This birds-eye view was one of my early design sketches for my raised bed vegetable garden. Here are some considerations for planning and planting your vegetable garden, as well as advice on extending the harvest season into late autumn and winter. Tech savvy gardener may wish to create a database that tracks their crops, varieties, planting dates, and harvest results. I find keeping a garden journal or diary diary is super helpful. Once you’ve found your site and built your garden, the initial work is done but you’ll still need to stay organized from year to year to get the most from your space. I garden in raised beds to maximize production and reduce weeds. And if you’re looking to build a vegetable garden fast and on a budget, this article from our Jessica Walliser hands you an easy step-by-step method for doing just that. You may also be interested in my book, Groundbreaking Food Gardens which features 73 plans, ideas, and inspiration from food growing experts across North America and the UK. I also left room for seating so I would have a spot to sit and enjoy the garden.įor more information on gardening in raised beds, check out this list of raised bed articles which covers design, planning, soil, and planting. My main pathway is four-feet wide and secondary pathways are two-feet wide. I wanted space for a wheelbarrow and comfortable working. When I built my garden, I’ll admit it was tempting to cram more beds in my allotted space to use up all the square footage, but I was careful to leave enough room between each bed for easy access. My beds are sixteen-inches tall which provide a place for me to sit while working in the garden. As for height, this will depend on your design style, existing soil, and budget. By keeping beds narrow enough that you can easily reach the middle, you won’t need to trod on the soil. One of the biggest benefits of growing in raised beds is that you don’t walk on the soil, which compacts it. I’ve seen six or eight-foot wide raised beds but these are far too wide for you to comfortably reach the centre of the bed for planting, tending, and harvesting. I would definitely recommend keeping garden bed width to four or five-feet. These are common and convenient sizes as lumber is widely available in eight and ten-foot lengths. In my raised bed garden, the beds are either four by eight-feet or four by ten-feet. Raised beds keep the garden looking tidy, let me plant intensively and grow more food in less space, and are less prone to weed problems (that said, it’s very important to stay on top of weeds and never let them go to seed!)
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