By: Nicole
There’s nothing like harvesting your own homegrown vegetables right from your backyard garden. I have been growing my own vegetables for about 10 years now and learn something new every year. I have a sense of complete satisfaction when we can prepare a meal from the vegetables we picked that day!
I primarily focus on tomato plants but have expanded my growing vegetable garden to include zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, ichiban eggplant, green beans, yellow wax beans, carrots, leeks and various herbs. The last couple years we have been having issues with our tomato and zucchini plants rotting out before they have had a chance to grow any fruit.
So this year we decided to build some raised beds. The raised beds should help with water drainage and the soil will warm up quicker earlier in the season. I also like the idea of everything organized in its specific place.
The vegetable garden area as shown before we started our DIY vegetable garden boxes is riddled with weeds. A constant chore with the garden was pulling the invasive weeds. We do not use weed killers or any fertilizers in or around the garden. Our aim is to grow the healthiest organic vegetables that we can!
Our garden area is approximately 16′ x 12′ and after some calculations, we decided to make 6 garden boxes 3′ x 6′. We wanted the boxes about 12″h. Cedar was our material of choice because it is durable, rot resistant and not infused with chemicals.
To keep costs lower, we used 1 x 6 x 6’L cedar boards of which some 6’L boards were cut into 3′ lengths.
The corners & centers were reinforced with 1 x 2 x 6’L board that we cut into 18″L pieces.
After cutting the support posts to 18″ lengths, we cut one end at a 45 degree angle. The 45 degree angle end is what will be hammered into the ground for stability. The 3′ and 6′ lengths were secured to the 18″ support posts with premium deck screws.
Before we installed the beds into the vegetable garden area we rolled out mid-weight weed barrier fabric secured to the ground by “u-shaped” metal stakes. The weed barrier fabric was extended past the black fence a couple inches as well.
We filled the boxes with a 50/50 mix of top soil and compost. This should be a good start for our vegetable garden. 3 yards of the mix filled the boxes but I think next year we will need to add more mix to the boxes due to settling over time.
As you can see I was anxious to plant this years vegetables and seeds before we finished spreading cedar mulch over the weed barrier fabric.
The box in the foreground right has 3 rows of carnival carrot seeds and 2 rows of leek seedlings. The box to the left has 6 different tomato plants and the far left box has green beans and wax beans.
The far right back box has basil, cilantro, mint, thyme, lettuce & 3 pepper plants. Since the lettuce is a cool growing season vegetable, I planted the peppers alternatively with the lettuces. The box to the left has 3 rows of yellow crookneck squash seeds and the far left back box has ichiban eggplant and zucchini plants.
I’m very excited for this seasons vegetable garden. I will periodically post garden progression photos so you can enjoy along with me.
Do you have a vegetable garden? How about a patio garden? What are your favorite vegetables to grow? Let us know in the comment section below!
2 Sisters Anytown USA 