A raised vegetable garden is not just a pretty ornament to make your garden look nice – they can produce an endless supply of healthy food with very little time. In this article I want to point out just how much time you save with a raised garden as opposed to traditional gardening techniques.

It’s so common for gardeners to plant their crops in long lines about a yard apart. However, this approach is much much more time consuming than it need be. Why? The answer is digging and weeding.

It’s not that people can’t be bothered to maintain their garden, but more that there is just not enough time in their busy lives. Usually, only when the children have grown up and left for college that the parents can start to consider growing vegetables – which is a shame as there is a great shortcut to all this hard labor….. raised bed gardens.

So why isn’t there a raised vegetable garden in every backyard? Because of tradition. Its just the way that its always been done, and hardly anyone knows the secrets of raised beds.

Planting in lines has been done for generations and generations, going right back to the agricultural revolution. This layout was first conceived to allow ploughs to be dragged over fields, and a scaled down version was adopted by gardeners. The problem is that for small spaces, this is really not that efficient in terms of both the space usage and the amount of time needed to prepare and maintain the garden.

Digging the ground is something that put off the majority of people who would love to grwo vegetables at home. If that isn’t bad enough, you’ve also got to weed the soil. But with a raised vegetable garden, you can avoid these problems completely because the plants are so tightly packed that the weeds are shaded out.

As there aren’t any pathways in between the rows, you can fit around 4 times as many crops per square foot on average. This means you can have a much more compact growing area, leaving space for sheds, patios, etc.

There are other advantages of raised vegetable gardens such as needing 80% less water, and being able to grow on bad soil, or any surface for that matter. However, the biggest reason for building a raised bed is the huge amount of time saved. It’s no joke that as much as 90% of time spent gardening can be saved. As opposed to spending over an hour on the garden each day, you only need to give it a couple of minutes.

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Gardening by means of a raised bed can be a lot more comfortable than regular gardening and can solve many common problems.

In a raised bed a scaffold is employed to contain soil above the ground at a suitable height so this kind of gardening is just right for someone in a wheelchair or who has difficulty kneeling down to cultivate a conventional garden. You can easily raise all types of plants including vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Our main reason for using raised beds on part of our property is due to heavy clay soil with really poor drainage.

Drainage is a lot better in this sort of garden and plants that prefer soil that is well drained will prosper.

Raised bed gardens are not complicated to make but if you are not skillful at carpentry you can purchase raised garden kits that are trouble-free to put together and will look attractive for many decades. They are accessible in a lot of shapes and sizes so you can be sure to find one just right for your garden. In addition they also look especially eye-catching and several are made from cedar which is certain to last for many decades.

Some Advantages of a Raised Bed

• Earth in a raised bed warms up more rapidly than the soil in your garden early on in the year and will hold the heat for much longer later in the year. This gives you a longer growing season, consequently you can sow or transplant seedlings earlier and give them longer to grow.
• If you have inadequate soil in your garden which is lacking in nutrients or maybe is very heavy clay then using raised beds can resolve your problem. You can make available high-quality soil with all the right nutrients so that your flowers and vegetables will grow perfectly.
• If you suffer from physical or medical problems that make it painful to kneel down or this type of effort causes back problems then the use of a raised bed will make gardening much easier. Making a bed at an appropriate height will prevent pressure on your back and knees and let you work for longer. For those who have to make use of a wheelchair this manner of gardening will let them benefit from growing flowers and vegetables which they cannot do in a standard garden.
• In a raised bed that is suitably prepared, drainage is much better than in a traditional garden and you will not have waterlogged earth that can damage your plants and cause to poor growth.
• In a raised bed you may plant much closer which permits you to grow extra plants in the same area and also helps to prevent growth of weeds and also conserves water.
• Soil doesn’t become compacted from being trodden on in this kind of garden which lets air and water to reach the roots easily allowing them to grow well.
• While you can combine earth from your garden with soil bought from a garden store it is preferable to use 100% newly prepared soil. This will ensure that there are no pests or weed seeds present in the soil which will provide a much healthier foundation for your garden and your plants. It will also cut down weeding. If pests do invade your raised bed they are very easy to deal with in a small area or, if necessary, you could clear out all of the soil and restock with new, uncontaminated soil.

Conclusion

Raised gardens may answer many of your gardening problems, are very good-looking and will provide service for many years. Cedar raised garden kits are enormously popular as they are resistant to water and exceptionally long lasting. Whether you decide to make your own raised garden or obtain a raised garden kit you will discover that you will like your gardening more and will grow many more healthy vegetables and attractive flower beds.

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• What You Need to Know About Gardening (hbb2obm.com)

Image via WikipediaOkay, this post is mostly a reminder to myself not to screw up like I did last season. It was our first real summer as backyard gardeners and I didn’t do the home work I should have so we would be prepared.

Instead of planning ahead of time we just did what we thought was the right thing to do. Not too bright but we are learning and sharing what we learn.

I think my wife should have looked to see if I had a green thumb before she allowed me to run the show.

