Last year I built two new wooden raised beds for my vegetable garden. After building them I needed a way to fill them up with soil. Since I already had a pile of wood chips in the front yard from a tree trimmer I thought why not use them? As the wood chips break down they nourish the soil and create an environment for good water retention. I may have only watered the tomato plants in these beds 3 or 4 times after the plants were established all summer!
These wood chips were partially decomposed and were on their way to become good usable soil. Here’s a short video with more on using wood chips to fill a raised bed vegetable garden! (And don’t forget to visit the post on 11 Tips for a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Layout!)