that you can use to make a raised bed and make sure that they’re safe we’re also going to learn about the soil for your new framed bed and lastly we’re going to have some tips and tricks for extending your growing season coping with the excess summer heat some plant choices and maybe even outsmarting the pests in your raised beds so raised beds have soil that is higher than the surrounding soil they’re usually small and surrounded by walkways they’re connected to the native soil and they are a great alternative for yards that have challenges whether it be the slope or your soil raised beds are really versatile and can be planted with vegetables flowers berries or even shrubs so while you’re watching today think about what your vision is what are you wanting to plant hopefully you’ll see something today to help you get started and when I’m gardening I actually enjoy that whole journey and I expect to hit a few bumps maybe some detours along the road but it’s all a part of that process and I just keep going so raised beds provide a nice blank canvas the soil conditions surrounding your home may not possess the desirable characteristics for growing flowers and produce so let’s build some raised beds it’s important to know that your raised bed is connected to the native soil that’s the dirt around your home by adding compost and other soil products to that native soil you can make it uh better for your growing conditions raised beds can be either framed or unframed there are lots of benefits to erised beds better drainage keeps the roots of your plant healthy it allows the water and the nutrients dissolved in that water to flow freely around the roots and be absorbed and that’s used for better plant growth more flowers more vegetables the raised beds also help with warming your soil earlier in the season so that means you can plant a little earlier in the spring and extend it later into the fall with a better growing environment you will enjoy better harvests also a raised bed head really allows for easier planting weeding and even wheelchair access so everyone can be gardening in this photo you see the smooth Ledges on the raised beds provide a place to sit and tend to the flowers as well as the weeds did you know if you have raised beds that are 20 in or higher gardeners are more like to provide close attention to the pests weeds and the water needs just because of that easier access raised beds provide nice structure the defined beds make it easier to plan on the right is an example of a planting app for raised garden beds or for any garden bed actually they’re provided by seed companies online and they’re digital and you can map out the size of your garden the size of your rows and it will give you some advice on how many plants to actually plant I like to keep track of it from year to year because it helps me with my remembering my crop rotations location of your garden makes all the difference select a location with at least 8 hours of full sun you can get away with six on many crops a lot of Community Gardens have great locations with lots of sun and the beds are already made so if maybe building a garden bed is not in your future you can find a nice community garden here in the Clackamus County there’s a good variety of community Gardens and I encourage you to pursue that it’s very important to consider your garden location and also the orientation of it meaning how does it sit on the property North Southeast and West you will find the best results if you Orient your garden bed in an East West orientation as in the diagram and then you want to plant your tallest plants on the North side and your shortest plants on the South Side what’s that look like well this bed is oriented in an East West Manner and it’s getting the maximum sun exposure this is intensive gardening that’s another advantage in a raised bed you can do intensive gardening it reduces your roots of your weeds um in this you’ll see the tallest plants like the tomatoes and the pet trellis and the climbing cucumbers are over on the North side where the lower plants like the mint the lettuce and the kale are on the South Side there’s actually not enough time in this webinar to go over all the plant choices for your garden bed included are excellent resources to help you pick the best vegetables for the season the size of your garden bed and your sun exposure you can plant almost anything in a raised garden bed however there are some limiting factors one is the depth of your garden bed the other is the overall size of your garden bed you might have to make some hard decisions what to plant and what not to plant and then lastly the sun exposure of your garden bed is definitely a limiting fact Factor so for a small garden bed they’re not really suitable for really large crops like corn some tomato varieties perhaps some squash varieties that really want to grow and wander unless you’re willing to allow them to to grow out onto the ground around there another limiting factor is if your garden bed is short if the height is not too tall then you’ll want to use the vegetables that have a short or shallow root system such as peas herbs and leafy vegetables same things goes for flowers some flowers have a very deep root system some have a shallow root system if your garden bed is short you’ll need to find ones with a shallow root system if you’ve got a nice tall garden bed you can handle vegetables that will send down those Deep Roots such as Tomatoes broccoli archip so those are some of the things that you need to think about when you’re planning your garden bed or when you’re choosing one at a community center how tall is it how short is it an additional benefit of