Having so much bamboo in my garden got me thinking. Yep, I got a lot of bamboo slats from a former shack that was demolished last year by housing workers.
I got a lot of bamboo slats, and they've been very useful. I usually use the bamboo slats for plant supports, and more importantly, I also use them to cover the growing medium in the raised bed from cats that defecate in the raised bed.
The two raised beds I made from white brick were already filled with plants. So I decided to make a new raised bed from these bamboo slats.
First, I had to create a square pattern in the ground. I would build the bamboo raised bed at the end of the plot next to the irrigation system. After creating the pattern, I then dug the ground so that the bamboo slats would be easier to insert into the ground.
Because this land was a former dump of house construction materials, the ground contained a lot of brick fragments. I had to dig slowly.
I felt the ground was soft enough after digging. I started to hammer the bamboo slats into the soil.
I used an iron hoe to pound the bamboo slats, which helped them become firmly embedded.
Finally, a raised bed was formed from the bamboo slats. It looked pretty neat. 😻❤️😍
I finished the raised bed. Then I filled it with organic material in preparation for planting.
First, at the base, I filled the raised bed with used cardboard boxes. I got a lot of used cardboard boxes from online purchases. So, it was very useful; nothing went to waste.
After adding used cardboard to the bottom layer of the raised bed, I added an important component for the fertility of the growing medium. I added chopped banana stems, which I had prepared earlier.
I filled the bamboo raised bed almost to the top with the chopped banana stems. This was no problem, as they would shrink quickly.
After I finished chopping the banana stems, I continued to add grass to the chopped stems.
Then, I added the kitchen waste compost I made in an old gallon jug. It doesn't matter if the compost isn't fully composted yet, as it's still kitchen waste, because it will decompose in the raised bed.
The final layer of fertile organic growing media in the raised bed is a mixture of soil, burnt rice husks, and goat manure.
Done, yay! Happy, happy, happy! 🌸🌸🌸 The clear sky is already very hot. But the view is beautiful with the super blue sky and beautiful flowers. Photos that don't need editing.
This raised bed can be planted directly with easy-to-grow plants like water spinach and spinach. But don't immediately plant plants with sensitive roots like chilies and tomatoes in the raised bed. Wait at least a month.
Meanwhile, I plan to plant ginger in the raised bed in a few weeks. I'm currently preparing the ginger seedlings for transplanting.
So, I hope you're also excited about the new season in the garden. Until next time!
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
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Discord: anggreklestari#3009