Articles

Raised Bed Gardening

raised bed garden black goldWritten by Nan Sterman

Raised bed gardening is productive. Imagine this: a vegetable garden that produces a huge amount of food in a small space, takes a minimum amount of water, requires very little maintenance, and brings the plants to you, rather than you having to bed down all the way to the ground.

Sound impossible?  Not at all if you garden in raised beds.

Raised beds are like giant, bottomless planter boxes filled with your favorite soil mixture.  The best beds are four feet wide – about right for an adult to reach the middle.  If you garden with children, 3 ½ feet better suits their shorter arms.

Bed length makes no difference, though the longer a bed, the more efficient use of space.

When my now teenage children were small, they each had their own four by four raised bed separated by a three-foot wide walkway.  Three feet accommodates most wheelbarrows (and wheelchairs).  Through childhood, they grew whatever they wanted in those boxes.  One year, my son planted everything purple – eggplants, asters, purple sugar cane, purple leaf lettuce.

The plants didn’t matter, as long as they were purple.

Eventually, their interest in the garden waned, so we replaced the two little beds with one big bed, the length of the two beds plus the walkway.  My new bed was eleven feet long and a more efficient use of the space.

Bed height is important.  I’ve seen four inches tall beds, but I prefer them 18 to 24 inches tall with a 2” x 4” wood cap to sit on and set my tools on as I work.  If you garden from a wheelchair, you might want something even taller.

While my beds are made of long-lasting redwood, in the school garden I manage, our beds are composite lumber made from recycled soda bottles and ground wooden palettes.  They look just like wood but they will last absolutely forever.  And we really liked the idea of using a recycled material.

Raised beds can be made of other materials as well; stone, rock, bricks, blocks, logs, broken concrete.  If your budget is small, make temporary beds from 25-foot long straw-filled mesh wattle. Irrigation and landscape supply stores sell them for less than $30 each.

Coil the wattle into a circle or, if the circle is too large, coil it into a two-tiered circle. Fill with soil and start planting.  The wattle will last for about a year, depending on your climate.

If you garden in gopher-ville or battle other root-loving critters, line the bottom of your beds with galvanized hardware cloth.  The tiny mesh protects delicate root crowns from gnawing teeth, but doesn’t prevent fine roots from growing deep into the soil.

Have your irrigation in place before you set raised beds in the ground.  Use drip irrigation to target water directly onto plants.  Drip is far thriftier than overhead spray. It also keeps water off plant leaves where it can cause fungal diseases like powdery mildew.

Finally, fill beds with a soil mixture that is at least 30% organic matter.  Skip the potting soil, it is great for pots but not for raised beds.

Add soil to within about four inches of the lip, then top with a two-inch thick layer of Black Gold Earthworm Castings and a healthy sprinkle of Black Gold Tomato and Vegetable Fertilizer. Use a hand trowel or small spade to turn the amendments into the soil.

After you plant, continue to apply a quality fertilizer throughout the growing season.  Annual vegetables, fruits, edible flowers, and herbs are all hungry feeders.

So, for the biggest most beautiful plants and produce, don’t forget the fertilizer. Organic fertilizers and amendments are always better for your plants and your soil than synthetic products.

Mulch your raised beds with old straw and you’ll soon have a wonderful harvest.
Every year, refresh the soil in your raised beds by adding a thick layer of an organic compost such as Black Gold Soil Conditioner or Black Gold Garden Compost Blend.

Enjoy!


Potting Soil or Topsoil?

BG-WATERHOLD_1cu-FRONTWhich should you choose, potting soil or topsoil? I’d like to start this post with a story: A couple of weekends ago, we had a truckload (12 yards) of topsoil from a local supplier delivered to our house. I had brought it in to fill our new raised garden bed and to supplement our existing flower beds. Many people asked me what the difference is between potting soil and topsoil. My goal in this blog entry is to answer this common gardening question.

Topsoil is typically manufactured using a combination of local ingredients. The soil is blended by combining two or more of the following: a local loam (a local soil typically from a construction site), compost, sand (typically from a sand pit), peat moss (often local), sawdust and garden mulch (less composted garden waste).

In contrast, Black Gold potting soils are manufactured using a combination of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, coconut fibers (coir), earthworm castings, forest humus (composted bark and other wood products), compost, perlite, pumice and added fertilizer. It’s richer, more consistent, and higher quality.

Topsoil is manufactured using mineral soil (natural loam), while potting soils are manufactured without loam soils, and are often referred to as soilless growing mediums. Topsoil is manufactured without the use of an aggregate, whereas Black Gold potting soils use both perlite and pumice. Aggregates are added to potting soils to increase soil air capacity, which helps the roots breath. Most topsoils also do not come with a fertilizer incorporated in them, while all Black Gold potting soils contain fertilizer. Also it is important to consider the bulk density (the weight) of the two products. Topsoil is typically very heavy while potting soil is significantly lighter.

What does this mean? It means that topsoils are designed to be garden fillers or extenders but are not designed for use in a container or hanging baskets. Topsoil often needs additional amendments as well. For example, I added Black Gold Earthworm Castings and tomato and vegetable fertilizer to my raised bed before I planted my garden.

Black Gold potting soils are designed to be used in indoor or outdoor containers or hanging baskets. High-quality potting soils are designed to create the complete ideal growing environment for your plants. Then all they need are sunshine, water, fertilization, and loving care (deadheading, grooming, etc).

Topsoil also allows you to get well acquainted with your wheelbarrow and the joy of finishing the day with a sore back. Unlike potting soil, you need to find a home for all the product you purchased, because your spouse and the neighbors probably would not like to see a permanent dirt pile in your front yard.