a raised garden bed is to utilize slope property with terracing beds like the photo here take advantage of all the space on your property don’t let that nice sunny Hillside go to waste put in some garden beds and Terrace them okay so now let’s take a look at your big decision are you going to build a unframed bed it may be your budget your garden location or your s skill set that will help you decide which kind kind of bed you’re going to have a framed one or an unframed one or a framed one all right so this is my absolute first attempt at creating a simple raised bed I had done some reading some research and I just went for it it doesn’t have to be glamorous but it needs needs to be functional so that you can grow the plants you want this particular raised bed has a simple wooden frame that defines the edges and it also helps to keep the weeds and the grass from encroaching into the bed I was pretty happy with this as my first attempt so there are steps in planning a simple raised bed and these steps actually are for unframed as well as framed you’ll want to Mark out the perimeter of the garden you’ll want to remove persistent weeds in large rocks you’ll want to turn or Fork the area at least at least six inches deep so even if you’re adding a kit that is for a framed bed you still need to get in and dig up the soil and get the weeds out so that you have a nice growing area okay for an an unframed bed you’ll want to mix in three or more inches of organic matter you want to make sure that those beds are marked with stakes and placed at the corners and then lastly you’ll dig out the walkways and smooth the top let’s take a look at the next slide that will really give you good visual here we go so in our area here we have clay soil and it’s often a reason for failed crops so your answer is a raised bed so I like this schematic by Eric at OSU for creating a raised bed you select your area You Dig Down 6 in you add a layer of compost and and perhaps a fertilizer this is a good time for a just a multi- um even fertilizer uh with nitrogen um blood and feather meal are really good options then you mix all that organic material in with that native soil and then at this point you add another layer of the native soil notice this right here this is where we’ve dug out more of the soil in the pathway area and you put it on top and um then add more organic material the next step is to work that into the underlying soil and that can be done with a couple of different tools my tools of choice for digging that in is this broad Fork outlined in white or the garden Spade that’s outlined in Black although this schematic shows a rototiller the new science is actually encouraging narrow vertical column channels not the cork screw action that you get with a roto tiller the science behind this is because we want to preserve the various layers of good microorganisms in that native soil if you disrupt it too much then your soil isn’t interactive and you lose your balance here’s what an unframed garden bed looks like in the process you can see organic material being added here now it’s starting to change that color it’s looking good here’s a little trick this two-step method of digging helps to save your back and your spirit so what you do is you have your garden bed staked out you dig down first three Ines and then you come back again and go another 3 inches for a total of six inches if you try to go straight down to six inches it’s very tiring and you may be discouraged so try this trick another tip is the construction once we get into framed beds it’s very important to use screws and blocking in the corners if you don’t as in the photo on the left you’ll notice that the boards start to warp they start to push out and fall apart and once your garden bed is filled with those with the soil it’s really hard to get back in there and make those repairs so be sure to remember to use your corner blocking so here’s The Good the Bad and the Ugly on the far left you’ve got good good construction of the garden beds yep they’ve got that corner blocking and they’ve got screws in the middle we’ve got bad construction they used nails and look how it eventually just pulled apart and then just maintenance a lot of people think well I’ve built my garden beds I’m done no it takes maintenance so be aware when you make a framed garden bed it’s important to check it each spring check your Corners do you need to sink a new screw in there just to give that extra oomph so that your garden bed stays sturdy and growing plants when establishing a new raised bed planning and installing a watering system is worth doing at this point you can put in a permanent drip system but I Garden at a community garden so I can’t install a permanent irrigation system so in the spring as you can see on the far left I have installed soaker hoses and then I attach in the middle photo I attach two hoses from my water source and underneath that box is hiding a little um dual uh timer and that allows me to have my Gardens watered on a regular basis even when even when I’m not around it’s important to double check with your community Garden whether you’re allowed to tap into a hose so just double check with the rules and rs there otherwise you know handw watering is a great activity for kids here’s Eliana helping at her garden and she loves to water the plants but but your plants are going to need water so make sure that you plan for this all right so be sure to plan for walkways and some things that you want to be thinking in your head as you plan for walkways are the Aesthetics what look are you looking for what function are you looking for and what kind of access do you need to have on these