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5 Steps to a Raised, Organic Garden Bed

  • Step #1-Find a spot with good sun. 5-8 hours per day. Mostly level with slight drainage slope. Southwest or South facing is usually good.

I built my first raised garden bed back in 2013.  I needed a second bed this year because I started so many seeds, and I was ready to expand my garden. I completed the construction of the second bed in June finally-thanks to a lot of help from my wonderful husband. He did a lot of the hard work this time because I was recovering from surgery.

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  • Step #2- Get materials, Construct, & Fill the Bed –

Materials needed– untreated wood, corner stakes, screws and drill, hammer

I refilled last year’s bed back in late April because it had settled and lost volume. I used some of my own compost from the Earth Machine, and I supplemented with organic mushroom compost and organic pine bark soil conditioner.

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The Rosemary, Lavender, Peppermint, and Oregano survived the winter!

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Lots of shovel turning later and …

  • Step #3- Decide & Plan what you will plant & where in the bed you will put the plants
  • Step #4- Plant herb and vegetable seeds and/or plants
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The picture above is from mid May at planting time. Everything looked a little yellow here, but below is a photo from just recently. Everything took off and I have had the best garden year yet!

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Sweet Basil
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Pickling Cucumber
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Early Girl Tomato
  • Step #5-Tend the beds by watering, removing pests, and harvesting throughout the season.

Enjoy the Harvest!

I am including a link to my Growing an Essay piece here. I find the connections and similarities between gardening and writing interesting.

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Composting Bin!

This “Earth Machine” compost container, made by Norseman Plastics, is really more than a “bin”.EMachine

I bought this a few weeks ago at my county’s Recycling Center sale. When I picked it up, there were Master Gardeners there to teach me about the basics and answer questions. I also got a free small kitchen bucket, with a tight seal, for holding the food scraps until I’m ready to take them out.KBucket

You can’t put meat, oil, fat, or bones in, but all other kitchen food waste is great. You mix 1/3 food scraps (greens) to 2/3 dead leaves (browns) and keep it slightly damp.  I hope to make a fantastic soil amendment for my garden. With our plastic and paper recycling and now the composting, we have cut our trash output by 80%!