Homegrown: Plants thrive in a raised garden bed

(photos/Cindy Hadish)

I've been eating ultra-fresh salads this week, with greens picked from my backyard. After years of seeing others have success with their raised garden beds and vowing to build my own, I finally have one.

The use of raised beds has become widespread in Eastern Iowa. I know some gardeners who have used them for years, but they are also becoming more common in places such as community gardens and schools.

Advantages of raised beds include fewer weeds; more efficient use of space and convenience because you don't have to till the ground every year. With raised beds, the soil doesn't become compacted because you don't step into the beds as you do in a typical garden. Because they are raised up from the ground, it's also easier to tend the plants and the beds can be built at a level for people with physical disabilities to use. Raised beds are also said to extend the growing season, both earlier and later.  Since  I had a late start,  I'll need to find out at the end of this season and beginning of next to see if that proves true.

Step 1: newspaper layers

I never did get around to building a raised bed, but found one to purchase. If I had waited until I had time to construct one myself I'm sure I would still be waiting.

Some gardeners use weed-blocking fabric or chicken wire under the beds. I went with a method I've been using for years to create garden beds in my lawn, starting with a thick layer of newspaper, which I happen to have in abundance. Other gardeners choose cardboard for the bottom layer. I topped the newspaper with dried leaves and then layers of my own compost, followed by sphagnum peat moss and bags of potting mix and topsoil.

Step 2: leaves

For the better organized, use twine or other means to mark off 1-foot-squares. I marked mine with sticks and then covered the entire bed with garden netting to keep out birds and critters.

The result has been good so far. I've been harvesting pak choi and other greens; my peas are in bloom and all the plants are looking healthy.

As with anything, though, there is a downside. The moisture level of the beds definitely need to be monitored. With a normal spring, this might not be an issue, but with as little rain as we've had in Eastern Iowa, my bed has required almost daily watering.

Steps 3-6: add compost; sphagnum peat moss and bagged potting mix or topsoil

If you're considering using a raised bed, the photos show the steps I used. I wish I could say I had a blueprint for constructing a bed, but in the absence of that, I bought one from someone I know in the Lisbon area. He delivers to the Cedar Rapids area. This is the one I'm using here.

Steps 6 - 8: mark off 1-square-foot blocks; plant seeds or plants and cover with garden netting