As I mentioned last week, we are using the Square Foot Gardening method to plant our raised garden bed and in ground garden beds this year. In half of our raised garden bed the seeds were planted in the ground (Carrots, Green Beans, Radishes, Spinach and Snap Peas) and the other half we started from seeds indoors earlier in the year (Lettuce, Parsley and Broccoli).
At the back of the raised bed I have placed wire fencing that is anchored by two poles at each end. This is where the Snap Peas and Green Beans (Pole) will grow vertically.
Above pictured is our raised garden bed fully planted. Included in this 4 foot x 8 foot raised garden bed are:
- Lettuce
- Parsley
- Broccoli
- Green Beans (Pole)
- Carrots
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Snap Peas
In a previous post last year (which has been very popular) I showed examples of different raised garden beds, how-to build and the picture below is of our raised garden bed, full of green beans, from two years ago.
Raised garden beds are a great way to get started gardening, perfect for gardening in a small space and they are ideal for an easy to reach height for kids and adults alike.
The advantages of raised garden beds are:
- Raised beds warm more quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant earlier.
- Raised beds drain better.
- The soil in raised beds doesn't get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind.
- It's easy to tailor the soil for your raised bed to the plants you plan to grow there.
- After the initial construction process, raised beds require less maintenance than conventional garden beds.
Do-It-Yourself Network - How to Build a Raised Vegetable Bed
Home Depot Garden Club - How to Build a Raised Garden Bed
This Old House - How to Build a Raised Planting Bed
Portions of this post are modified from Sustainable Saturday - Gardening with Children: A Series Documenting our Garden 2010 - Raised Garden Beds by Saving Family Green (June 2010). Photo Credit: Amy Lloyd, ThisOldHouse.com
Read other posts in this Suburban Gardening Series:
Sustainable Saturday - Planting from Seeds
Sustainable Saturday - Square Foot Gardening
Sustainable Saturday - Planning for our Garden 2011
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