BYG: Raised Beds

I recently got my raised garden beds put in at the new house.  We have had exceptionally wonderful weather in Texas so I am getting a jump start on the garden this year. 

The best part about backyard gardening is you can grow produce wherever you live.  You don't have to have a yard or a raised bed.  If all you have is a patio you can plant vegetables in pots.  It can all be modified for any living situation.  

For my beds, I reused the boards from my previous garden boxes.  There was no sense in throwing any of them away.  The pain of storing it has been well worth it.  Since we have increased the square footage of our yard we are growing the garden as well.  There are several little people in the neighborhood that seem to have an interest in the garden and I want to make sure I have plenty for them to do when they stop by.  I made the two squares I had last year into one rectangle and I'm going to add another one to the left of it.

I also had plenty of weed barrier left from the roll I bought last year.  This is a key step if you are planning on building raised beds.  To keep grass and weeds from growing up in your beds, you'll need it on the bottom of your boxes. 

I've been saving all of this soil in four large trash cans.  The original investment was big and I didn't want it to go to waste.  If you are just starting out use the ratio above to create the perfect balance for vegetable growing.  Soil is the foundation of your garden so it's worth it to make sure it's full of nutrients and free of chemicals.  Once you have it, and you're composting, you shouldn't have to purchase any more. 

I still need to increase the volume of my soil because I am planning on growing potatoes, onions, and carrots and need more depth since I have the weed barrier on the bottom they can't break through.  This is why I started the compost bin you can see in the background.  

I'm planning on planting early this year because of the weather.  It can't hurt to try.  I'll be sharing that journey here.  I hope you come back to check in on the indigo garden.  

For a full tutorial on how to build a raised bed, click here.

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For the month of February I am working on raising scholarship money to send kids from low income families to an outdoor school.  Will you help me?  Click here to read my story and to donate to this worthy cause.