Raised Bed Gardens
You can buy or build your own raised beds. I built my own
out of wood. You don't want to use pressure treated wood because the
chemical they use to treat it will seep into the garden. A lot of
hardware and department stores sell kits now that have all the parts
you need. To build one on your own like I did, just figure out what
size you want it to be, for example 4 width x 8 long x 12 high. I
chose 4x8 so I can reach to the middle from the sides. You will need
3, 8 feet long, 12 inch high by 2 inch. I also used 2x4 blocks for
corner supports.
You will need a saw to cut the corner pieces and the one 8 foot
in half for the ends. You will also need nails and screws. I used
nails to nail together the ends and screwed in the corner supports
to help prevent the wood warping and pulling apart. A drill will
help to make the hole for the screws.
You can measure out your area and dig out the grass or till the
dirt. You can break up the sod and turn it into the dirt it will
decompose. Using 12 inch wood you will want to loosen 6 inches of
the dirt in the bed. If you add 12 inches of new dirt to the 6
inches you loosened that gives you 18 inches for your plants roots,
which is just right. That is what a "Deep raised bed" is. You want
to mix in organic matter
into the bottom 6 inches. The dirt you fill in with should also have
organic matter mixed in. The top 6 inches should be good clean
topsoil. I was fortunate enough to have found free horse manure. If
you use manure of any kind it has to have dried out for 6 months to
a year or it will burn your plants. A good way to tell is it should
not smell anymore. It should smell just like good dirt. Starting
with good soil is the most important in growing good stuff. The
organic matter if not decomposed enough should be added in the fall
before planting. If you're starting with a new bed in the spring add
in store bought bags of manure, dried chopped leaves, grass
clippings and at least 6 inches of topsoil.
Build the bed next to where you want it because once built it is
heavy to move. If you don't want to build a bed you can still use
the raised bed method. Just add good soil to your in ground garden,
building mounds about 6-12 inches high. Make sure you loosen the
dirt in the ground and add in
compost so you will have about 18 inches of loose good soil for
the roots. One thing you never want to do is walk in you garden, it
compacts the soil and your roots will have a harder time growing and
spreading. So if you're growing in the ground leave yourself walking
rows and walk in these only. Cover them with straw of chopped leaves
to keep weeds down. That is one more advantage to boxed in beds; you
can grow in all of it so you get more room for the same amount of
space. Now it is time to draw up your
Garden Plan. Happy Growing!
Florida
Backyard Vegetable Gardener 
