Planning a Vegetable Garden

Building a modified raised bed vegetable garden has taken all my time in the last few weeks.  It’s not hard — it just takes awhile for me to get it all done.  I’m just about finished (not quite, but almost) and thought I’d share with you what I’ve done so far.

What is a Modified Raised Bed Garden?

It’s an idea I got while reading some gardening books.  Basically, I use the soil already in place, but add a (whole) lot of compost.  I dig down about 12-16 inches, then raise the level another 6 inches with my modified raised bed.  So I have the equivalent of  a 16-20 inch raised bed.

Now one of the ideas from the books I’ve incorporated is what I’m using for the sides of the raised bed — hay!  Yep, I’ve peeled off squares of hay about 6 inches thick and have surrounded my garden with them.  They server three purposes:

• Create a “wall” to hold in the extra 6 inches of soil.
• Supress weeds at the edge of the bed.
• Create something soft for me to kneel on when I tend the garden.

It’s turned out kind of cool and yes, the hay really does make it easier on the knees and back!

What’s Gone Into the Garden (Supplies)

So far I’ve used the following in my 14′ x 3′ raised bed experiment:

• 3 bales of hay (I bought the cheapest they had), at $5.49 a bale.
• 30 bags of organic compost, at $1.65 a bag.
• 1 pound of soil activator, at $9.95 a pound.
• 2 pounds of kelp meal, at $2.60 a pound
• 3 pounds of organic vegetable fertilizer at $2.99 a pound.

So, that’s roughly $90 for my modified raised bed, not including the veggies I’ve planted thus far.  (I’ve been working from one end to the other, and I have about 10 feet finished and 9 feet planted.)  So far I’ve put in some cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, bush (string) beans and edemame.  I still have more tomatoes, lettuce and peppers that need to be planted in the last few feet of the raised bed.

This photo only shows one end of the raised bed — the section I’m still working on.  You can see by the shovel how far down I have dug, a few bags of the compost, some hay and the other soil amendments I’ve been using.

And remember what I’ve said about raised bed gardening — you can plant more intensively due to the well-aerated and well-amended soil.

Will This Work for You?

Now my modified raised bed vegetable garden isn’t something out of a gardening magazine — it’s not going to win any “garden beauty” contests.  But if you don’t care about that, there’s still one thing you need to consider — what’s your soil type?

Mine is sandy with thin layers of clay running through it.  It’s white and yellow and apparently almost devoid of anything that resembles decent garden soil.  So I’ve had to add a lot of compost in order to make the veggies happy.

If you’ve noticed, I’ve also added , a Soil Activatorand a Vegetable Fertilizer to the bed as I’ve worked it.  My soil is so poor that it needs even more “omph” than compost alone can provide (as you can see in the photo above).  And of course, they are all natural/organic amendments.

If your soil is sandy, has lots of clay or is fairly decent, this modified raised bed style will work fine for you.  It will not work for you is you have a thin, rocky soil — the 6 inches that the hay raises the soil above ground level probably isn’t enough depth for most vegetables (unless you don’t hit rock for at least 6 inches).

I’ll take more photos when I am done with the final few feet and the seeds have sprouted.