Why do we do, what we do? (Part Two)

Old timbre logs make a great cost 
effective raised bed.

In the previous post we introduced you to an article I've written and hope to publish. Below is part two of five...

Raise Beds, Raise Production

Other than the soil the type of garden bed you build is your most important consideration. If you have a lot of land the most common type of garden is the in-ground garden (where rows are separated in terms of feet, and walking paths occur between them). However, if you are limited in space, than raised beds become your garden of choice.

Building them is simple: you can use whatever materials you have at hand, or just build the soil into mounds without any walls. Anywhere between six inches to one foot is ideal, and the beds are usually no wider than a full arm’s length from either side. The main objective is to allow for sufficient water drainage and to avoid compacting the soil by standing in the beds.

We used an existing stone raised bed
for our bigger tomatoes.

Using raised beds also allows you to plant your fruits and vegetables closer together (again by not needing walking paths between the rows) which makes for a much more efficient use of space. You may wish to plant rows width or length wise or even try your hand at “square foot gardening.” And lastly, raised beds help decrease the sore back that seems to plague every gardener in existence!

Diversity is the best way to use the space you have efficiently, so in part three we examine how to incorporate container gardening around your raised beds!

Up next: Part 3: Think outside the box! [or garden bed]