Build Your Own Raised Bed Garden

Did you see my post about Our New Homestead?

Then you know that our new place has LOTS of room to GROW!

We've installed 4 new raised beds and had 2 on the property when we arrived.

We plan on starting with 8 raised beds at 4 feet by 8 feet and 12 inches high.  We're off to a great start after only 12 days!

Mary's Heirloom Seeds

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FEBRUARY 12, 2015 Many of you have seen our updates on facebook.  We have expanded our growing area over the last week.  This place is HUGE! We wanted to get growing fast but with the rocky ground at our new homestead, we decided to build raised beds.  Here's how we built... Building a Raised Bed Garden Tools: Drill (required) Circular saw (optional)   Staple Gun (optional)  Lumber: We purchased 2"x12"x16' untreated boards, untreated 4"x4" posts, 48" landscaping cloth and 3" deck screws from a local hardware shop. It takes 1 and a 1/2 boards to make these 4X8 beds.  That means 12 boards will make 8 beds. If you prefer to make smaller beds then you will need to re-adjust length/quantity of boards.  Screws: 32  3 inch "Star Drive" deck screws *These include a drill bit*  The 2"x12" board were cut in 4' and 8' pieces.    The 4"x4" posts were cut in 11.25" pieces. If you don't have a circular saw (or want to make the boards easier to handle) I suggest having the people at the shop cut your boards.  The 11.25" pieces of 4x4 post were attached   to the ends of the 2x12x8 pieces with the   3" deck screws. *4 screws per board per corner* 32 screws total  3 Sides up and ready for the 4th After taking the 4' and 8' boards to the garden the 4' and 8' boards were assembled so that the 4' boards covered the ends of the 8' boards with their attached posts.    This gave the assembled bed a 4'x8' OUTSIDE dimension so the landscaping cloth could be attached to one side with staples. Raised Bed with weed blocker on the bottom If you have gofers, you might consider laying down fine mesh wire below your beds.  We used landscaping cloth or "weed blocker" since we laid the beds down on vegetation.  The assembled bed was then placed cloth down and filled with good, organic soil with plenty of Organic Nutrients added to the beds.     For 4 beds @ 4ft X 8ft we used about 5 cubic yards of soil. Water the bed once it's filled with dirt and organic plant food.  We added more dirt once the soil compacted a bit. TIME TO PLANT HEIRLOOM SEEDS! ...NEW SEEDS...   GARLIC CHIVES SWEET PEA SPECKLED LETTUCE COMMON PLANTAIN BLUE FLAX PLAINS COREOPSIS

If you have additional questions please feel free to ask.  We usually reply to emails within a few hours. 
Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Planting,

Mary

Mary's Heirloom Seeds

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Garden in Minutes for Your Valentine!

I received these products for free to review. All opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.
 
We aren't big Valentine's day People.  In fact, We're spending our V-Day in the garden!  But I am a big fan of EASY projects. 
Recently, my husband and I decided to expand our garden "the hard way" and I sure wish we would have expanded with Garden in Minutes.

My Raised Garden Bed into my second planting!!!

You see, last year I received a 4 X 4 Raised Bed Garden Kit to try it out and review for you all.  It is AWESOME!  You can see my first review HERE.  I managed to harvest quite a bit from this amazing garden bed.

I grew Tomatoes, Radish, Squash, BEETS, Baby Pak Choy, Basil, Peppers, Cilantro, Borage and LOTS of flowers.  
One of the cool features of the Garden in Minutes Raised Bed Garden kit is the simplicity of installing the garden...AND of course the amount of organic goodies that you can grow in such a small space.

I've created 2 simple videos to help you put together your Garden in Minutes beds.  It's very simple and easy to do!





This year, rather than buying junk food and flowers that will die, invest in a healthier lifestyle and grow your own organic herbs and veggies in your own backyard.

Need a few tips for Seed Starting Made Simple?  We have a video for that too!

Helpful Links:

Basics of Square Foot Gardening

Building a Raised Bed Garden with Garden In Minutes

Choosing Plant Varieties for a Raised Bed Garden

Garden in Minutes makes Growing Organic Food Simple and Easy

And there you have it!  Go get yourself a raised bed garden kit and start growing!

My Youtube Videos

Hey there!  Thanks for stopping by!

A few months ago I published 2 youtube videos.  Wanna see them? 






I'm thinking I should try to film a few more.  What do you think?

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Garden in Minutes makes Growing Organic Food Simple and EASY!

Have you enjoyed my Square Foot / Raised Bed Gardening series so far?  I love growing organic veggies and herbs.  Growing organic saves us money since we buy less from the store and it reduces our carbon footprint since my veggies don't have to be trucked in from anywhere.

