If your ground is solid rock, the best way to raise veggies is in a raised bed. My husband built a raised bed garden this year. The "blocks that hold the garden together are, believe it or not, Styrofoam. This was salvaged from boat docks a few years ago when they banned its use in the local lakes. Its insulating capacity, helps to keep the earth cool. The first picture was taken before the topsoil was added. The second picture, taken a few days ago, shows the results of our Mother's Day planting date.
We are about to start picking squash and tomatoes... at least for fried green tomatoes. :)
By Harlean from Arkansas
We made a 30x20 foot garden in our back yard with plastic and cement blocks. You do not have to remove grass. Put down plastic or a thick layer of news papers, and place cement blocks on top around the edge of the space.
If you're short on space or the soil in your area is riddled by sand or clay, building raised beds may be the best solution to your gardening woes. You'll trade the time, money and effort required amending poor quality soil for maximum yields in a minimum amount of space.
This idea is very old, my grandmother used to have straw bale gardens. It was great for her not to have to stoop over to pick and weed her garden.
Raised garden beds do not have to be a complex job. There are many good ideas for building simple raised beds for your garden. This is a page about directions for building simple raised beds.
There are good reasons to create a raised garden bed, and concrete blocks can make it easy to build. This page is about making raised beds with concrete blocks.
Old tires have long been used for planting both vegetables and flowers. There is more recent controversy about using them to create raised beds for food, but they can safely be used for flowers.
There are many thrifty, creative ways to use natural or recycled materials to make raised garden beds. This is a page about inexpensive raised beds.
Raised beds can be constructed in a number of ways. Making a stacked stone bed or even one that is mortared together can be attractive as well as functional. This is a page about raised beds made with rocks.
Making a raised bed edge from various sized stones that you collect can be a thrifty, decorative, and functional garden feature. This is a page about raised rock flower beds.
Raised beds are usually made from wood, concrete or stone. You can use something as simple as a large cardboard box however, it will last likely only last one season.
