Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Update

Yesterday evening we had storms. Heavy winds and rain knocked down sunflowers and pretty much every perennial planting over 2 feet tall that wasn’t staked up. If it could catch the wind – it did. Unfortunately our Bradford pears remained in tact – I’ve been looking for an excuse to take them down, one of these days they will break…

Cilantro Bolting

This morning I went out to investigate the damage in the garden. Fortunately it isn’t bad at all. The cilantro that I’ve been letting go to seed fell over but it was already well on its way before the winds whipped through. The tomatoes are really doing very well despite not being properly tied to their stakes and not being suckered enough (that’s on today’s agenda). Everything is lush and growing strong thanks to the rich soil in the raised beds. I used a combination of grass clippings, newspapers, and regular soil from the yard to fill these and the tomatoes couldn’t be happier. I’ve also mulched exclusively with grass clippings this year which has done a great job at keeping the soil moist. It also adds some great organic matter to the raised beds as the grass clippings break down. (Unfortunately my bagger mower is having some difficulties right now and needs a doctor. It has a smoking problem, I’d rather not blow it up again!)

The tomatoes above are in two almost 10′ long raised beds (they fit in where the corn and beans are in the old vegetable garden layout). I say almost since they were scrap pieces of lumber that I had laying around and didn’t measure exactly what I had in mind. I have no problem with improvising when needed! The tomatoes below are Black Krim (I think). I may have switched tomatoes accidentally between two of my beds but I’m pretty sure these are Black Krim. I tell myself each year that I’m going to plant everything exactly right but I always end up getting something mixed up!

Here you can see where some of the tomatoes fell over in the night. The damage wasn’t too bad just a few branches fell that need tied back up. Tomato stakes aren’t the best way to stake up a tomato but they work in a pinch. They are probably the cheapest method though. My hillside is covered with sassafras saplings that I can harvest and fashion long and straight stakes from for use in the garden. It helps the trees by thinning out a few which reduces the competition for light and helps me in the garden – a win win situation!

The Romas seem to have developed their own style of natural pest prevention – spider webs.  Spiders are very welcome in my garden as are any other beneficial insects that happen along. I don’t use pesticides other than insecticidal soap and that only when needed.

I was excited to see this little cucumber growing. It doesn’t look like much more than a little midget pickle right now but it won’t be long before we have some delicious cucumbers. Thankfully the deer invasion did not completely decimate the cucumber vines and I think the vines have a decent chance of regrowing to full cucumberhood.

My Weekend Vegetable Garden To-Do List:

  • Weed the encroaching grasses (Johnson Grass and Crabgrass) out of the pathways.
  • Tie up tomatoes
  • Mulch around the raised beds over the pathways.
  • Clear out two raised beds for planting more squash and beans. (formerly housed greens)
  • Check around the potatoes to see if I can harvest yet. (I did harvest one already I’ll post on that later.)

 Saturday will be busy! (and hot)

8 thoughts on “Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Update”

  1. I read earlier on someone else's blog about terrible winds as well. Everything looks like it came through pretty good. Congrats on the cuke, that's exciting to me, I'd be doing the happy dance!

  2. It's looking good despite the winds. We just had a little storm & my peach tree {not planted yet due to waiting for 1 fruit to ripen} is laying on it's side. I'm having a hard time walking so will have to have son sit it back up. I hope all else is ok.
    That little cuke is so cute. None of mine came up.

  3. Not too bad at all. The rain was good. I have a tomato ripening up but no cukes so far. Won't be long for you on the cukes!

  4. Its a good thing that you had tomatoes. You see tomatoes really aren't that affected by strong winds. As they are originally bushes. they are not uprooted easily, although they can be flatten down by the winds but you can tie it up again. Also, seeing little veggies sprouting is as exciting as eating your first produce.

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Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Update

Since I decided to remodel the raised bed vegetable garden this year a lot of work has been done.  The beds have all been built for this year and all the grading I wanted to attempt is finished, for now.  The fence will be something of an ongoing project but we’ve erected a temporary wire fence made of 3 foot tall coated wire.  This will keep the rabbits and other critters out.  The deer could jump it in a heartbeat but don’t seem to know the garden is there.  (Shhh! Don’t tell them!) The area still looks like a mess but hopefully this weekend a good deal of work will get completed. Please excuse the following picture, it was taken from our second story window overlooking the garden and I had some reflection issues!

Down the center of the garden is the grass path.  For now it will stay that way.  It’s about 4 feet wide and goes straight down the middle of the garden. Both sides of the garden have the same sized beds to make them easy to organize and add a bit of symmetry.  The beds still need filled (which I hope to accomplish this weekend) and the pathways need covered.  I’ll fill the beds with a layer of brown matter (leaves and dried grass clippings), newspapers, compost, and finally with a nice layer of mulch on top.  Mulch is essential on a vegetable garden. It keeps the roots cooler during our hot summers and allows the moisture to stay locked in the soil.

The pathways are going to be made of mulch.  I may decide to change that later but for now it’s the cheapest and best option for this garden.  I’ll eventually add stepping stones throughout the garden to make solid surfaces to stand on for weeding, walking and wandering (something I do a lot of).  The best time to weed is after a rain and you don’t necessarily want to be standing on wet mulch all the time.

This coming weekend is a big work weekend.  I planning on hauling in truckloads of compost and mulch.  I just hope I don’t have to be hauled on a stretcher when it’s all said and done!  The compost will help fill the beds and the mulch will cover the vegetable garden paths as well as a few gardens around the yard that need coverage.  It’s exciting to see things beginning to come together!
 

17 thoughts on “Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Update”

  1. that’s coming right along, it looks great, can’t wait for you to post pictures after all of the work you are planning to do this weekend!!!

  2. Boy! It looks like you’ve been real busy. I’ve barely started, My vegetable garden is still a mess from last year. I’m looking forward to seeing pictures when it all starts growing well. If you’re not too picky on your mulch some of the county Santitation deptartments have free mulch for anyone who wants it.

  3. It looks great! I think mulch is probably the best material for paths between raised beds. Good point about the stepping stones, too.

    Sounds like you have a fun (busy!) weekend ahead of you. Enjoy!

  4. I’m just starting my first vegetable garden this year. May I ask where you get your mulch? I’ll need some as well and wonder where’s the best place to pick it up.

    Thanks!

  5. Dave, When I decide to build the raised bed garden in the wayback…I’ll ask you to consult with me! Your garden bounty is going to be out standing this year! gail

  6. I hung bars of Dial soap around our short fence last year and the deer did not bother anything in it and it was a drought year… I will post on that some time as it seems to have worked or like you said, the deer did not find the garden last year…

  7. I built a fence around my garden last spring – deer left tracks in it every night before. Because of other competing projects the fence stretched over a couple of months, but once I set the first posts the deer never set foot in the garden again – they don’t like new things. Of course I finished it before I had sweet corn or I imagine they would have set aside their apprehension.

  8. If there was a Gardener’s Hall of Fame, you’d have a very good chance of being in there one day. You rock on garden accomplishments. You’ll be reaping the rewards pretty soon. Looks like our weather is beginning to cooperate with Spring. I hope.

    I too have a deer fence that is by name only. They could jump it–but haven’t. I won’t tell your deer if you don’t tell mine.

  9. Thanks everyone for your comments!

    Elizabeth,

    If you’re in the Spring Hill or Thompson Station area you can get it either at Beasley’s on Hwy 31 or at Bear Creek Gardens on Bear Creek Pk. I think both places have the same prices. Beasley’s is closer so that’s usually where I go to get it by the truckload.

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