Gardening is one of the Top 5 Prepper Skills I recommend people learn. It can be both extremely rewarding – and fairly frustrating. I’ve been gardening for close to 15 years in my backyard using a 25′ x 30′ foot in-ground spot as well as buckets, raised beds, and various containers.
For many, space is lacking and soil is questionable. It is important to get started NOW to learn gardening and get your spots ready. Soil can be improved over time – and it can be made worse. The point is the sooner you start the better off you’ll be.
For many, raised beds offer a quick and simple way to get started. There are a lot of positives with raised beds such as being able to place them pretty much anywhere that will get sufficient sun.
Here is a simple, easy method for building a raised bed garden:
Needed Supplies:
1 12-foot board – or an 8-foot and 4-foot(width of board determines height of raised bed. I recommend no less than a 6″ inch board)
8 nails or screws 2″+ in length
Needed Tools:
1 saw (jig saw or table saw will work)
1 ruler
1 pen or pencil
1 drill or hammer
1 drill bit slighter smaller than whatever size nail/screw selected
Steps to Building a Simple & Inexpensive Raised Bed Garden
The first thing to do is get everything together in one place. Make sure batteries are charged and power tools are plugged in.
Next – we need to create two 4-foot pieces. If you have an 8-foot board simply mark it off and cut it in half. If you have a longer 12-foot piece mark off 4 foot – cut it, then mark another 4 foot and cut again.
Either way, there should be a single 4-foot piece left at this point. Measure its length and cut it in half.
Above – a total of 4 pieces should be available. Two should measure 4 feet and the other two 2 feet.
Pre-drill the holes for the screws/nails. This step is not necessary but helpful to reduce the chance the wood will split.
Now – go ahead and screw all the boards together in a rectangle shape. Make sure the longer boards are set on the outside of the short boards for each side or the rectangle will be off.
Your finished product should look like the photo above. Now simply place the raised bed wherever you wish, fill with soil – and plant some seeds or plants.
* * * * * * *
This project is not complicated and it’s not rocket science. I considered generalizing the instructions without all the pictures and lists but decided to make it a bit more detailed. The size of the bed can be easily adjusted to whatever you wish. 4′ x 8′ beds work well. Going longer has its advantages but going wider makes it difficult to reach in and pick.
Soil? That’s always a question and searching on the internet you’ll come up with all kinds of concoctions. I can only tell you what has worked for me and your mileage may vary:
1/3 composted cow manure(Black Kow brand if you can get it)
1/3 peat moss
1/3 natural soil from area
The above formula is pretty much what I have been using for the past few years and it has worked well. A high-quality potting soil can be substituted for the peat moss or use it with everything else if you wish.
There is a lot of talk about “Mel’s Mix” on the net if you do a search for raised beds. It might work – but it is EXPENSIVE! I’ll pass.
When growing vegetables in raised beds here are two tips to keep in mind:
- WATER: You need to WATER MORE OFTEN than in-ground gardens. In a raised bed gravity naturally pulls the water from the soil thus daily – and even twice daily watering – may be needed. I’ve seen many gardens start off looking good and then hear complaints stuff didn’t grow. Reason? Lack of water. The larger the raised bed the less of an issue this is.
- MULCHING: Mulching is a huge benefit to decreasing moisture loss through evaporation and reducing weed growth. I’ve used grass clippings, dead leaves, pine bark, and local city mulch available to the public. Be careful with grass clippings as if any of the cut grass grew enough to have seed you just planted them in your raised bed.
This post may not seem very timely as much of the country is nearing the end of growing season…but WAIT, there’s MORE!!
Fall gardens are being prepared and readied for planting now.
No better time than now to jump on the gardening bandwagon.
Recommended Gardening Books:
I have been feeding myself for decades from my back yard garden but in recent years have turned it up a notch by having truck loads of wood chips brought in which has boosted fertility to an unbelievable degree. Also I have gotten into permaculture by planting mango trees, moringa trees, purple tree collards, and a Barbados cherry tree. More stuff going in all the time. I find gardening to be addicting.
Also I planted Chinese yard long beans and have been harvesting about ten a day. Might not sound like much until you realize that they are each 24″ to 32″ long!
Sounds awesome CaptTurbo. I wish I had more land to garden with. I’ve maxed out my backyard.
I did the same thing so now the side yards and front yard are being planted with trees, Suburban corner lot here. I’d love more room too but we have to do the most with what we have. Also, I keep planting moringa seeds in small containers so I always have seedlings to give away to curious neighbors. I explain to them that it’s the most nutritious vegetable known to man and that I’m pleased to have my neighbors growing it so they are less likely to need what I have should some kind of collapse occur.
I do similar … sometimes hay bales which do a pretty good job of keeping grass out over the sides.. and then turn the bales under in the winter. On the wood beds I use 3 boards and cut one in half to make my square .. to minimize work.. I spade out the grass and use grass cloth on new beds too….
For me I add the for sale topsoil from whomever is cheap, and add some miraclegro potting soil to it with the native dirt…
I have lots of quail, ducks and chickens .. as well as composting .. so the following years I throw that in there ..
One thing in this area that works really well is a truckload of aged cotton hulls … they usually give it away .. it’s left over from the cotton harvesting and they just pushed out on the ground. You can grow a broom handle in the stuff. needs a lot of water though.
We doubled ours this year .. and all the surplus we have been selling at the farmers market in our near by community. It’s not a ton of money but will pay for seeds etc and it’s all on a cash basis. We talk about building a cash reserve … and it seems we can do that …. someone else gets the overhead and we pay a small cash fee…. have made some interesting barter connections as well
GG58
You can also purchase composted cotton “burrs” (they’re not called “hulls” – that’s what is left after the cotton seed have had the oil pressed out of them. They’re too oily to make good compost. They’re usually sold to cattle feedlots anyway). You may even be able to find some that has a good bit of composted chicken manure mixed in with it. Just make sure to keep lots of water on it or your plants will burn up quickly! Price is pretty reasonable and makes a great amendment for poor soil.
We started out with three 8 foot by 4 foot boxes. We used the raised beds for regular gardening for 3 years, but then decided to expand so we could grow more tomatoes. We then got the vacant lot next door to enlarge the garden through our local county land bank by swapping 20 years of sweat equity for the lot. We tilled it up and planted tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins. We use straw for mulch and then till it under in the spring. We also blow/rake our leaves onto the lot in the fall. We have had a bumper crop of tomatoes. We also got some 3 inch PVC and caps for them and use them for watering the tomatoes. You cut your PVC into 3 foot pieces, put the cap on one end and tamp it down. Take a 1/8 inch drill bit and drill a hole into the capped end of the PVC. Put it inside your tomato cage and then fill it with water. That way you can water the plant without having to worry about fungus showing up, Here is the link so you can see my tubes in action, http://www.hometalk.com/1740599/tomato-cages-vs-tomato-ladders-and-conserving-rain-water