walkways I’ve put up a chart here with some pros and cons and I hope that helps you to sort out what might be a good material or what might not work for you plan walkways at least three feet wide think about those plants filled with vibrant and healthy growing plants they will spill over and the plants don’t understand boundaries and they will encroach on the walkway and it becomes more of an obstacle course than a walkway another wonder of the walkways is it reduces compaction and you’ve got to um you’ve got a designated place to walk and so do your visitors to the garden and that helps compaction is a soil condition when the soil components lose the necessary air gaps remember we talked about those gaps allow water to get in there if you’re stepping on your garden beds whether they’re raised or framed or unframed you’re going to be losing that fluffiness of the soil another thing to think about is smooth path surfaces enable gardeners with Mobility challenges or even maybe a baby stroller a level pathway of brick compacted sand or gravel are best for those with a cane Walker wheelchair and um I remember when I was babysitting my grandson Henry that the garden was my Oasis during his nap time I’d roll the stroller out onto the path the hard path and he got fresh air as he napped and I had time to relax with my favorite pastime gardening another thing is if you’re planning to use a wheelbarrow often your path material needs to Warrant that Mobility so it doesn’t go too well in very loose gravel but it might work well on grass might work well on wood chips that have been laid down nice and flat so walkways are Aesthetics function and access lastly I Garden all year long in my raised bed and so I really like the wood chips because it allows me to get there during the winter time when it’s really wet it’s not too muddy it’s pretty easy on the feet so here are some nice examples of walkways you’ve got grass brick and even rock all right so choosing the materials to build your raised Bay bed may be based again on your budget the Aesthetics that you’re looking for the function of that bed and perhaps even the availability of the materials in your area and the the chart here points out some pros and cons of many materials available in our area a word of warning when it comes to repurposing wood or buying wood please be cautious and be informed you don’t want dangerous chemicals leeching into your soil using a six mil plastic liner is a good and an immediate solution to create a barrier on any wood that is questionable um make sure to have the plastic make contact with the wood and again don’t put the plastic on the bottom of your raised bed you need contact with the native soil I really love the photo on the left I like how those rocks have been nestled into the slope to create a raised garden it’s awesome use of uh natural materials that may have been right there on your on your property concrete blocks are certainly sturdy and both these materials are safe hord concrete is an option it’s pretty expensive especially if you can’t do this handiwork to create the the forms but it’s certainly something that is going to be permanent and um don’t have to worry about any loose screws um the covers here are another nice material and notice this uh gravel walkway that’s firmly packed that’s great these garden beds over here are 36 in tall they’re nice and high and they offer lots of options for gardening um make sure that anything that you’re making in cement has effective drainage and here you can see gaps between the bricks the blocks and these cul have holes so there are lots of kits out there some are really great some have excellent um Hardware included with them for your Corners they have a variety of materials from wood to vinyl um uh the um metal lots and lots of different M of kits so again think about what you want to grow and try and choose something that’s going to suit your gardening needs this kit is specific for potatoes and potatoes need to be tended different ly with soil and compost added throughout the growing season so this tall garden bed with a hinge allows for that care and then the harvesting of potatoes and yeah growing potatoes may not be the most economically sound crop to grow but it sure is fun to harvest and it engages Gardeners of all ages so raised beds do best with a combination of native soil amended soil products and then compost some organic material it’s really important to test your soil for pH pH is critical for the well-being of your plants your vegetables and flowers uh a pH of 6.5 is Optimum for most vegetabl but some have different needs so be sure to do your research amendments can be added to soil that is not balanced um it’s going to be free at our Spring Garden Fair which is coming up on May 6th and 7th at the Canby Event Center please bring a sample in a little baggie label it with your name drop it off at the pH testing uh site and they will let you know what your pH is and some suggestions on how to amend your soil it’s a great resource right here in our own Community free of charge please come to the Spring Garden fair so another soil related issue is very critical to think about is not working your soil too early in the season that’s especially important this spring where it’s been very wet and it’s been very cool it’s been really cold so what you want to do is you want to do a soil squeeze test or um yeah the squeeze test and all that means is grabbing a scoop of soil squeezing it real tight if you see water dripping out between your fingers or it stays in a really tight ball you need to wait uh again we’re talking about soil structure but by working it when it’s very soggy you disrupt