Cheap raised bed gardening.

I will never understand how buying soil is viewed in gardening circles as cheating, but buying a tiller or tractors that cost $$$$ is acceptable. I have tried many different gardening methods and raised beds work best for me. I have mobility issues, not having to bend is essential. The first step in our system is rolling out some industrial greenhouse fabric to control grass. This step alone will save loads of time in dealing with weed pressure. Our fabric covers our whole garden area. Time is a commodity, that most of us do not have in excess. A little money now for fabric can give you some time to actually work your garden. We have plenty of room on the not so urban homestead. Our beds are 3 feet plus in spacing. This gives plenty of room to move wheelbarrows, or produce carts around. If your garden space is at a premium, this may be something you have to give special consideration to. The next steep is what you are going to build the beds from. Everyone is on a different scale of what they believe to be safe. I cringe when I see people use railroad ties in gardening areas. Railroad ties are treated in cancer causing carcinogenic toxic oil. They will last nearly forever. Not for me. We use 10 year old copper treated reclaimed fence boards. They will not last forever, depending on the condition and species of the wood these will need to be redone in a few years. The price of free is hard to beat. The next time to see you see fencing going in, stop and ask for the old wood. This will save it from the landfill or being burned as waste. 18 inch tall beds work well for us. This is a good working height to sit on bucket or take a knee. This photo shows one week growth rate of intensively planted zucchini. What do we put in our beds to get great results? I am going to tell you. Hugelkultur, it is an old recipe for no dig raised beds. Old logs from the woods, then year old manure from the barn, compost, perlite and peat moss. For monthly boost, we use fish emulsion 5-1-1. Perk of raised beds is you do not need a flat spot. Our garden spot is quite steep, a traditional garden would not work there. The negative side of raised beds is they dry out quickly. This is great for us because we get heavy rains in spring. Pic from our farmstand Happy gardening!