hi this is Tim from organic backyard gardening I've been building raised beds
with drip irrigation for several years and have been having great success in
this short video I'm going to take you through all the build steps on how to
build a raised bed with drip irrigation how to secure all the material and
several tips I've learned along the way now couple benefits of raised beds by
raising the soil level this allows the soil to warm up quicker in the
springtime allowing for earlier planting in some region raised garden beds also
reduce back strain it prevents soil compaction because you're not stepping
in the garden for wood selection I use Douglas fir two by tens now this is not
as rot resistant as cedar however will last several years before rotting out
cedar is much more expensive and not readily available in my area I also use
four by four posts to secure the corners please do not use pressure treated wood
the chemical used in the pressure treating process can reach into your
soil and then into your food in this example I'm going to make a four by four
box so I'll first measure out four foot long boards and cut them with a saw I'll
then lay them out on a flat surface and make sure that the angles are square
I'll also measure each opposite corner to make sure that the measurements are
the same ensuring that the box is exactly square I'll then tack them in
with screws I'll then cut blocks for the corners and these will be a little below
the 10 inches so they don't show when they have soil over them
I'll then use four screws on each block
I'll move them over to the garden and you'll notice that they're not level
this does not look right a quick tip on leveling them out is to dig out the
perimeter and level out the perimeter and then put that soil in where the bed
would be this saves time instead of having to level out the whole area of
the raised bed I'm also building a bed that's cascading so I'm leveling out
those two beds and then securing them together I'm using some blocks to make
sure that they're level and then once I fill them in with soil they'll still
stay level now that they're level they're ready for soil but before adding
soil I'll quickly flip over the existing grass to ensure it breaks down quicker
some people add weed barrier however that's definitely not needed and
actually prevents earthworms from making their way into the garden with a large
project like this you're most likely have to bring in soil or compost I like
to find suppliers by using maps in searching for organic compost near me in
this example you can see there's many compost suppliers in the area many
suppliers will have a blend of soil for establishing new beds this typically
includes organic matter compost and alone for these beds I'm just using
straight compost that has worked great in the past
the notice that I'm doing this in the fall season from lessons learned in the
past follows the best time to establish new beds they'll be ready for you in the
spring and you don't have to deal with the snowmelt or an extended winter in
addition compost suppliers are typically not as busy in the fall time
don't be afraid to overfill the beds the soil will definitely settle
now it's time to install the drip irrigation and drip irrigation is really
easy to install and I like the company drip works calm
they have great documentation and really easy to use products if you go down to
clicker resources you'll see the drip planning guide this is the PDF that
gives you all the details you need to know in order to plan your drip
irrigation system irrigation allows you to put the water precisely where you
need it and with the slow release of the water you can water for a long amount of
time and that ensures that the water makes it down to the plants roots
without over watering that is really important you can also set it on a timer
and one of the most important aspects is that with the drip irrigation you're not
getting the foliage of the plants wet and this is really important with
overhead watering that can actually promote disease
now most kits will come with a screen filter a PSI regulator and a female hose
adapter later in the document is a great diagram of a raised bed with drip
irrigation installed and this is the plan I'll be following it calls for a
half-inch supply line going to a tee fitting this allows the supply line to
go to additional beds there's also an inline valve to turn on and off water
the elbow fitting takes the supply line up to the top of the bed where you'll
cap it and you'll use small transfer barbs to take the drip line to the end
of the beds everything is nicely mounted to the bed with small clamps and each
part has a part number next to it to make it easy for ordering the one
downside to drip works is I do feel that shipping is quite expensive however you
can sign up on their mailing list to get frequent coupons now here what the parts
actually look like this is the mainline drip line y connector
and cap elbow and they work with compression no tools needed
this is the punch into the main line the transfer Barb's fit into the drip line
and the drip line is capped off with goof plugs these are the clips that hold
everything together on the bed and last is the valve so I'm first going to start
off by digging a trench for the main line and I'll lay out all the parts
since I already have dripline installed I'm gonna take my existing connection
and put on an adapter that I can use to transfer water to the new beds
I'll then cut it where the connections need to go and I'll place the elbow
followed by the Y connector and then I'll add the valve then the final elbow
at the top of the bed and I'll place a cap on that main line for the top of the
bed I'll then secure everything with clips if you liked this video please
don't forget to subscribe to our channel and like the video I'll then punch five
holes in the main line for that bed I'll then use a transfer barb with pliers
I'll push the transfer barbs into the main line and then I'll put the drip
line into the transfer Barb's
the end of the drip line is capped off with a goof plug
now that this bed is complete I will repeat the steps on the remaining beds
the final step is turning on the water to make sure that there are no leaks
this is important before covering up all of the components if you liked this
video please be sure to subscribe like and post any comments into the comment
section below if you have any questions I'll be sure to answer them right away
motivation of creating these videos are knowing that I'll be able to help you
grow more food for your family so please reach out comment like and ask any
questions thank you for watching this organic backyard gardening video
Thank You!