a) The site should have much light. Do not put next to house (unless your house is on the west side which could lessen the hot scorching heat at the end of the day) or under trees. Preferably the garden should get light from 9:00 a.m. to a couple of hours before sunset.
b) Raised beds can allow you to build on un-level sites (more below).
c) Water should be present one way or another, but due to the excellent moisture retention of 2 inches of compost, water use is lessened considerably.
a) A raised bed is just as the name implies. It should be at least 8" to 20" raised from the natural level of the ground surrounding it. The higher the better.
b) Make beds 4 feet wide, this will allow you to reach from either side to harvest or tend to the garden.
c) I made my beds out of treated wood. Treated wood has harmful chemicals in it so I primed and painted each board inside and out with 2 coats of long life latex paint. I went to the department store and found some "returned" paint (off color) and bought it at a tremendous discount.
d) I used 2" x 12" x 8' long boards. Buy 3 and have the store chop one in half. Use drywall screws, (or better) galvanized decking screws to pull the boards together. The finished box is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long. I have also built, in the past, 30 feet long boxes which worked well.
e) Some day I plan to pour concrete in the same length width and height. And I am sure that if you had raw rocks and a little mortar or cement that you could build some contoured or natural looking raised beds, use your imagination!
f) Always leave the bottom of the beds exposed to the soil, do not put plastic or rocks or anything that might hinder the free movement of water and worms.
g) If you construct beds in your back yard next to grass, make sure you leave at least the width of your lawn mower between the boxes for easy mowing of the grass. You could use concrete, rocks or other landscaping materials between your boxes to keep from mowing and/or to keep the pathway from mud build-up. Also, if you don't get too wide between your beds you can construct a flat board to place on top of the 2 beds to sit on as you tend to the garden.
h) Good materials for raised bed construction:
Red-wood, cedar, rocks, concrete, treated boards BUT painted with at least 2 coats of latex paint & primer.
Rail-road ties have harmful chemicals in them, I wouldn't use them for vegetable gardens but they can be used for flower gardening.
a) If you construct the beds you will probably have to buy a few yards of soil. Look in the newspaper for "sandy loam".
b) Make sure the sandy loam does not have too much clay in it. Grab a handful of the moist soil and squeeze it together and drop it to the ground. It should break up. Too much clay will not allow water & air to penetrate. Too much sand will not form a clod, and in your garden it will not retain water very well. However, I would rather it be on the too sandy side than the too "clayey" side.
c) Check the PH of your soil. This is critical. If your plants do not respond to fertilization it could be that your soil is too high or too low in acidity or alkalinity. There are testers at any garden supply. This is a general rule of thumb, if your area gets 36-50 inches or more of rain a year you might be on the acidic side. If you live in a drier area or desert like area, it will most likely be high in PH. High PH is death to a garden. Add sulfur to correct it. That is why deserts are deserts, too high of PH or (alkaline). Even if you water and fertilizer, vegetables will not grow well in alkaline soils. Water and plenty of organic material will decrease the alkalinity but at a very slow rate. Also do not buy soil acidifiers, they are entirely too expensive, get cheap garden sulfur. When I used it, it did not seem to hurt the worms. Sulfur is a naturally occurring substance.
a) This is the critical part, the addition of the compost. See the detailed pictures below. See the different ways to plant transplants, small seeds and large seeds. Each is slightly different. Before you apply the compost, rake, smooth, level and water down the dirt.
b) The reason I call it the "no-weed" method is that weeds all die with a 2 inch "covering" of compost on the weed seeds. Let me explain. Weed seeds are very small. If you put 2" of compost on top of them, it is deep enough to allow for them to germinate but they do not have enough food in their size for the sprout to make it to the top and reach light. Without light they die as a sprout.
It is that simple.
c) It is most critical that you do not mix the compost with the soil! If you want more compost in your soil, put it in and till it in. THEN add a 2" layer of sterile compost per the seed planting guidelines below.
d) If you mix the 2 inch layer of compost with the soil beneath, you defeat the whole purpose of "no-weeds" method. Because you will bring the small weed seeds too close to the light they will sprout and you will have millions of weeds! (But they will be easier to pull up if they are in growing in loose compost).
Large seeds such as corn, beans, potatoes,
etc
Click on image to enlarge
Small seeds such as carrots, beets, broccoli,
etc.
Click on image to enlarge
Transplants such as peppers, tomatoes, broccoli,
etc.
Click on image to enlarge
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a) Note that larger seeds are planted differently from the small seeds.
b) Note that the smaller seeds are planted on top of the 2" layer of compost, then a light covering of 1/2" of compost is applied.
c) Transplants are planted similarly to potatoes.
d) Again be careful not to mix the compost with the underlying soil.
a) Due to the blackness of the rich compost the sun warms the soil faster, which will germinate your seeds more successfully.
b) The worms will irrigate, fertilize, make water & air channels for your plants to grow faster, better & bigger.
c) You will feel better not worrying whether you are ingesting chemicals that are not good for you.
d) The bugs come out when it gets warm. If the plants get a better start, get to fruition faster, then the bugs will have less to munch on.
e) There are many natural pesticides that give caterpillars a fatal stomach ache! See your nursery.
f) If you were never able to grow carrots before, this is the method for you! I have successfully grown very large and long carrots, some were 3" in diameter.
g) Raised beds are more neat, clean and efficient.
h) If you live in a dry climate the compost will keep your plants more moist. Longer time between waterings.
i) If you live in a wet climate, your garden will be more accessible (no puddling, mud, etc). You'll be planting while your friends will be complaining about the rain and how they can't get to their gardens!