First Kale cut of the year. What have you harvested so far?
I like to grow a couple of Kale plants because you can continuously harvest from it for about 4-6 weeks once the leaves get big enough.
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Congrats on your harvest!
Very cool design on your raised bed. Curious on a couple things…what material is that made of? Almost looks like metal. What is the large box in your bed for? Are you using it to secure the tools inside to prevent theft???
Hi, the planter is made out of 1/4" steel plate and reinforced by 1 1/2" square box steel. All joints are welded. The bottom is open to the ground below. There are several small steel 1" square cross members inside well below the soil level that were left in after construction to retain dimension. Though they are not required. The brown box at the end is a SubPod worm composter. It is fed by kitchen scraps and it provides nutrients to the adjacent tomato plants. The farmbot rails are attached to the box by stainless steel M5 machine screws. The screws are inserted into 4.2 mm holes that were tapped fro M5 screws. This was all done as part of a large front garden renovation. My landscaping contractor thinks I am insane.
Wow…very impressive John!! Did you build this or have it built by your contractor? I would think moving 1/4" thick steel plate that size was no easy task due to the weight. Do you have to worry about rust? Very creative to have a composter inside your garden bed. How did you come up with that idea? Where are your tool slots? I don’t see them in your photo? What do your neighbors think of your set up? Sorry for all the questions…I love designing and building and your set up is like nothing I’ve seen before. Do you have any photos of this under construction?
HI Rob
My contractor would not touch it. He only took on running the PVC to the box for power and water. My electrician pulled all the wires in the conduit. We added 4 outlets and some other features in the whole project.
I hired a metal worker I know that also built the fence. He cut the steel in his shop and then welded it on site. It took 2 full 4x10’ plates, plus 60’ of square tube. I am not worried about rust. we used a good primer inside and out. (I have a 4’x4’ chunk of leftover plate).
The composter is from a company in Australia. It ships in a flat pack and you can buy it direct here through their distribution network. check out subpod(dot)com.
I have not installed the tool slots yet. Waiting for a break in the weather. I have them targeted, I just need to drill and tap holes for them.
I do have photos under construction posted here if you search on my name. If you have trouble finding them, I can to a more in depth post. I moved the Farmbot to the Front yard because the wooden box in the back yard shifted too much with weather. I went with the nuclear option and did all welded steel. One could build a wooden box and then install a steel box tube coping on top to mount the farmbot on. That would be cheaper.
My neighbors love it. We also have a Little Free Library in front of our house and we get lots of positive comments on both. That being said, I intentionally live in a neighborhood that does not have an HOA. Both our front yard and back yard have shifted significantly to edible plants.
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Nicely done John! Congratulations!
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