(Left) First we staked the corners of each bed and pulled a string to make them the right measurement. We raised up the beds to 32" from the ground. This way we don't have to bend over. We started with a fairly level area and measured it for the maximum amount and size of beds we wanted. In this case the outside measurements of most of the beds is 46" wide x 14' long. Some of the beds are shorter to go around an existing tree.

Right) The first level of hollow concrete blocks were put in place. We used 6" x 16" blocks. We used cinders underneath many of the blocks on the first and most important level. It needs to be straight and level if the blocks are to fit right and stay in place. We did not use any mortar or glue, the blocks are dry stacked. If need be, they can be disassembled.

(Left) On the ends of each row we added a 6" x 6" block to each level so we would have the width we wanted. We didn't want the width too wide, so we wouldn't have to bend too far forward from either side. We added two more levels of blocks to all the beds, then started adding the cinders to the lower half. Cinder is for good drainage as well as affordability here in Hawaii. We are also filling up inside the blocks with cinders. We staggered the blocks in a brick pattern for better stability.

Photo above is the finished height with all four levels of the blocks in place. They are half filled with cinders and waiting to be filled up with dirt as the second half.

(Right) We ordered 18 yards of cinders. We probably could have ordered 14 yards, as we have a lot left over.

The first phase of our garden did really well and we filled it up with vegetables and herbs in no time. It’s a good idea to rotate the crops in different beds and with the variety of vegetables we were growing it seemed like we needed more beds. So in 2013 we added 7 more beds next to the first ones. You can never have enough garden beds!

We made a retaining wall below the new beds, then created this long bed as part of the retaining wall for herbs and edible flowers. The netting between the upper and lower beds is to support green and red seedless grape vines.

In 2016 we added 3 more beds to give us a total of 20 beds! We think this is finally enough!

Two of the new beds are 14’ long. We like the longer length and it saves on some hollow tile the longer you go.

We’d love to hear about your garden, please contact us:

 

Kandice & Rodney Crusat

P. O. Box 6932

Ocean View HI 96737

(808) 929 8198

 

Email: kandicecrusat@gmail.com

or rodzukes@gmail,com

Here are the finished raised garden beds ready for planting.

(Left) We ordered 15 yards of soil which is a 50/50 mix of soil from the Hilo side and composted macadamia nut husks from Mac Farms on the west side of the island. We had almost a yard left over, so we could have done with 14 yards of each, cinder and dirt. We thought it's better to have a little too much, than not enough. We can always use the left over's for other projects that are always in the works. We are thinking of planting more of the Anna apple trees, as they seem to do really well at our 4500' elevation.

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