the structure of the soil however in the photo on the far left you see my gloved hand I’ve grabbed some soil and when I opened it that soil kind of crumbled apart that’s when you want to work your soil all right last soil thing to remember is soil temperature plants are sensitive to soil temperature Some Like It Cool some like it warm so cool crops such as peas and kale can tolerate a soil temperature in the low 40s and um but warm crops were crops that will be planted well after Memorial Day like tomatoes squash and cucumbers want both warm soil and warm air um there is a wonderful uh resource chart that talks about air temperature and soil temperature um that you can access for your crop needs um it’s it’s here at the end of the webinar okay this is a question I get all the time how much soil do I need in my raised bed well for those of you who um forgot your geometry it’s it’s some pretty simple multiplying you get your overall guard bed measurements the length width and height you multiply them length time width time height or your cubic feet of soil and on bags of soil or if you’re having soil delivered you tell them how many cubic feet you want now remember we talked about incorporating some of that soil into the native soil so if you want to have extra soil delivered so that you can put your two Ines of organic material on top of your native soil then you want to add two inches to the overall height of your garden bed so you can see how it changes um 2 and 1/2 ft by 7t by 2.2t equals 38.5 cubic feet of soil so those are some calculations that if if you are making a new garden bed you’re going to want to want to do before you go to the Garden Center so these art shaped Hoops are called hoop houses and they do very well with both framed and unframed raised beds on the far left the hoop houses are tension fitted into the sides of the raised beds so you just place it on each side and then push it down into the soil until it feels secure the Arches should be placed approximately 3 to four feet apart and they provide enough strength to hold row covers tool shade cloth or even clear plastic sheeting if you’re installing it into just an unframed bed you will need to pound rebar into the sides of your garden bed or right at the edge of your walkway and then the PVC pipe or the electrical conduit will fit right over that PVC so here on the side this is PVC they also have an additional support at the top to um keep them equal distance apart here is electrical conduit and here is just nine gaug wire again your budget and your you know what you can transport in a in a car might make a difference when I bought my electrical conduit hoop house structures they didn’t fit in my car I had to have my husband come and pick them up and throw them in the back of his truck okay here are my raised beds and they’re easily outfitted with row cover this promotes warmer soil and protection for young plants and it’s always a treat to take a peak under the row cover on the left hand side you can see my winter garden I used the row cover um on top and then some plastic and that plastic sheeting just allows a little bit more um light energy to get into the plants uh row covers are kept on with a variety of different clips for the electrical conduit right here these are two tube shaped clips that can be purchased um commercially or you can make your own at of PVC pipe by cutting it in half that’s really time consuming again what materials you have your skill set those things might um make a difference in what you choose for your raised bed all right I’ve did some research because people say well which row cover do I need so on the far left this is a lot of information you can go back over it there’s different weights of the row cover and those different weights will protect your crops at different temperatures um the pros of row cover are really great they um they can help uh reduce the amount of ultraviolet rays that get to your garden that’s great in the summertime if it’s if it’s just we’re into a really hot period um they can also help keep pests out if they’re properly installed they can protect against wind um those row covers have been great for my garden this spring because we’ve had hail just about every other day so my plants are in great shape um they can protect against birds or a barrier against insects and they come in a variety of widths uh usually 5 10 25 so you’ll need to determine how much row cover you need by the either the width of your of your row if you’re doing floating row covers which lay pretty much flat on your seedlings or the circumference of the Hoops uh hoop houses can deter other tests uh pests on the left the hoop house is equipped with some netting to keep deer from browsing and then on the right purple netting is um is premium tool it has really small holes it allows the rainwater to permeate but it really keeps out those flying pests and we’ve been able to keep the white flies out of our broccoli which were a problem in the past so tool is wonderful to use uh that happens to be purple because that was what was on sale uh we kind of did a little test and it didn’t matter it was white or purple or red I think we had burgundy color they all grew about the same so harsh the harsh wi heat domes that have been that we’ve experiencing have caught many of us flat-footed what are we going to do so um this summer you can be prepared with a variety of shade cloths that will decrease light transmission um and it’s based on its rating you you just read you know read what percentage of uh protection you want um the net is designed for external coverage on um oh shade on hoop houses on tunnels and even for your greenh houses