Starting a Backyard Garden with Raised Beds and Potsgreenwoodnursery.com /page.cfm/208643

You can start a backyard garden with raised beds or pots. Home gardening is the number one hobby in theUnited States. Is there anything more satisfying than walking out your back door, picking a juicy redtomato and enjoying that sweet fresh flavor? It is a rare treat and for most of the country it is onlysomething we get to experience in July, August and September, but it sure is worth it. When you go to thegrocery store in the dead of winter and the tomato package says, “Vine Ripened and Tastes like Summer”,don’t you believe it!

There is nothing quite like producing your own fresh food and it is very easy to do. No matter what sizeyour backyard may be, or even if you just have a patio or deck, you have room for a garden by buildingraised beds, pots, window boxes, or just about anything that will hold soil.

First, you must decide how much space and time you may want todevote to your new project. Like most new endeavors, startingsmall is a good idea, and as you learn from experience you cangrow and grow from one season to the next. If all you have is apatio or deck, you should consider what we call “containergardening”. This is nothing more than something like a five gallonbucket or maybe a whiskey barrel or maybe a used wheelbarrow. Even an old bathtub would do the trick! Just fill them with cleancomposted soil and you are ready to plant.

If you have a little more space, raised beds are the way to go.These are constructed with organic pressure treated lumber andrange in size from four feet wide, one foot deep and to as long asyou would like (10 to 12 feet is most common). It is important tolimit the width because you must be able to reach the center of thebed without stepping on the soil. If you are going to use raisedbeds, it is a good idea to put pencil to paper and figure out howlarge an area you are going to work with and how many beds youwant to build.

Because your garden is new, this will be your best chance to fill it with clean weed free soil. If you are justdoing container gardening, you can purchase bagged soil at any nursery or garden center. For raisedbeds, you will need to have soil or loam delivered by a local landscape service or mulch supplier. You willneed approximately 3/4 of a cubic yard for each 4×12 foot bed. Make sure you specify composted loam forvegetable gardens. Upon delivery, mix in a small amount of peat moss to lighten up the soil, about 5%. Fillup your containers or beds and you are ready to plant.

Herbs are quite easy to grow and don’t require much space, which makes them ideal for containergardens. Select whatever varieties you commonly use such as dill, thyme, parsley, chives, sage, oregano,etc. Many herbs are perennials, meaning they will grow back year after year without replanting everyseason. Chives are wonderful because a small bed will come back to life early in the spring and requirevery little maintenance. Many herbs that you plant in containers can be overwintered inside and returnedto the patio the following spring.

Regarding vegetables, tomatoes are an obvious choice along withcucumbers, lettuce and peppers. These four items alone willprovide you with salads all season long. Green beans are verypopular too and with staggered planting, you will be able to harvestthem for several weeks in a row. Onions grow very wellthroughout the United States and should be planted as “sets”. These are just immature onions about 4 inches tall that have beencommercially grown for transplanting to home gardens early in thespring.

Farmers Markets will have many varieties of plants to put in yournew garden. Plant whatever you like, but let’s get going. Spring ishere and it’s time to get dirty! You will find a great selection ofherbs and some perennial vegetables such as asparagus andrhubarb at Greenwood Nursery (www.greenwoodnursery.com).Place your order as early as late winter for shipping at the righttime for your area.