Cinder block vegetable gardens

[newcriminal]

I plan on building and planting a cinder block vegetable garden. I want it completed by the end of the month. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.

p.s. I can't even grow indoor plants, my children are the only things I have managed to grow successfully.

[alfie]

1. I have 4 4' x 12' raised beds edged with cinder blocks

I put them in place when I moved here 8 years ago. I covered the grassy area with cardboard, newespaper, junk mail, etc. I then lined the cinder blocks up. My beds are only one block high, so no cement needed to put them together. I then filled each bed with mushroom compost. I have had great success growing in these beds. Since I filled them with compost, it needs topping off just about every year. This year, starting last fall, I started putting alll my of compostables from the kitchen and coffee grinds from a coffee shop directly on the beds. On top of that I put wheat straw. As I have pyulled back the straw, I have found nice soil/compost underneath. Weed seeds will blow onto your beds, so you will still have to weed, but not as much. Other factors like watering and weather are wild cards. I do like my beds and my results. No further fertilizing is needed. You might get a soil test of the underlying ground, though, to see if you are lacking somethig.

Good luck!

[sendero]

2. Not sure what you mean...

.... but I have several Square Foot garden spaces and I used cinder blocks instead of wood to create the raised beds. Just a border of cinder blocks with an inside dimension of 3' x 14' or so, I have different lengths.

I did this because I like the raised bed square foot gardening method and wood won't last but a few years unless it is treated, which is not a good idea to use around food crops (the chemicals used to treat wood are very toxic).

I fill the raised bed with a mixture of peat, vermiculite, compost and good topsoil.

We have had good luck growing in these beds. I use a drip-irrigation style system (not really drip but more like flooding the top of the bed) to water. Weeding it trivially easy, since the soil is quite "loose" pulling out weeds is easy.

Also, we have planted things in the cinder block holes and that works well except that if the plants get big they interfere with your access to the bed. Last year I planted a couple okra plants in the cinder block hole, one of them grew HUGE with a 2' trunk!

My blocks are just placed on the ground, no mortar needed. You do have to level each block perfectly and it is a bit of work to put one of these beds together correctly.

Good luck!

[Aerows]

3. "I can't even grow indoor plants"

I'm in the same boat, except I don't grow children, I just have a cat I rescued. You have to want to do something, though, and if you are like me, you kind of don't see the point to ornamental plants. I am trying very hard to grow some tomatoes, onions and tabasco peppers. You know, useful things.

I guess I just have a limited attention span when someone discusses repotting their spider plant or their fern. I get immediately interested when people discuss their produce!

[bvar22]

4. We have experimented with Cinder Blocks.

We are considering them for a terrace retaining wall because our Veggie Garden is on a slope.

We planted Strawberries in the open tops of the Cinder Blocks,
and encountered only one problem.

For some reason, Fire Ants LOVE to nest in them.
I guess they see them as little Penthouse Condos.
Since we don't use any poisons near the food we eat,
they have proven difficult to get rid of.

We are planning on pulling up the cinder blocks,
and blocking the down side ends with something the ants can't penetrate.

The Strawberries love these little planters.
They are a little easier to tend and attractive.