it’s really important to allow for a clear flow of air so opening the ends of your hoop houses so that the air can flow through there that’s another way to keep the heat down and protect your plants uh the the Nets prevent your radiation damage in plants and fruits and reduces heat in green houses during those hot days um so these are some [Music] options other tips for off seon um on the leftand side um I work at a a garden where we produce vegetables for food banks and one option in the winter is we apply a 4 mil black plastic in the offseason it controls weeds it prevents the pounding and compaction of the soil uh our soil warms up earlier in the spring one uh negative is it does it impedes on gas exchange so it might have some impact on your microorganisms though um the sides are open on these sides on either side and so we haven’t had problems but it is um the science tells us that back black plastic will impede gas exchange on the right hand side uh you can plant cover crops in a raised bed no reason that you can’t do what many of the other farmers are doing Nationwide um daon radishes are great for soil conditioning peas and clover or nitrogen and then in the spring make sure to turn it under before the plant flowers and seeds otherwise you’re going to have a lot of um weed problems when you’ve growing or building uh your raised beds plan for some attachments so pictured here are supports for raspberry bushes and the bars will keep them constrained and out of the walkways and flopping over uh when they start to fruit um a cold frame is another attachment that can be designed and fit into your raised bed so create a space to start to plant your own starts you’ll notice that this raised bed has a nice wide of space here that’s great for seating and my daughter utilizes a space behind her garage to grow in a raised bed the beds are elevated three or 4 feet high to gain access to the sun um and then once she had these wonderful beds made she had lots of vegetables growing the squirrels discovered them so her husband is an engineer and he came up with a way to keep the critters out so T sometimes you just have to persevere to get that Harvest but don’t you know find a place to grow and do the best you can garden bed on the top is up against a building with only access from one side so you do not want to make your garden beds too wide two feet is sort of the max if you only have access on one side on the bottom the raised bed is accessible from all sides so that this raised bed is six feet wide because people can usually reach about three feet and on the far right is my granddaughter Elana planting seeds look how easily she can just stand at the edge of the raised garden bed focus on the trench to plant the seeds a bed that is raised is less likely to be trampled than when there when also when there are adequate adequate Pathways so the AL ultimate benefit for me in is harvesting fresh vegetables and flowers to share with my friends my family and my community I suggest that you experiment with unusual varieties not always accessible at the market but don’t forget to plant some of your favorites it’ll keep you going and the tips and tricks are are science-based they’re not Magic so think about what is your plan your location the orientation fit it fit it on your site account for walkways what’s going to be your watering system how about how much soil do you need also account for building materials and the tools that you’ll need to build that and then finally some attachments it’s time to write an action plan now and when writing up an action plan you want to answer each of these questions with a specific measurable and achievable response be realistic so as you progress down the list be realistic with your budget and your capability it’s okay to Smart St smarts start small think back to my first raised bed it was a humble little 3×5 patch that launched my love of raised bed gardening here are some of the resources which I have talked about again when you go to C masterg gardeners. org all of these things are available for free there are also Publications that are available at the extension each one of these is outstanding to help you be successful growing your own is one of my go-to Publications I suggest it to all my friends and my grandchildren even even have their own copy they’ve printed it out it’s fairly Hefty you can just use the online version if you want and if you’re going to plant vegetables take a look at the table for planting vegetables it’s very thorough with vegetable varieties and planting guidelines you know even one of the charts has suggestions if it’s a family of four how many tomato plants will I need how many green beans should I plant those are that’s important information and I love the little monthly gardening calendar it just kind of keeps you on track you print it out you can see what’s coming up and um as you complete the tasks you can tick it off and feel good about these um and I think that’s about it the possib hi Priscilla hi there very inspiring and you know such a perfect time for you to present raised bed gardening that people are so interested in getting out and growing their own vegetables um I loved it my first question is going to be a test of your recall someone wanted to know in one of the last photos between raised beds there was something on the ground on the path do you happen to remember what was between uh those raised beds and it went by too fast for me to notice like it might have been was it wood chips or it might have been the um burlap bags burlap bags are a nice I think it was yeah I think it was the burlap bag one it looked very tidy it it did was a very tidy look and