Gardening : Other : A Kitchen Garden : Home & Garden Television

Before

After

San Francisco gardener Anna Veneziano had a simple enough request: she wanted a vegetable garden. But Anna also wanted to be able to maintain her plot without a lot of bending and stooping. As a practical solution to the dilemma, landscape designer Jamie McMurray suggested building raised beds. "A raised bed lets you create the perfect growing conditions for your vegetables, including good quality soil that heats up faster for a longer growing season," says Jamie.The 8' x 4' beds that McMurray created for Veneziano are a practical project for most gardeners, he says, because they involve just a bit of building and a lot of hauling over the course of one weekend. He estimates the total cost for materials, plants and supplies around $900 ($2,700 if the entire job is hired out), which he says is a great value for all the fresh produce the project yields.

Step One: Preparing the Ground

Choose a sheltered location that's close to the kitchen so that seedlings won't get wind damage.
Find a sunny spot (the more sun, the better); eight hours a day is ideal.
Plan the box so that it's narrow enough to allow the center to be reached from either side for weeding, picking and watering.
Break up the soil underneath the beds with a pick (about a foot below) so the water that drains from the bed won't pool up and get soggy.
Make sure the area beneath the bed is level to avoid gaps where the walls meet the ground.

Figure A

Lay out four holes (McMurray used a rectangular 8' x 4' configuration) for the corner posts of the bed, using strings to measure and ensure the facing holes are evenly aligned (figure A).

To guarantee a solid foundation for the posts, dig holes one and a half to two feet deep.

Step Two: Building the Raised Beds

Purchase four 4" x 4" redwood posts and four 8-inch-wide boards cut to to the desired length for each side of the bed.
Pretreat the wood with one or two coats of wood preserver.

Figure B

Figure C

Center each pole in its hole and anchor with quick-drying concrete. Mix the concrete right in the hole, with the post already in position (figure B).

Check the position of the posts on both sides with a level.

Lay down chicken wire on the entire surface formed by the four posts and use staples to fasten it to the ground (figure C); this will protect the garden from burrowing animals.

Figure D

To create a means of irrigating the beds later, bring the end of a garden hose up through the bottom of the bed at this point (starting under the chicken wire) about six inches, and then attach a soaker hose (figure D). Once the bed is filled with soil, the soaker hose can rest on top.

Figure E

Figure F

Build the two longer sides (eight feet each). On each side, screw the four boards to the two posts, with no space between boards (figure E). Thirty-two inches high (four 8-inch wide boards) is a height that's easy for most gardeners to reach without bending, and it's deep enough to provide ample soil for the plants. (The two shorter walls will be built after the soil is added).

Staple pieces of thick black plastic to the entire inside surface of the walls (figure F) to protect the soil from the wood preserver.

Figure G

Figure H

To deter snails and slugs, attach copper tape on the top edges of the walls ( figure G). If snails cross it, they will be electrocuted. (This extra detail will cost about $20).

Slit a four- to five-foot piece of inexpensive pipe insulation down one side, then pull it open and secure it along the top edge of one wall to serve as a portable edge cushion (figure H).

Step Three: Planting the Garden

Since space in the bed is limited, concentrate on growing vegetables and herbs that would be expensive to buy in the store - fresh tomatoes, for example, or hot and sweet pepper varieties. (Vegetables such as potatoes are not a particularly good choice, because they take up a lot of space and are inexpensive to buy).
Plant in north-south rows to maximize the plants' exposure to sunlight. Vegetables thrive in full sunlight.
Lay out crops so that the tallest plants don't cast shade on the smaller seedlings.
Attach a trellis or climbing poles to one long side of the bed to create extra space for vertical gardening. Then plant climbers--peas, beans and the like--along that side.
Consider bordering at least one side of the bed with marigolds to discourage pests.
Get an early start with lettuce and spinach. The seeds can be scattered directly on the soil as soon as the ground has thawed enough to work the soil. Spring onions are another viable early crop.
Tomatoes and peppers need warmer soil, so gardeners who live in areas with freezing temperatures should start their seeds indoors. After warm weather has arrived, the seedlings can be transplanted to the bed.
Don't take seedlings outdoors into colder temperatures abruptly - acclimate plants gently over the course of a few days.
In colder weather, when there's not as much to grow, consider planting ornamentals such as kale or peppers to add color to the bed.
"Rotate" vegetables--that is, shift the area where different varieties are planted each season--to prevent soil-borne diseases from taking over.

Step Four: Bringing in the Soil

We are what we eat, says McMurray , and so are our vegetables. He strongly recommends stocking a raised bed with nutrient-rich, organic soil and then planting seedlings to take maximum advantage of it. His tips for soil are listed below:

Use a 50/50 mix of organic planting mix and potting soil. "You don't want soil with a lot of chemicals or sewer sludge," says Jamie. His preferred mixtures include steer manure, pumice and perlite.

Figure I

Figure J

Leave off the end pieces of the bed until it has been filled with soil (figure I). This way, a wheelbarrowful of soil can be emptied right into the bed.

Now's the time to bring the soaker hose attached to the garden hose up to the top (figure J) and fill in soil beneath it.

Once the soil is in the bed, complete the construction by building the two short-end walls, following the same process used to build the longer walls.

Build the soil further with bone meal and blood meal sprinkled on top, following the proportions recommended on the package.

Once the seedlings have been planted, put the soaker hose in place.

Mulch the seedlings to prevent pests and retain moisture.

Guests
Jamie McMurray
Landscaper/Owner
Simply Green Landscape Design and Installation
Phone: 310-403-1925
Fax: 310-388-1019
E-mail: smplygrn@aol.com
Website: www.simplygreeninc.org
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