Last week, while I was at the pool, a friend asked me to start working on a new bed. He went to work with a series of raised beds. Last year he told me about it and asked, "How successful have I been in the long garden?"
This basic initial idea of how you want to start your garden should be an early season decision that can define your gardening year. Answering these decisions takes time and money. But the possibility of a bountiful harvest of vegetables at the end of the year is high.
The friend who asked me about my experience with raised beds has a daughter who was able to grow her garden with raised beds last year. First, I found some quick benefits: easier for the gardener, beautiful at the end of the season, less pest infestation, better drainage, less weeds, better soil temperature and earlier planting time, garden can be permanent or temporary and less risk of soil pollution.
I recommend bed gardening to most of the vegetable lovers I know for many of the reasons I mentioned at the end.
A few years ago, another friend of mine told me that she didn't like the display of vegetables she usually saw on store shelves. I agree with him in a way. What I think is a World Health Organization study that highlights the significant difference between organically grown vegetables and fruits and organically grown produce.
If you look for organically grown vegetables, you will have a great source of nutrients compared to conventionally grown produce. In other words, conventionally grown crops likely lack the micronutrients we all need in our diets. This means that if you can't find the organic products you want to buy, a wise person can consider market alternatives.
Raised beds include keyhole gardens, hay bales and Hügelkultur gardening. They all have their advantages and disadvantages.
When we installed raised beds at the North End Community Improvement Collaborative in Mansfield a few years ago, we saw many benefits in the first few years there. The beds contain prime garden soil, organic matter and soil amendments. Earth was light and airy because no one walked on it.
The soil was not compacted and plowing was not required. While working on this stand, we had the freedom to add soil, rich organic matter, compost and soil amendments that would produce what we wanted. Remember that the loss of soil and plants will reduce their nutrients, so you need to regularly add fresh soil to the raised bed.
If the soil is improved and enriched with nutrients, plant density can be increased; You will have a high plant to soil ratio. You don't have to walk between rows because you don't walk in bed. The challenge is that you have to bend over the flower bed to take care of the plants, so the length of your arms will determine how well you can take care of the plants. More vegetable plants mean more shade on the ground and fewer weeds.
If you collect most of the seed packets, you will find that the plant you put in your bed grows best in well-drained soil. Raised beds are usually raised, meaning the soil drains faster than a flat bed. In most raised beds, you'll find a rich, well-drained substrate, unlike our heavy clay soils in Ohio, where we need a pick, a stick, and a stick of dynamite to turn the soil. Keep in mind that your raised bed will need more water than a ground level bed unless you partially mulch as I suggest.
Raised beds are best managed for moles, voles and chipmunks. It is more difficult for these soil dwellers to overcome the wooden and wire meshes that line the bottom of the bed. If you make the wooden frame to fit between the holes in the bottom of the mesh liner, you can add a plastic liner to the edge of the frame. By doing this, you can provide a little water at the bottom of the bed and water the roots when needed.
Instead of spraying each plant individually for pests, you can control some insects by spraying around the bed. By raising the bed, you can place bird or insect nets or other insect protection materials above the bed. In general, pest control is easiest with raised beds.
When planning your garden this year, consider the beds my friends made while chatting by the pool. Let me know when you walk around your garden and see problems. If you email me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com I will help you as much as possible. I will be back at ohiohealthyfoodcooperative.org soon.
Thank you for participating in our column.
Eric Larson of Jeromesville is an accomplished landscape designer and gardening enthusiast and a founding board member of the Ohio Association of Professional Landscape Designers.
This article originally appeared in the Mansfield News Journal: Consider using raised beds in your garden this year.