of course you do want the spaces between your raised beds to be Weed Free and tidy and easy to travel over so thank you that’s first question but I like it permeable too so yes absolutely okay let’s talk soil we have many soil questions so we’re going to talk some soil um a lot of people when they get their raised beds think they need to go buy bags of compost or bags of potting soil to put in the race beds yeah please clear the air about what kinds of soils you can put in your rais beds so um the so you should definitely have some of your native soil in there and then depending on your capability you can buy bags of raised bed soil um at the big box stores or at your local hardware store but that can get expensive um it was interesting I recently did some research on raised bed soil and I went to one of the local um landscaping companies that has you know rocks and all sorts of things and they had soil um for raised beds and what I thought was very interesting was this particular company told me what percentage of it was organic matter what percentage was sand what percentage was other dirt materials and um that was really helpful so um when you have soil delivered that’s another task I mean if you’re moving a couple of yards of soil then that means you probably going to want a wheelbarrow and some friends so the more friends the better yeah so when party oil figure out how many cubic feet you need if it’s not all that much sometimes the bags are the way to go if it’s a huge amount then you might want to look at having soil delivered and moving it to your location great great answer and one person was a little bit concerned and um they don’t they don’t have a mounded raised bed they have an enclosed raised bed of metal and they are concerned am I supposed to have contact with native soil but I believe I’m correct and correct me if I’m wrong but it needs to have some native soil in it but it does not have to have direct contact with native soil um it needs to have some components of soil I think he’s using um stock tanks more stock tanks for his raised beds so there’s not direct contact so if we really want to get nerdy about this technically that is a container that is a container garden and hopefully he’s got the holes pulled out and he’s got good drainage um a a raised bed does have direct contact with the native soil but by adding native soil he’s doing great things to to improve the microorganisms and the um the chemistry inside of the soil because soil is is a living breathing material you know it’s got lots of little microorganisms in there that are critical for healthy plants so um make sure that you’ve got great drainage in that stock tank and adding your native soil is certainly going to add really good um uh mineral content to your soil right and it is going to pack down over time to as you say it’s a container and it will lose volume as you raise vegetables in it so accommodations for amending that as over time is going to be necessary also sorry over the course of time you can take it to be analyzed from a chemical lab not just for pH but actually your content and the minerals that are in it um and so if you’re having crop failure then that might be a path to take good that is a really good tip I’m glad you said that okay and it’s a good segue because uh one of our viewers has uh she’s amended with organic material a lot and now she feels like she has like 177% of organic material in her raised beds what can she do to moderate that she needs to do something she feels like she has way too much compost Y and you know people are surprised when um when we say don’t have too much compost so one of the things that could be done is you can add sand to that soil that’s one thing that can be mixed in with it or you can buy soil products that have little or no organic matter in it and um like I said uh I recently saw that at one of the um uh the landscape company soil and they and they told us what was in it and I did see a soil that had very low organic matter in it but it was kind of chunky so um if I am going to buy that kind of material I might make a screen and do some screening so that you’re getting a fine texture that can then be incorporated into your um your soil so yeah too much compost that that can happen so um and I think we do get we get over comp we over compost I mean it’s uh we think we’re doing good but when you just do it without checking the content of your soil you’re probably doing too much um I’ve been guilty of that so and if you’re mulching if you’re putting a you know material on top and mulching that eventually incorporates into that soil and U builds it up so um that was a good question thanks for that question oh no they are all really everyone ask such really great questions and regarding the those landscape companies that provide soil I know U one of early on in my gardening they came and they went okay do you want three way you want two way you want fourway you want I went whoa back up and let me know so they were very good at telling me what was in the soil so do your homework ask them questions they’re prepared to answer um they are prepared um a couple depth questions um when you first started talking about raised bed gardening and saying that they can be different depths uh one person would like you to Define what you consider to be a short or versus a tall raised bed um that’s a really good question um so um when you’re like when you’re putting um upside say you’ve bought a kit and your kit is 6 in tall that to me would be on the short side I mean even if you dig down three to six inches before you place the kit on top that is going to be uh a shallow root system so that would be