Monday, August 04, 2008

The endless salad bowl

Before filling the new garden frames with dirt, I ran ABS pipe underneath with a vertical stubout in each one. Once the rainwater collection system is finished, the pipe will gravity-feed water to the gardens.
Next, the beds were lined with 2" foamboard insulation, followed by a couple loops of PEX hydronic tubing to provide future solar heat to the plants in the spring/fall (summer only lasts about 3 months up here!). The PEX tubing enters and leaves the frame through holes I drilled on either side of the vertical black water pipe. Fortunately, I had just enough leftover foamboard and PEX tubing from the barn foundation to complete this project without needing to purchase anything...

Finally, the beds were filled with dirt and seeds were planted in July. I also built temporary covers using permeable cloth to help retain the heat and (more importantly) keep out the deer that have suceeded in eating virtually everything we planted in our other gardens.

And 3 weeks later- Voila! The endless salad bowl.

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