Additional Garden Beds

I love raised bed gardening. It is easy on the body, fast to weed and maintain. And most of all, fun to plant, garden and harvest. The boundaries of a raised bed keep our garden from going "wild". They provide early warming soil, extended harvest, great drainage and perfect enviornment for bio-intensive planting. We grow more food in 100 square feet of raised bed than you can in a tradition garden double that size.

Garden before additional beds.

We had 2 - 4' X 25' 12" high beds and a few smaller raised beds.
We removed the smaller beds and the tires in the back that
last years tomatoes were raised in.

The area was leveled and we started putting 2" X 12" X 24' painted boards together with metal corner and splicing brackets.

These were laid out and lined up parallel the exsisting beds.

The beds were then filled about halfway with exsisting garden soil.

Then cardboard was laid down to choke out perennial *weeds.

Lastly, the beds were filled with compost that we had purchased by the truck load.

The finished beds were raked and soaker hoses were laid out.

We used 2 - 25' soaker hoses put together with the hose resrictors removed. At the end is a quick release. Our feed hose has a Y on it with 2 - quick connects, so two beds can be watered at the same time. The feed hose has a timer on it at the faucet for easy watering.

We have 7 raised beds in the garden now, all as show, except two that are only 6" high for strawberries. Now that I am picking strawberries, I wish that I had spent the extra money for 12" on them also. Each bed costs approximately $35, including hardware.

*Weeds are only misplaced plants. Many weeds are useful medicinal or edible plants. We just don't need so many of them or they are in the wrong place. Consult a plant identification book or better yet have a knowledgable friend show you what is what. Then learn to use some of what grows wild in your yard. I truly believe that what grows locally is here for our use and will assist us in the healing of our most common ills.