your leafy greens like lettuces you you know you could probably do um radishes but when you’re talking about plants that have few Big Tap roots that want to go down deep um 6 Ines or small shorter are considered small and then a medium one I would consider and again remember we’re six inches into the dirt so the the soil the wood on the side or the blocks are going to be six to 18 in that’s going to be medium and you’re going to be able to do some really nice gardening in that and putting in beets and turnips other things that have those tap tap Roots um but that’s still going to be a little iffy for tomatoes good glad you said that yeah Tomatoes broccoli broccoli has an amazing root system if you wonder what holds that plant up while it’s you know creating those heads it’s the root system so yeah tomatoes and broccoli um even my kale which I usually grow every other year so when I pull out my kale plants those roots are huge so tall is going to be I’m going to say 24 in and moving up and that’s the same as if you want to plant in a container you’re not going to plant a tomato in a little short 6 to 12 in 18in pot you’re going to put it into a nice five gallon size pot so um glad you mentioned the Tomato because that was kind came up yeah that how this very clear I think you did a really nice job describing the various crops and why you need the depth and plus when you have it very tall much easier you don’t have no bending over if it’s 24 plus inches tall and you have nice Garden to reach and the higher the raised beds scientifically the more often they get weeded believe it or not no I do believe that they’re just a lot more appealing okay so another question this was a I thought a good one um so if you’re if you’re just going to do a raised bed in the soil not use wood or metal sides what difference does it make how high it is um if it’s just native soil that you’ve mounded up ah so so that whole process of digging um digging the soil out loosening it adding organic matter and then adding more like you actually dig out the either side of it and you Mound that on top what you’re creating is a nice um open soil situation where you’ve got air gaps and those air gaps are super important for allowing the micro organisms to live and survive to allow water to filtrate down through and also help develop the roots of your plants as your plants develop bigger and better Roots they have the capability of absorbing more nutrients and growing so um that mounding AC accomplishes all of those things that are going to give your plants a fighting chance to to grow and Thrive that’s what you think do you have a I agree I that is the kind of vegetable gardening I did I had mounded up U my vegetable garden and I had great success with that I could also use Roll Cover I could put in a structure and use Roll Cover in that defined space I I found that a very successful way of gardening yeah yeah so um we did have one question that’s just just in case you know have you seen those PH soil probes yes do did you feel that it was accurate this this viewer wanted to know are they accurate or should they send their soil to a company or should they seek out soil PH testing somewhere well I did my own particular um test and I tested pH with with one of those probes and uh had gotten that as a gift from someone I wondered if it worked and then I also had my uh soil tested by the Clackamus Master Gardeners and they were pretty darn close it was pretty darn close oh that’s really good to know two within point two and point 2 isn’t going to kill anything unless maybe blueberries okay it was pretty close right that was my my um observation because I wanted to know oh is this worth using that is very good I’m really glad I asked you that question I almost didn’t want to ask you because I felt like might be putting you on the spot because sometimes you don’t but I’m glad to know you had experience with it and can give us some some positive Fe back to people who don’t know whether they should purchase that item at the Garden store or forget it um one last question and then we have to wrap it up but um squirrels and how do you protect your raised beds at the base from Little Critters getting inside what is the best way they wondered about granite a granite base you know of a granite rock base underneath um I know screening works but what’s what are your thoughts yeah mammals are actually one of the toughest pests I think because bugs you you can do things with bugs you can protect with birds but mammals they they have a little bit of a bigger brain and they um are tricky um so um prevention at the beginning with with screening is always a great idea and um and then as my son-in-law and my daughter put in that fencing for the squirrels that kept the big squirrels out but then they had mice and other things that could travel around um and there are some people use um nutshells the uh is it the hazelnut hazelnut shells and that sometimes is a discouragement but um and fighting Critters is an goinging problem a barrier whatever barrier you can do if you um if you if you can put uh netting around that is that is really going to stay put and not be too much of a nuisance for you to get into your garden that’s yeah yeah you don’t want to keep a barrier that will keep you out of the garden that is not Optimum right excellent session Priscilla thanks so much for answering those questions I’m sure everybody was delighted to have the answers happy gardening to everybody yeah get out there get growing and come to the Spring Garden Fair there will be starts there and they’ll be um free soil PH we will be there all right see you soon okay bye bye thanks everyone for tuning in