How To Start a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

Hello everyone!

My husband's first "honey do" while on retirement was to start our vegetable garden.  He always looks forward to doing it though, so it wasn't a problem.  I thought I would show you the steps on how we put ours together.  

We start out each year with the left over soil from last year's garden.  My husband rented a small tiller to till up the soil and pull out any old weeds etc that have grown in there.  

Next, he pours in some of this soil and compost.

He spread it around.

Then, used the tiller again to mix it into the existing soil.

Then he used the back side of his rake to smooth out the soil.

My husband likes to plant in raised rows.  So, he formed those with his rake.

Here are the vegetable plants we are planting.  We have squash, tomatoes, peppers, and okra.

Since they come in peat pots, you'll need to soak them in water to help break up the container before you plant them.

Now, you can begin planting them in the rows.

Wire cages were added to some of the plants that will get tall.  Also, some fence pieces were added to help control the trailing plants (such as squash) over the edges.  

Because our garden is small, my husband decided to add some mini bark nuggets around the plants to help keep moisture in it.

Next, (and probably should've been done before the bark nuggets) he sprinkled this fertilizer on the garden.

And of course the final step to any garden is watering it.

So, I'll keep you updated on how this garden grows.  We've usually had good luck with it in the past.  It's amazing how fast these plants will grow!

Hope you'll consider a small raised bed vegetable garden in your own back yard if you haven't before.  It's a lot of fun and nice to eat from what you grow yourself.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

~ Kelly ~