My OG Blog

Step two for starting your organic garden is to choose a location.  You will want to make sure it gets plenty of sun (at least 6 hours of direct sunlight) and has good drainage. You do not want to pick an area where water stands around for a day or two after it rains. You will need to decide whether you are going with a traditional or raised bed garden, and decide the size of the vegetable garden you want. Make sure you choose a size that will be easily maintained and will accommodate the goals you have set for it.

Other key points to keep in mind:

• If this is your first experience with organic gardening, start small you can always add on next year when you have a better feel for things
• Raised bed garden vs. traditional, a raised bed will allow you to grow more vegetables in a smaller space with less work but it’s initial cost will be a little higher
• Choose a location which is easily accessible, you don’t want to have to stretch a ton of hose or carry buckets of water any further than necessary

Change your impact! Stay tuned for the Next Step for Starting an Organic Garden, Designing the Layout.

Raised bed gardening is whenever you garden in soil that is above the surrounding terrain.  So a raised bed garden can be a container, it can be a box built out of wood and filled with soil, it can be built using rocks, landscape timbers, landscape blocks, or just about anything you can think of that will raise the soil up above the surrounding level. It can even be just a row of soil piled up higher than the surrounding ground.

Things to consider when building a raised bed garden are the materials you use it should be something long lasting. If you are going to build it out of wood you should choose a wood that will last such as cedar or redwood, treated lumber works as well but you might want to consider what chemicals could seep out of the wood into the soil if you are raising a food crop in it.  You will want to make sure to remove any grass or weeds that are growing inside where you are placing your raised bed.

You will want to place a weed barrier on the bottom of the raised bed to prevent any weeds from growing up through the soil you add. Just be sure the barrier you use allows for good drainage. Landscape fiber works but I personally use about 3 – 4 sheets of newspaper the fibers are denser and it makes a better barrier in my opinion while it still allows for good drainage. Since the newspaper  is covered with soil it  doesn’t get exposed to the sun or to oxygen it will last a very long time.

If you don’t want the sides of the bed to be too high above the ground you may need to dig the inside of the bed lower so the added soil is at least 6 – 8 inches deep, preferably 8 inches.  This should be deep enough for most plants but it is important to consider what you will be planting in the bed and adjust the depth accordingly. Potatoes for example would need at least 12 inches.

Everyone knows the benefits of growing your own organic garden, saves money, much healthier knowing what goes into your food, and tastes better, but with today’s busy lifestyles who has time? Not me, at least not until I tried Raised Bed Gardening.

Raised bed gardening takes most of the work out of gardening. The two biggest time issues with a traditional garden are weeds and cultivation. You have to spend hours pulling weeds and loosening the soil to keep the plants happy healthy and producing fruits and vegetables. In a properly constructed raised bed there are very few weeds, you don’t walk in it so the soil stays loose eliminating the need for frequent cultivation. You can grow more fruits and vegetables in a much smaller space (less area to take care of) while still enjoying the quantity of a much larger garden.

The initial set up of a raised bed garden does require a few hours of time and work, but it is well worth the investment as well constructed raised bed will last for many years. You will be enjoying fresh, delicious, organically grown fruits and vegetables for years to come!