my leafy garden – raised beds

Ok – I was asked a few questions about my previous garden post —

I’ll try to answer the questions here – but if you have others please ask me. I’ll be breaking it down into smaller subjects to post so I don’t feel so overwhelmed.

first is RAISED BEDS.

For the past many years we’ve gardened using a plot we dug in the ground in the back yard. Each year we’d rototill it and scrape out rocks and add nutrients like crazy and each year we’d end up with chubby fat little carrots and some seriously sore backs. A couple of years ago David built raised beds. I thought it was unnecessary, I mean we have dirt already right? Why pay more and take the time to build the boxes. Verdict is in. I was so wrong. The raised beds have been so much easier. David built them and then we bought a bunch of nice soil from a garden supply place and had it delivered in a truck – that way we weren’t hauling bags and bags of soil. And less waste right? They contain moisture nicely, the soil you put in which we brought in by a truckload, delivered from a local nursery supply company, has been REMARKABLY free from weeds and also, our mountain land problem of so many rocks in the soil. They’ve been worth it 100%. We usually just keep straw in between the beds and it works well. I have read that you can put down newspapers (soy based ink kinds – which is most I guess) and then put your straw over that and it does a nice job of biodegrading and keeping the weeds down (more than just the straw alone). But we’ve not needed to do this.

David built the boxes out of pressure treated lumber, 2×10 boards, each bed is 4 feet x 8 feet. The new pressure treated lumber doesn’t leach dangerous chemicals into the soil so they’re safe to use with vegetables.

More reading here at gardeners.com and a soil calculator.

And more here and here