How to build a raised bed for your vegetables

When I started growing vegetables few years ago it started with containers. They are a good way to start or for people who have limited space or just a tiny balcony. But if you own a large garden it’s better to use raised beds. Raised garden beds, also called garden boxes keep pathway weeds from your garden soil, prevent soil compaction, provide good drainage and also look really nice in my opinion. They help people with back problems- because there is less bending. In many places gardeners are able to plant earlier in the season because the soil is warmer and better drained when it is placed above ground level.

I was browsing through my photos from recent years to show you how it looks in my garden. I have a few pictures from the time we built our frames. We had few just built on the ground with no mole protection- moles didn’t bother us but smaller animals did. So I recommend that step.

I don’t spend too much money on the wood- the sturdy ones are 3-4 times more expensive so I decided to go with cheaper one and build another ones in few years. My oldest box is 6 years old and still working like a charm.

Here is how the raised beds look like:

Here is how we built them- see inside without the soil.

For the inside I use- old cardboard on the bottom, then a layer of not ready compost material- leaves, scraps from the kitchen, grass. Next layer is ready compost and next one good soil from the gardening center. The bottom layer heats up as it dies in the compost and as the upper layer receives that heat it makes tiny seedlings grow faster in colder weather conditions.

This is how we do it..

the mole net- use one!

The ready compost layer.