As the organic gardener in the family I know how fresh our produce is and I am confident it is the healthiest option since it is picked fresh before I prepare a meal.  I use absolutely zero chemicals or pesticides in my garden which also saves us money and reduces our negative impact on the environment.

Earlier this month I received an amazing gift from Garden in Minutes, 
a Garden In Minutes 4X4 Raised Garden Kit. 

• (1) 4×4 Garden Grid™ Watering System
• (1) Cedar Raised Garden Bed - Assembled size: 4ft x 4ft x 8in. Finished in an Eco-Friendly Soy based wood sealer.
• (1) Manual Hose Timer - allows you to set your water to run for a desired time and shut off automatically.
• (1) Single Water Flow Valve - allows you to adjust water flow at your Garden Grid™ from a drip to a full stream.

Raised Beds are made from 1-3/4 inch thick Cedar boards, for strong construction that won’t bow under the weight of your soil.

**Each kit also contains a free packet of heirloom, Non-GMO seeds from   

Mary's Heirloom Seeds**

About Garden in Minutes,
"Some of the unique qualities of our raised beds are that they are all made in USA, they are made using cedar which is naturally rot resistant, and we are unique in the fact that we seal our boards using an Eco-friendly soy based wood sealer :)
The Garden Grid watering system gives gardeners equal planting sections and waters plants at their base where they need it most, which also saves plants from damage caused by normal sprinklers."

Putting together our raised bed was so easy!  Rather than share in pictures we made 2 videos!!!

You can get your own raised bed, square foot garden at www.gardeninminutes.com

There are so many options to choose from and 
as you can see they're EASY to assemble!

Soil capacity of the 4X4 Raised Bed is approximately 12 cu. ft (not included).

Here's a before view of my garden bed:

After this pic I added more soil.

The Irrigation system works so well.  The gentle water streams feeds the soil and plant without damaging the delicate seedlings.

My tiny tomato seedling is oh so happy!

 I'm am thrilled at how easy the Raised Bed and Garden Grid Watering System was to assemble, fill and GROW!  So far everything is thriving!  If you're looking for a simple solution to growing your own food check out the different configurations of Raised Bed Garden Kits offered at Garden in Minutes.

After only 5 weeks my raised bed garden is growing faster than I ever imagined!  Here's a picture I took just this morning.

You can seed the squash (in front) is growing fast and using a raised bed has cut down on the amount of pests foraging in my garden.  The middle 2 rows are radish, beets, swiss chard and Basil.  The back row is Tomatoes and lots of Marigolds.

Happy Planting!

I received these products for free to review. All opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Choosing Plant Varieties for a Raised Bed Garden

To be totally honest, you can grow just about every variety of veggie seed in a raised bed.  The key is to choose varieties that you LIKE and varieties that you'll EAT.

For example, I don't grow Butternut Squash because my husband won't eat it.  This year I'm growing Acorn Squash because we LOVE it!

Table Queen Acorn Squash

With a 4X4 Raised Bed I have the option to plant 16 different heirloom seed varieties using the square foot gardening method all in a small space while also conserving water.  Yeah for eco-friendly gardening! 

Plan Ahead
Make a list of veggies and herbs that you'd like to grow.

From Basics of Square Foot Gardening:
There are four basic spacing guidelines:
Extra Large – one per square for 12 inch spacing
Large – 4 per square for 6 inch spacing
Medium – 9 per square for 4 inch spacing
Small – 16 per square for 3 inch spacing. 

source

I arranged my seed varieties on paper according to the companion planting guide.  If you're more visual, here's another guide:

For example: I planted 3 Roma Tomatoes along one side of the raised bed with Eggplant at the end.  Those are Companion Plants.  AND to encourage pollinators and deter "bad bugs" I also planted Marigold seeds within each square.  This way I utilize all of the space and I help the bees in the process.

As my main heirloom seed varieties I chose Roma Tomatoes, Anaheim Peppers, Listada De Gandia Eggplant, Table Queen Acorn Bush Squash, Golden Beets and Purple Plum Radish.

Sneak Peak: approx 2 weeks old

My Companion Plant "additions" include Genovese Basil, Dark Purple Opal Basil, Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard, LOTS of Marigolds, Oregano and Borage.  Outside of the 4X4 Raised Bed I planted Mammoth Black Sunflowers to add a bit of color and attract more bees and butterflies. 

I noticed that I already had a few aphids hanging around so I gave everything a coating of Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth.  For more info, read Using Diatomaceous Earth for Organic, Non-Toxic Pest Control.

It it important to give your plants plenty of nutrients especially during the beginning.  When I was filling my raised bed with soil I added homemade compost as well as organic plant nutrients.  I knew that I would be planting "heavy feeders" so I made sure to give them plenty of food. Find out more, Which Plant are Heavy Feeders?

