Raised bed gardening

 

Hi Gang.

 

OK, so I found an interesting article on raised bed gardening.

One of the key things discussed is the depth of the soil.

I suspect that is one of the major contributing factors to the massive failure of gardening we suffered last year.

https://www.almanac.com/content/how-build-raised-garden-bed

 

From the article---

The depth of the soil itself is very important and depends on which crops you wish to grow, as well as how much soil is above the ground versus below the ground.

  • Shallow-rooted crops (such as lettuce, greens, and onions) need a minimum soil depth of 6 inches.
  • Deep-rooted crops such as carrots, parsnips, potatoes, tomatoes, and squash need a minimum soil depth of 12 to 18 inches. If plants don’t have loose soil to this depth, the roots will not be able to go down deep enough to access nutrients.

Well, I planted things that have deep roots, and the depth of the box was not sufficient, which is why we ended up with 1 solitary tomato and 4 green beans out of a 4x8 raised bed garden.   No carrots, no squash, nothing.
This year, I went with all shallow rooted (mostly lettuces so far) and I will plant the tomatoes in a deeper pot.

And I guess I will build a 18-24” deep box for potatoes.

 Also from the article.:

What grows well in 6” soil depth:
Lettuce, salad greens, spinach, onions, leeks, radishes, strawberries, basil, chives, cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, thyme, marigolds, and other annual flowers

What grows well in 12” soil depth:
Beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, collards, cucumbers, garlic, kale, summer squash, Swiss chard, turnips, lavender, rosemary, sage, borage, calendula, cosmos, lantana, nasturtiums, snapdragons, sweet alyssum (plus everything in the 6” list)

What grows well in 18” soil depth:
Eggplant, okra, peppers, pumpkins sweet potatoes, tomatoes, watermelon, and winter squash (plus everything in the 6” and 12” lists)

Anyway.. that is the blog for this week. 

 

Jason

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