Raised Vegetable Beds | Finegardener

Another type of "raised" bed.

The clients want to try out veggie gardening before investing in permanent raised beds. They also want their young kids to both eat their veggies (what parent doesn't?) as well as learn to be responsible (ditto). Everything you see was done to encourage their kids to eat what gets produced. These include:

Plants at a child's height.

Kid sized veggies such as "Sungold" yellow tomatoes. This particular tomato is as sweet as candy. Also red cherry tomatoes for variety.

Miniature cucumbers that are mature at 6". The clients tell me their children like to watch individual cukes grow and cannot wait to harvest them. Visible growth from day to day helps keep their interest.

No pesticides or herbicides of any kind - able to pick and eat whenever they like.

With mom watching, the kids are responsible for watering these plants plus a small orchard I recently installed.

The plants are located close to the nexus of family activity, so they are always in view.

If all else fails, there's always ranch dressing - it works!

The same containers will be repurposed for winter veggies.

Yes, moms and dads, you really can get your kids to eat their veggies, and I've seen it happen many times over the years.

When you are ready for this level of knowledge, creativity, and craftsmanship in your garden, give me a call.

I invented this (and it actually works).

Here are a couple of typical raised beds after the winter crops have been harvested. Both need a replenishment of organic matter (composted chicken manure is my favorite), but do you see the problem? No? How can I amend the soil with the irrigation system in the way?

To solve this problem, I installed a union in the riser line which can be unscrewed and taken apart whenever needed. I lift out the entire soaker hose system, set it aside, cover the top of the pipe with a plastic bag, and then service the bed. Note how much the soil level went up after the addition of amendments. This is completely normal.

Call me if you would like this level of knowledge, creativity, and craftsmanship in your yard.

World's best trellis. (IMHO)

I like construction that both does the job and lasts a long time. This is a trellis system I have used several times, and it most definitely achieves both goals.

Note how the mesh actually sits on the wood. A full trellis can get mighty heavy.

This is an inexpensive product that will last for decades and it only takes a few minutes to install. All it takes is a couple of T-posts and a sheet of galvanized hog wire and you are ready to grow many types of crops vertically. Placement is critical as you don't want the trellis to shade the bed.

A few weeks later, this is what you get. The clients will have several different kinds of fresh pole beans for the rest of the summer and then peas will go in for the winter and spring. The shade produced by the trellis falls on the ground and not on the rest of the bed. There is plenty of room in front of the trellis for a 'Sungold' cherry tomato along with sweet peppers, eggplant, and okra. Doesn't that sound tasty? Oh, and all the flowers? The clients enjoy sitting on their patio and looking at them while they eat fresh veggies. Client satisfaction is the reason for doing everything.

Give me a call if you would like level of knowledge, creativity, and craftsmanship in your garden.

Do your children eat their veggies? Are you looking for something the whole family can do together?

I have built many raised-bed vegetable gardens for clients over the years who wanted to grow their own food and introduce their kids to the joys of gardening.

A raised bed makes growing veggies a lot easier than planting in the ground. Easier for both children and their busy parents (think of your back). Add an automatic irrigation system and you don’t even have to worry about forgetting to water on hot summer days.

Want to see a look of joy on your child’s face? Watch what happens when they pull out and eat their first radish or carrot or watermelon they grew from seed. Make the experience even more fun by letting them grow and eat edible flowers. What could be more relaxing after a busy day than for the whole family to pull up and eat fresh vegetables that you grew yourself?

For whatever reason, kids seem to love ranch dressing. At least this is what clients have told me. If that is what it takes for kids to eat their veggies, I say buy the stuff by the case!

Everyone can grow their own food and have fun at the same time. Really. To find out how easy it is, give me a call. I’ll be happy to meet with you and answer your questions.

Here is an example of a winter garden in a small raised bed. Bear in mind that the bed needed no supplemental water the entire winter aside from just enough to get the plants established after planting. The soil was well-amended prior to planting, so no fertilizer was needed. Winter gardens are truly one of the easiest ways of all to garden.

I only made this bed 3' wide instead of the usual 4' because there wasn't much room in the client's side yard. Still, they get a lot of fresh veggies all year long. Notice how there is access on all 4 sides for easy harvesting. I try to design everything I do for your convenience.

The broccoli has already been harvested once and another crop is on its way. Fresh broccoli straight from your own garden might just change your opinion of this plant. I know I couldn't stand the stuff (ditto for cauliflower) until my mom made me eat some we had just harvested from our garden. What a revelation!

Peas of all types are my favorite winter vegetable. Here, we are growing snow peas. They are great for cooking as well as eating raw. When these pics were taken, the vines had been producing nonstop for 2 months and they will likely continue to produce for another month.

So, how exactly do you water raised vegetable beds?

I prefer to use professional-grade soaker hoses and fittings instead of drip lines. The components are more expensive than what is available at the local hardware store, but they also last longer. The hoses are made of recycled tires and ooze water along their entire length vs. just at the location of the emitters. Take a look at the pic of bed I recently irrigated. It’s only 3’ wide, so I needed 3 hoses. There is a lot going on here that is out of site upstream, but you get the idea.

Don’t let mobility problems stop you from raising vegetables.

I have a diabetic client who loves to garden, but has trouble getting around. Look at what her vegetable garden used to look like:

Her daughter set this up so that she could remain on a hard surface, but it looked pretty bad and didn’t grow much.

This was my solution:

The first thing I did was to run an irrigation line to where the new bed would be as this eliminates the need for hand watering. Then, I set my posts so that the bed would be right up against the concrete walkway. This gives her a stable surface on which to walk. Once the posts were in position, I clamped a 2 X 4 to them and tried different heights until the client found one that was comfortable for her.

This makes it easy for her to sit down on the top and also get up again. Look closely at the top board. It is a wood/recycled plastic composite product and will never rot or produce splinters. Note how the bed is only 2’ wide. This allows the client to sit on the top board and comfortably reach into the bed with one arm to harvest her veggies.

A soaker hose grid tied to an Internet-based controller means that the homeowner never has to fool around with a manually programmed timer – the program can be seasonally adjusted using an app. I’ve added trellises on each end since these pics were taken and now she is able to have both a very productive summer and winter garden.

Don’t ever let physical problems stop you from doing what you love. There are always solutions, and together we will find them.

Rolf's Recipe

for a Good Time

Ingredients:
- the whole family
- a sunny day in spring
- bowl of ranch dressing (substitute another - creamy type depending on tastes)
- beer or wine for the adults

Directions:
Everyone sits around the top of your raised bed. Pick whatever winter crop is ripe such as peas, lettuce, radicchio, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Since you didn't use any chemicals, there is no need to wash them. Dip into the dressing. Eat as much as you like and plan ahead for your summer garden.

That's a beautiful bed, isn't it? You can make raised beds as beautiful or as simple as you like. Just keep in mind that such beauty is expensive to create and also to maintain. Your plants certainly don't care.

Want a different look? Here is an instant raised bed that is useful in many situations.

It needs a sturdy base and extra drainage holes to function properly and there is a danger of the roots getting too hot. The big problem, IMHO, with these types of beds is that there is no place to sit. I do think it would look a lot better without that label.