Whimsical Raised Beds. Make Them Now.

This was cross posted on the Urban Farm Hub on 3-11-10. Check out the Hub!

People often ask about our raised beds.  A few years ago I was taking the Comprehensive Organic Gardener class through Seattle Tilth and while walking around one the P-Patches I saw that a gardener had used a few painted cinder blocks as part of their plot’s bed.  I brought the lovely ladyfriend to see the plot and told her that I wanted to build our new raised beds from cinder blocks and have friends/family mosaic them.

Want to follow along?

Construction:

We were able to source all the cinder blocks used on craigslist inexpensively.

And we bought some organic straw from Walt's and gathered up from cardboard.

We plotted off the area with string and stakes.

Grass removed- back breaker. Yowsa.

another view (with zia & the ladyfriend)

Getting the blocks put in place with weed block underneath.

2nd layer up

Cardboard down. You want to make sure and removed all tape that won't break down. Then wet it down really well.

Straw in! Wet this down thoroughly as well.

Coffee grounds and chaff. Again, water down well.

Putting back in all the sod that was removed earlier. Put them back in upside down. And, yep, water well.

Cover all the well-watered down layers with burlap/coffee sacks.

Mosaic:

Now you can start the fun bit!   Collect bits of broken glass, tiles, trinkets, etc.  You can also buy some mosaic supplies.  We got some of our glass from Bedrock in Seattle.  Gather up some friends and put them to work!

Some of the pre-grouted blocks. Nice, huh?

Me, 5 months pregnant, and my mom working on some more.

It helps to have awesome cousins willing to be on grout duty!

Mom with finished blocks in place.

Awesome don't you think?

I love how they turned out!   I think they add a real fun touch of color and art into the yard.

We used thinset mortar to attach the tile to the cinder blocks.    There are many ways to do this.  We applied a layer (1/8″-1/4″ thick) of thinset to the whole side of block and then put pieces in place, pressing in lightly.   It is best to plan out your design before applying mortar as it will dry quickly.   Have a damp cloth handy and wipe down mortar that squishes up onto pieces.  We waited a few days for thorough drying and then grouted them.  Now that is a job to try to sucker someone into doing. =)

First planting season (summer '07)- we just put in a few things for kicks as we were doing the rest of the hardscaping of the yard.

Beds early last year.