We are already planning for next spring and maybe this year we won’t be a month late planting our garden. We were probably the only ones in town that had new potatoes at the end of the season. I have to laugh at myself sometimes.

I am sure that I am not alone when it comes to being a newbie as a backyard gardener. I figure I might just as well put the tips here that I need to remember so others starting out won’t make the same mistakes.

Backyard Garden Tips For Spring

Garden Tip #1: Start planning your garden NOW, while it’s still winter. We waited until it was already spring before we started our planning and by the time we had our plan in place we were late, very late.

It’s all a learning experience by there is no need to learn the hard way, like we did last season.

Garden Tip #2: Know the nutrients and soil conditions for each plant you put in your garden, whether they are vegetables, fruit or flowers, they all have nutritional requirements that will cause them to suffer if not met.

Garden Tip #3: Our soil sucks big time and almost like concrete so we chose to use raised bed so that we would have the right soil no matter where we planted.

Garden Tip #4: Know what the spacing for each plant you decide to grow but keep in mind that some plants can be planted fairly close together and then thinned out as they grow.

This tip is great for those that like baby beets or baby turnips. You can have an early treats while giving the rest of the plants more room to grow as they mature.

Garden Tip #5: Keep good notes on your progress and don’t give up if you mess it up like I did. Just learn from those mistakes and do better next time.

Even though I was late planting we still had a lot of great produce, just not as much as we would have if we had planted a month sooner.

Image via WikipediaWhen you think about vegetable gardens, chances are that you usually associate them with warmer weather. However, there is no need to feel sad when the weather gets colder, because you can bring your love of vegetable gardening inside with an indoor vegetable garden.

Indoor Winter Vegetable Gardens Require Space and Patience

The first thing that you need to do before you begin your indoor winter vegetable garden, is to figure out where in your home you would like to place it. Make sure that the area you choose has a constant temperature, and gets at least a few hours of sunlight each day.

It should be noted that there are two ways that you can create an indoor winter vegetable garden. The first way is to simply get some large pots, and get vegetable plants like carrots or tomatoes that have a not very complicated root system.

The second way that you can create an indoor winter vegetable garden is to build a box about four feet long and 3 feet deep, fill it with soil, and cultivate larger vegetable plants. However, if you do choose this method, make sure that you have a good drainage system, because otherwise mold with grow in the soil, thus making the vegetables not edible.

Of course, all of the planning cannot even take place without the actual plants! One thing that you can do for your indoor winter vegetable garden is to take a couple of plants from your summer vegetable garden and transfer them indoors so that they can continue growing.

Something else that you can do is grow the plants from seeds, starting in the summer, and then nurturing them until they are ready to harvest in the winter. For this, you can purchase them from your local gardening center, or you can get the seeds from various vegetable plants that you have already grown.

If you are lucky enough to live in a warmer climate, then you have the option of growing your vegetable garden all year. However, it also poses a bit of a challenge too, because vegetables are only able to be harvested for a certain amount of time each year.

For more information on the kinds of gardens you can grow in the winter, search the internet. There are many reputable gardening sites on this topic. You can also go to your local gardening center and ask for advice. With the proper research and planning, you are sure to cultivate an excellent garden.

Image by Will Merydith via Flickr Get Your Child Involved in Your Spring Vegetable Garden!

When spring comes around each year, it is a time of new beginnings, and nicer weather. Spring also is a time when you start to get your yard ready for your spring vegetable garden. Your child was still too young to help before, but now your child has shown an interest in helping, and you can easily find ways for your child to help with your spring vegetable garden!

Spring Vegetable Gardens: A Lesson in Patience

Children are usually quite exuberant, and throw tantrums when they do not get what they want quickly. Thus, as a parent it is important to teach them the value of patience. Indeed, getting your spring vegetable garden ready is a perfect way to teach your child this important virtue.

Begin the preparation for the spring vegetable garden by getting the soil ready for the planting. This usually means tilling the grass, and then getting rid of residual weeds. Get down on your hands and knees with the child, and together start lucking out the weeds. Your child will gain a sense of accomplishment with this task.

Once the soil is ready, the next step is figuring out what vegetables you would like to plant in your spring vegetable garden. Take your child to your local gardening center, and have your child pick out a packet of seeds and choose a vegetable to plant. Tell your child that the chosen vegetable plant will be entirely in your child’s care. This will teach your child a sense of responsibility.

When the time comes to plant the vegetables, you plant a seed, and then teach your child how to plant the next one. When it comes time to water the plants, allow your child to water them with the hose if you child wishes. This teaches your child basic gardening techniques.

The fun comes when the child watched the vegetable plants get bigger over time. The child might begin by being a bit impatient waiting for the seeds to grow, but make it into a game, where together each day you go out to the garden and see if any seeds have gotten bigger yet.

Vegetable gardening is a wonderful hobby for children and adults alike. Not only do you get to eat the results of your hard work, but what you eat is nutritious. Not only this, but gardening with your child can result in many wonderful memories, and that alone is truly priceless.