Raised beds - really raised

 I've asked a similar question back a ways but I thought I'd ask again
with a twist.

The coming year we're looking at starting vegetable gardening, however
the soil is all dense-pack clay. We're looking at raised beds - by which
I mean building boxes and raising them about three feet off the ground
because neither of us can bend over for regular weeding easily.

My back-of-the-envelope calculations show a 1m x 2.5m x .5m box, when
full of wet soil, weighs in at just over 1400kg!

Has anyone here raised growing beds this high? What sizes of beds would
you recommend?

Thanks!

--
The word "urgent" is the moral of the story "The boy who cried wolf". As
a general rule I don't believe it until a manager comes to me almost in
tears. I like to catch them in a cup and drink them later.
                -- Matt Holiab, in the Monastery

 There were some built on the Martha Stewart show.  They were shallow for
things like lettuce and such which is how they kept the weight down.  
Here's the article:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/salad-table

I have a friend in a wheelchair.  He had raised beds built on his patio
so his chair would easily roll around the concrete between beds.  These
beds were about counter top height.  However they were soil from ground
up - just really tall raised beds.  Again, you don't have the weight
problem because there aren't legs holding anything this way...just lots
of soil to fill something this big.  His beds weren't huge - 4 feet
square?  He had to be able to reach the center from his chair.

marcella

 

My raised bed is 16' X 4' X 24". There is a 4" X 4" redwood post at each
corner, and mid way on the long sides. Attached to the posts are 2" X
12" redwood planks. Never had any trouble from it. Occasionally I've had
to replace a post and a couple of planks (once each), which isn't bad
for 25 yr. of service.

You may want to investigate keyhole gardens. They take less space for
paths and leave more space for gardens. They are particularly good for
difficult to reach corners of the yard. Whether inside the garden or
out, the useable portion of the garden shouldn't be more than .6m from
the path. Using this reasoning, a raised rectangle with access from the
perimeter, should be no more than 1.2m across. The length depends on how
much garden you need.

If your garden is a meter tall, only the top .5m need be garden soil
(30% - 40% sand, 30% - 40% silt, 20% - 30% sand, and 5% - 10% organic
material)
http://www.raw-food-health.net/RaisedVegetableGarden.html
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

 Billy wrote:

Here that much redwood would cost a bomb, especially 12" planks.  I would
use the right class of eucalyptus.  Clearly price and availability will vary
with your location.  Ask your timber merchant for a grade that is rated
durable for continuous contact with soil.  Or consider concrete blocks etc
instead of timber.


You may want them narrower than that if you are short of stature and/or not
very flexible.

 

As luck would have it, I'm surrounded by redwoods. The lumber isn't
nearly as good as the old heart wood but it still last a fairly long
time. Forever, compared to pine which rots away in a couple of years if
exposed to the ground. I'm not sure what the 2 x 12s go for these days.
Couple years back I bought some 4 x 4s for a project, and they were
about a dollar per foot.

That's why I have colleagues to fill in what I over look ;O)

- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.