A raised bed garden is very much like a container garden. It is constructed of boards, or anything that will make a frame that sits directly on the ground and will hold your potting soil or topsoil. If you have space outside in the sun where you can fit in one or more beds of any size, you can produce an abundance of delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers. If you are on a budget, look for large containers like tubs or shipping containers that can be bought at a bargain price. If you are an experienced gardener and know that you will continue to use the beds; it is wonderful to be able to have custom-built raised beds constructed. I use raised beds made out of very old railroad crossties which are too old to be useful for anything else.
1 Place your raised bed in a location that receives full sun for at least eight-hours a day. If you are able to locate the bed in a north-south direction, with the four-foot ends pointing north-south, your plants will get longer exposure to the sun. Four-feet wide and 8-10 feet long is ideal for most raised beds. Measurements should allow you to work in the bed while standing on the ground outside.
2 Side depth should be at least 8-10 inches which will accommodate most vegetables. If you need deeper soil for other root crops you can either make deeper sides on the bed or till and amend the underlying soil to the depth you need. Plan to use either a soaker hose or some type of drip watering system if possible. Raised beds drain quicker and dry out faster than in-ground gardens. Also, they warm up quicker in the planting season and are not affected by heavy rains as much as ground level garden soil. Adjust the sides so each is level to prevent moisture from draining to a low spot.
3 Maintenance is easier than in a ground level garden. Use mulch to control weeds. Amend your garden soil with compost or rotted manure in spring and fall. Leave roots of any vegetables you harvest in the soil to decompose and aeriate the soil. In the fall, plant a cover crop of red clover, rye grass or legumes between your cool weather vegetable crops. If you have no crop in the raised bed, plant it with a cover crop of your choice.
4 The variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs which will thrive in raised beds is limitless, subject only to the climate where your garden is located. You are in complete control of the soil and water. You can place the beds in the most advantageous place to get maximum sunlight. Just determine which planting zone you are in, read on the seed packets or plant tags to see that the seeds or plants you choose will grow in your planting zone. The most interesting part of gardening has to be watching seeds sprout and healthy plants grow.
5 This type of gardening should produce something for you to harvest almost year round, depending on your planting zone. Plants can be placed close together and can be interplanted with other plants or flowers. Actually, any small bit of bare soil will grow something. Just sprinkle a few radish, lettuce, spinach or marigold seeds anywhere, or slip in a pepper, tomato or herb plant if the vacant space is a little larger.
Raised garden beds are a joy to use and they are very forgiving of mistakes or miscalculations. If you have too many plants, move them to another bed. If the plants are not healthy, pull them up and put them into the compost pile. Harvest your crops and discard roots back into the bed, or better, place them in a vacant bed to decompose.
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