Helpful Links:
August Seed Planting Guide for the US by Region
Using Coconut Coir Pellets for Seed Starting
Plant Nutrients - Getting Started
Benefits of Lemonbalm, Basil and Borage

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Building a Raised Bed Garden with Garden In Minutes

I mentions yesterday that I received a raised bed kit from Garden In Minutes.  Today I'm here to say...WOOHOOOO!!!  This has been once of the simplest garden projects so far.  Sure, I made it a bit difficult for myself in the beginning (before the kit arrived) but now it's smooth sailing!

First, I let on large section of my garden get completely over taken by weeds.  Yes, I'm admitting complete neglect.  I could have just covered over the weeds with cardboard or solarized.  Not me.  Apparently I like hard work.

I spent an entire morning pulling weeds from the root.  Seriously, that was totally unnecessary!
Here's the before:

And here's the after:

I felt like I had really accomplished something AND I had a great workout.  
About Garden in Minutes,
"Some of the unique qualities of our raised beds are that they are all made in USA, they are made using cedar which is naturally rot resistant, and we are unique in the fact that we seal our boards using an Eco-friendly soy based wood sealer :)
The Garden Grid watering system gives gardeners equal planting sections and waters plants at their base where they need it most, which also saves plants from damage caused by normal sprinklers."

Now for the good stuff  I received a Garden In Minutes 4X4 Raised Garden Kit. 

• (1) 4×4 Garden Grid™ Watering System
• (1) Cedar Raised Garden Bed - Assembled size: 4ft x 4ft x 8in. Finished in an Eco-Friendly Soy based wood sealer.
• (1) Manual Hose Timer - allows you to set your water to run for a desired time and shut off automatically.
• (1) Single Water Flow Valve - allows you to adjust water flow at your Garden Grid™ from a drip to a full stream.

**Each kit also contains a packet of heirloom, Non-GMO seeds from Mary's Heirloom Seeds** 
Raised Beds are made from 1-3/4 inch thick Cedar boards, for strong construction that won’t bow under the weight of your soil.
Rather than share in pictures we made a video!!!

You can get your own raised bed, square foot garden at www.gardeninminutes.com

There are so many options to choose from and 
as you can see they're EASY to assemble!

Soil capacity of the 4X4 Raised Bed is approximately 12 cu. ft (not included).
Here's what I used:
3 buckets of organic homemade compost
layer of organic soil
1 cup of Organic All-In-One Plant Nutrients
1/3 cup Organic Nitrogen
Layer of organic potting soil

Halfway through filling I added a layer of Organic Plant Nutrients

 Once the raised bed is full of organic soil it's time to add the Garden Grid™ Watering System

There are a few veggie varieties that I chose to transplant.  One of them is the Table Queen Acorn Squash.  Here's the Garden Grid™ Watering System in action water my tiny seedling.

Tomorrow I'll share what varieties I decided to direct sow and which I transplanted.  I LOVE growing!  If you have additional questions please feel free to ask.

*I received a Raised Garden Kit for review.  All opinions are my own*

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Basics of Square Foot Gardening

I was given the out-of-this-world opportunity to try a 4X4 raised-bed garden from Garden In Minutes...But before I get to that I thought I'd share what I've learned about square foot gardening.  After all, education is KEY for a successful organic garden adventure!

source

What is Square Foot Gardening?
Square Foot Gardening is a simple method for planting seeds in a specific way in a raised bed garden.  The Square Foot Gardening method was created by Mel Bartholomew, and outlined in his book "Square Foot Gardening" in 1981 (which was updated and re-released in 2006 as "All New Square Foot Gardening")
Bartholomew recommends marking out the square feet, using twine or thin pieces of wood, so that you keep your grid nice and even...Garden In Minutes has an irrigation system for their kits that also works as a grid!!!
Another thing, Bartholomew says we should ignore row spacing on seed packets. Just look at the recommended space between plants and plant in each square according to that spacing. 

There are four basic spacing guidelines:
Extra Large – one per square for 12 inch spacing
Large – 4 per square for 6 inch spacing
Medium – 9 per square for 4 inch spacing
Small – 16 per square for 3 inch spacing.

Example:

Most Importantly...DO NOT STEP INSIDE YOUR SQUARE FOOT GARDEN!  Stepping inside will compact the soil.

Why am I sharing this?  At Mary's Heirloom Seeds we are on a mission to change the World and make a difference locally through Education and Organic Gardening.

Over the next few days I'll be sharing more about Organic Gardening and the Square Foot Gardening Method.  Below are a few BOOKS that would be useful in learning more!

KINDLE BOOKS

 

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