Plant Your Vegetable Garden in Beds Not Rows
About 10 years ago, I had been hearing about bed vegetable gardening and it seemed to make a lot of sense. Then, one day that winter, I saw it done on a TV garden show and decided that I'd try it that spring.
Before I go any further, I need to say that many of you will dismiss the idea as too much work and I can understand that. Personally, any time I'm outside in the garden, I don't consider it work. To me it's relaxation. Also, the bed method has proven itself to be a much better method for growing vegetables than row planting.
The benefits of planting vegetables in beds are many:
1. You walk in recessed paths around each bed to weed, water, fertilize or harvest opposed to walking next to the crops in rows. Consequently, you avoid compaction of the soil which is extremely important especially for root crops.
2. If you receive excessive rain, your beds will drain well. Your paths may have standing water but the plants in the beds will be fine without the problems they would have if they were submerged in water. Also, when the sun comes out, the bed will dry out quicker without becoming hard and crusty.
3. Planting in beds is MUCH more efficient than planting in rows. Typically, when planting in rows, you have a lot of space between each row that is wasted. When establishing beds, I make mine 4' wide with about a 1 foot path (shovel width) between each bed. I easily reach and workof 2 beds from 1 path so I'm producing vegetables in 4' wide strips with only 1' of non-productive area. For crops that you plant from seed, such as radishes, lettuce, spinach etc., you can broadcast the seed over a small portion of the bed and still get as much as you would get from 1 row. I usually plant radishes, spinach, romaine lettuce and peas (using a tower), all in 1 bed.
4. When you make your paths, you're shoveling that loose, tilled soil onto the beds. Since you won't be walking on them, the soil will remain much less compacted all season. Potatoes do very well in loose soil as do any root crops.
If I have you convinced, read on and I'll tell you how I do it. As with any of my tutorials, this is only how I do it, and I'm sure you can come up with ideas to make the process easier and faster.
First, as normal, I till the garden. It's always best to clean up the garden and do a tilling in the fall but I don't always get that done. I usually make 2 passes with the first pass relatively shallow then a deep pass. After your first year, the first pass will be a little more difficult because of the beds.
After you've tilled, you can start building the beds. At this point I should mention that you can build raised beds with 2 x 12s and then fill them with soil. I never considered this because of the cost and difficulty to maintain the soil. My method requires repeating the process every spring but is well worth the time and effort.
My garden is about 18' x 50' so I get about 10 beds. To make this process easier, first sharpen your shovel with a file or on a grinder. I start by going across 1 end of the garden using my shovel to scoop out the soil and pile it over the 4' wide area that will be my first bed. As I go, when I get to the bottom of the loose soil, I skim some of the deeper soil also. After I go across 1 end, I go about 10' on each side, again piling the soil over the areas of the 2 beds. I then measure off and mark the 4' for the first bed and then scoop a path across the garden and repeat for the 2nd bed. Now I have 2 beds with paths on all 4 sides. The paths will be between 1' - 2' deep from the top of the beds. After taking a break, I continue scooping my paths and measuring my beds the entire length of my garden. As I mentioned earlier, it does take some effort but I'm 64 years old and manage just fine with frequent breaks.
After you're done, gently rake each bed to even out the soil and you're ready to plant. Don't forget, don't ever walk in your beds!
No matter how you raise your vegetables, I hope you're blessed with all you need and some to share!
Happy gardening!
Before I go any further, I need to say that many of you will dismiss the idea as too much work and I can understand that. Personally, any time I'm outside in the garden, I don't consider it work. To me it's relaxation. Also, the bed method has proven itself to be a much better method for growing vegetables than row planting.
The benefits of planting vegetables in beds are many:
1. You walk in recessed paths around each bed to weed, water, fertilize or harvest opposed to walking next to the crops in rows. Consequently, you avoid compaction of the soil which is extremely important especially for root crops.
2. If you receive excessive rain, your beds will drain well. Your paths may have standing water but the plants in the beds will be fine without the problems they would have if they were submerged in water. Also, when the sun comes out, the bed will dry out quicker without becoming hard and crusty.
3. Planting in beds is MUCH more efficient than planting in rows. Typically, when planting in rows, you have a lot of space between each row that is wasted. When establishing beds, I make mine 4' wide with about a 1 foot path (shovel width) between each bed. I easily reach and workof 2 beds from 1 path so I'm producing vegetables in 4' wide strips with only 1' of non-productive area. For crops that you plant from seed, such as radishes, lettuce, spinach etc., you can broadcast the seed over a small portion of the bed and still get as much as you would get from 1 row. I usually plant radishes, spinach, romaine lettuce and peas (using a tower), all in 1 bed.
4. When you make your paths, you're shoveling that loose, tilled soil onto the beds. Since you won't be walking on them, the soil will remain much less compacted all season. Potatoes do very well in loose soil as do any root crops.
If I have you convinced, read on and I'll tell you how I do it. As with any of my tutorials, this is only how I do it, and I'm sure you can come up with ideas to make the process easier and faster.
First, as normal, I till the garden. It's always best to clean up the garden and do a tilling in the fall but I don't always get that done. I usually make 2 passes with the first pass relatively shallow then a deep pass. After your first year, the first pass will be a little more difficult because of the beds.
After you've tilled, you can start building the beds. At this point I should mention that you can build raised beds with 2 x 12s and then fill them with soil. I never considered this because of the cost and difficulty to maintain the soil. My method requires repeating the process every spring but is well worth the time and effort.
My garden is about 18' x 50' so I get about 10 beds. To make this process easier, first sharpen your shovel with a file or on a grinder. I start by going across 1 end of the garden using my shovel to scoop out the soil and pile it over the 4' wide area that will be my first bed. As I go, when I get to the bottom of the loose soil, I skim some of the deeper soil also. After I go across 1 end, I go about 10' on each side, again piling the soil over the areas of the 2 beds. I then measure off and mark the 4' for the first bed and then scoop a path across the garden and repeat for the 2nd bed. Now I have 2 beds with paths on all 4 sides. The paths will be between 1' - 2' deep from the top of the beds. After taking a break, I continue scooping my paths and measuring my beds the entire length of my garden. As I mentioned earlier, it does take some effort but I'm 64 years old and manage just fine with frequent breaks.
After you're done, gently rake each bed to even out the soil and you're ready to plant. Don't forget, don't ever walk in your beds!
No matter how you raise your vegetables, I hope you're blessed with all you need and some to share!
Happy gardening!
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