As an urban city dweller for over 10 years, I was eager to get my hands dirty when I moved to a small town in the Pacific Northwest.
What better way to reconnect with nature than through organic vegetable gardening? Not only do you get to spend time outdoors, but you can reap the rewards of this leisure time with a stomach full on the food you've grown! Started a raised bed garden is easy for a number of reasons.
First, it saves a massive amount of time tilling soil.
Digging up soil, turning it, removing rocks and weeds...
all of this is very labor intensive if you're planting directly into the ground.
But with a raised bed you skip all of that work in just a few steps.
The process is simple -- build a frame of any shape (rectangular, square, etc) from wood that is nearly a foot thick.
Next, drop the frame in a location that gets suitable sunlight and has easy access for watering.
The last step is to fill the frame with fresh top soil.
No painful tilling involved! A word of caution.
Many hardware and garden stores sell raised bed kits that are very easy to put together, but these should only be used if you're planning to plant a flower garden.
If you want to grow vegetables, I wouldn't suggest using them simply because they are usually treated with chemicals of some kind.
There's no guarantee that those nasty chemicals won't leech into the ground, thereby contaminating your soil and in turn, your vegetables.
Next, add soil and start planting! To learn more, simply follow the links below.