Your Raised Veggie Garden

Well friends, Mother Nature has given those of us in sunny California the best gift we could ever ask for - the sun and warmth is back!

Don't get me wrong, I like the winter season, some. I like rain a little more. But what everyone who lives here really loves, is the warmth and the cloudless sky. We love wearing white year round along with our flip flop sandals. We like starting up our barbecues a little earlier than Memorial Day and we love being able to start our veggie gardens just about the time we set our clocks ahead.

As many of you know, Rolling Hills has returned to the local farmers market - the Thursday evening one here in our hometown of Redlands. Being back at the market is giving us a chance to visit with our community and learn of the triumphs and failures our neighbors have been experiencing in their home gardens. I am going to guess that no matter where you live, some of the stories are quite universal. Let's start with the raised beds.

For quite sometime, a big focus in vegetable gardening has been the use of a raised bed in place of the traditional "in the ground " garden. Let's face it, not all of us have the large open space our grandparents had for a vegetable garden. Swimming pools and water features have filled our backyards. Our landscapes have become polished ornamental features to accent our homes. Until quite recently, having a vegetable garden has not been all that fashionable in our mainstream culture. Even today, years into the greatest economic crisis of our time, the thought of planting strawberries in a front yard flower bed instead of using the cookie cutter annuals that can be found in any gasoline station landscape, still meets with some opposition.

Raised beds provide a unique opportunity for many. Gardening in this manner does not resemble our grandparent's gardens. It allows us to keep our gardens predominately ornamental, adding the raised bed as a functional accent to our existing landscape. Perhaps the greatest appeal is that the raised vegetable bed is a quintessential "weekend project" that families rally around. With some lumber, a few bags of potting soil and an arm full of herb and vegetable starters, by Sunday afternoon you can have a complete edible garden growing right before your eyes.

Well, kind of.

Sure, the gardens go in, they grow, flower and if lucky, there is some yield - just not the yield you are looking for. Guess what friends, it probably is not YOU! It is the soil you are using and the fertilizers you are not! So for everyone who has ever tried raised bed gardening or is thinking of it - here are our tips for growing your best garden - ever!

Location

Does the spot you are choosing get at least 6 hours of sunlight? Plants need sunlight to grow strong, resist pest and disease and to produce well. I recommend if possible to place your garden in a spot that is quite visible from inside the house - outside the kitchen window or even by the front door. Why? Because you see it. While they do grow for the most part on their own, when we can see our gardens, we notice when they need a little more [or less] water, when their color or size is not quite right. Seeing these early signs helps avoid the "oh my gosh, something is eating my plants" phase.

Soil

O.K. friends, "organic potting soil" is not soil. For small pots, it might be alright. But for growing in a raised bed container - we like the idea of building a bed about 2 feet high by 4 feet wide by 4-8 feet long [the length depends on your family size - family of 4+ use the larger size] using the existing dirt as the base from which you mix in enough compost [you can pick up a compost bin from most Cities and make your own] or use E.B. Stones Planting Compost and add some gentle, start-up fertilizer like E. B. Stone's Sure Start . You can find these awesome organic products at our own local nursery - Cherry Valley Nursery. Be sure to let them know we sent you [no, we do not get a commission but we also don't get to stop in and saw hello as often as we would like !] * a quick note, mark the calendar with the date you applied fertilizer so you will know exactly when to reapply.

Fertilize

Plants that give us a high yield, plants like tomato's and peppers for example need to be fed throughout their production cycle. We highly recommend E.B. Stone's organic tomato and vegetable food. Yes, other products help the plants grow nice and green and tall but at the cost of fruit production [too much nitrogen, not enough phosphorus]. Use this fertilizer when it is time to feed the garden following the initial application of sure start [the very gentle start up fertilizer] and reapply according to package directions [usually every 6 weeks during the growth season].

Water

This is where seeing your garden really comes in handy. Yes, you can drip irrigate at the base of your plants, which is a great way to conserve water and avoid leaf damage caused by spray - but we really encourage you to hand water. Why? Time spent in your garden is good for you and the plants! When you are watering, you can look for signs of despair. You can pick off bugs, pull weeds, pinch plants back to encourage growth. You can enjoy the colors, fragrance and feel of your plants. You can enjoy the taste of a warm, fresh strawberry or cherry tomato. Heck, the bed is pretty small so how long will it really take to water the garden? Besides, daily visits help decrease that Saturday morning spent only pulling weeds [hence why most of us do have some negative memory associated with the home vegetable garden - that and the darn tomato worms!]

So everybody, we hope you will enjoy the balmy weather we are having, along with the added evening sunlight and visit us this Thursday at market night. We have got the most beautiful heirloom lettuce, broccoli, kale and cauliflower starters along with an edible flower mix that will be as beautiful as it will be tasty when it blooms!

Enjoy the day!

Carrie-Anne