Building first raised veggie garden tomorrow, send tips

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garden tips

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That’s a broad topic. For starters,

2024 Spring Garden Thread

Tip #1, don't crowd the bed. A 4 x 4 bed is kind of small, so you won't be growing tons of plants since many of them will get to be big long before they even start bearing fruit.

I hope you are planning on things that should be grown this time of year for whatever growing zone you are in.

I'm in N.O. and since it's almost June, it's about too late for some of the things I consider summer crops with the heat and humidity getting ready to kick on.

Post a list of what you are planning to put in the raised bed and you'll get better advice.

Don’t bother with tomato plants.

If the temp is above 90 they will not set fruit.

If you're in Louisiana you can start preparing for a fall garden. I usually plant in September.

A friend of mine ordered a corrugated metal unit. The bottom you put cardboard, then fill. I have a dump trailer, my friend owns a nursery. I filled it up with a bed mix. The mix is sand and mulch. The plants are doing great. Some Co-ops sell seed by the pound, that way, you are not buying a large pack of seeds. Buy good established plants, some items, it's better than starting from seed. Have a plan for crop rotation.
YouTube has a few good videos on this.
Best of luck.

Mine is gonna be a year old in September.

I wish I would have been patient and done a better job killing the grass under it first. I have grass coming up now and my wife thinks weed killer will give us all cancer if we just look at it.

I’ve found that I need to fertilize and water a lot. I think the frequent watering is washing the nutrition down and into the soils below. I don’t know if there is a way to prevent it, but I would research it.

Finally my first planting was a bust. Have your soil tested and correct it properly before planting. My second planting is going gang busters with correct soil.

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I'm going to scrape up the grass, put down cardboard, add some sticks and then my soil mix and compost. I'll probably do some carrots and broccoli in the fall

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How deep is the galvanized bed you are planning to use? I ask because a lot of plants put down roots damn near as deep in the soil as the plant is tall and having a fresh layer of cardboard down on top of the ground after the grass is removed won't let that happen, at least until it breaks down and goes away------and it will.

What it sounds like you are attempting is a light form of hugelkultur gardening but usually that form of gardening calls for huge piles of debris of rotting logs, hay, leaves, etc, and covered in garden soil. Then the plants are put not only on top of the finished row, but all along the sides as well so you get maximum use of the pile.

thanks for the heads up on this

i ordered one and will be arriving 5/31. i could run into town and get it in store, but i used a $5 off coupon code and got it for 32.5 after tax and free shipping

used the link below to find the coupon code. tried a bunch and there are still a few that are active.

https://couponfollow.com/site/northerntool.com

The main issue with raised beds and/or containers is keeping water and nutrients balanced. Raised beds need to drain to prevent staying water logged, causing root rot, but then they have a tendency to dry out. If you water enough, you’re rinsing out a lot of nutrients and will end up chasing deficiencies and have low production.

Drip irrigation in combo with slow release fertilizer is what I’ve found works around this, an automated hose timer will keep it consistent and you can dial in the time to keep soil damp but not soaked. Any of the box stores will carry timers and some fittings/tubing, basically legos.

Make sure the bed is where it’ll get at least 6hrs direct sun a day, preferably morning sun. Butterbeans, rattlesnake beans, eggplant, thin-walled peppers, and especially okra can still be planted now and give you some production before it’s time to move to fall plantings, but you’re gonna want to use starts.