I had big plans to show you step-by-step how to set up a raised gardening bed. Then, my gardening partner came by the house and did it all while I was at work. That meant I did not get any photos of the process. However, I DO have some photos from a previous time. They just won’t include the play-by-play as I added soil and plants. They will show the basics of starting your own raised bed gardening system.
As you can see in the photo below, I set up the “walls” of the raised garden bed first. The instructions will vary depending upon the system you buy or make. (If you are handy, this will probably be an easy project for you.) See all that luscious green grass? I saved up newspapers for a week or so (yes, I still do subscribe to a paper newspaper thankyouverymuch!) and then placed them over the grass inside the raised bed. I was not conservative in my usage of the papers. I wanted a thick layer to kill the existing grass and prevent it from growing into my garden.
Raised Bed with Newspapers to Block Grass Growth
Below, you can see I’ve added more newspaper:
Raised Bed Garden with More Newspaper
Once you have the entire ground inside the raised bed covered with newspaper, it’s time to get your rich humus-heavy soil. I buy bags of composted leaves and grass clippings from our county (very inexpensive and sold all over the place). I pour that in and then I add worm casings (aka worm poo), manure (if I have it), chicken poo, lime, and organic fertilizer (lately, I’ve been using fertilizer made in Amish country). As you may already know, soil is SO important. I gently turn the above into the soil to mix it all up.
You are now ready to add your plants. I love the contrast between fresh green lettuce plants and rich, black dirt. Seeing that contrast is one of my favorite gardening experiences. FYI: I would avoid purchasing these.
You might also want to read starting a garden from seed in recycled egg cartons or learn more about an organic source to buy seeds.
