• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen logo
  • Home
  • About
    • VVK Galleries
    • VVK YouTube Channel
    • VVK Mentions
    • Privacy & Copyright Policies
  • Recipes
  • Shop
    • Amazon Shop
    • Cookbooks
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Gardening » Gardening Raised Beds

    Gardening Raised Beds

    Posted on June 22, 2019 · Last Updated on June 22, 2019 · By Srividhya G · Leave a Comment

    9 shares
    • Share8
    • Tweet
    • Reddit
    two gardening raised beds in the side yard

    Summer is here and let’s get our hands dirty with gardening. Join my gardening series with this post. Today I am going to share about gardening raised beds and why I went with raised beds.

    I posted about my gardening love in 2017, and after that, I couldn’t post much. Like a recipe, I want to be sure about my gardening practices as well before posting it here. So I took my time to start the series. Finally, I am happy to start the series with raised beds. Here is a picture of my raised bed that I took on a bright sunny day.
    gardening raised bed

    What are Gardening Raised Beds?

    A raised bed is nothing but a planting bed that sits on top of the existing soil. Usually, the soil is in a contained unit. You can see wood, bricks, or concrete used for building the contained unit or the raised bed. Ours is all wooden. 

    Why do we need Gardening Raised Beds?

    Internet is flooded with the benefits of raised beds. But let me explain why we went with raised beds instead of planting vegetables directly on the ground or on the pots and potters.

    1. The first and foremost reason for us to move to raised beds was snails and snakes. (Yes, you read it right) I have snails in my backyard, and it affects my plants. As I live close to the Bay, we do see garden snakes once in a while. If I plant all the vegetables on the ground directly, the maintenance will become difficult for me, but it will become easy for the snails and other pests to thrive. Weeding will be a problem too. So to maintain non-wild and a clean garden, we chose raised beds. The walls of the raised beds serve as a barrier to pests. As you can see in the video, we filled the surrounding areas with small rocks, which keep the weeds and pests away.
    2. Easy maintenance for sure. You can control the creepers within the box. It is hard to grow climbers and creepers in pots. So a raised bed would be a perfect fit.
    3. It provides excellent drainage and also prevents the erosion of good garden soil during the rainy season.
    4. My existing garden soil was not fertile; it was hard for me to add the manure and enrich the soil. So after building the raised beds, we filled it with organic soil, compost, and fertilizer, making the bed perfect for vegetables.
    5. Last but not least, raised beds adds value to the house.

    My Raised bed Layout: 

    As you can see from the video, I converted my side yard as my vegetable garden and placed all the raised beds there. A part of our backyard still has pots and potters where I have tulsi, curry leaves, and other herbs. I have three raised beds which are 12X3 feet and one raised bed, which is 12X4 feet. 

    Price:

    Of course, the price. A wooden gardening bed is quite expensive, and it requires manual labor as well. Initially, I got this small raised bed from Amazon to test it out. When I liked it, we decided to build big ones. We want to do it right and making raised beds is not an easy task, so we hired our gardener to make the gardening beds for us.

    The raised bed building process:

    Even though we did not construct it; I want to share the process. You first need to remove the lawn/grass and weeds thoroughly from the area. Then place the built bed. (Our gardener constructed the raised beds based on our requirement on site. He did not use the prebuilt ones) Cover the soil inside the bed with weed cloth or barrier. This cloth prevents the weed, but it allows the water to drain and roots to breathe. Then fill it with good organic soil, manure. I would also recommend installing the drip irrigation system at the same time.

    The lifetime of a Raised Bed: 

    We built this raised beds 1.5 years ago and so far, so good.  I did not face any issues. Using good quality wood helps a lot. If you are wondering that if you could move the raised bed after placing them, the answer is YES. I have done that but of course with the help of the gardener. 

    Few Pointers:

    A couple of pointers I would like to share here:

    • Use good quality wood but make sure they are untreated. I would recommend untreated wood for organic gardening.
    • Make sure you use a weed protector.
    • Use good quality organic soil and also add manures, chicken manures are tremendous, and they enrich the soil. 
    • Depending upon your backyard layout, you can customize the raised bed sizes. Make sure you place them where you get ample sunlight.

    There is nothing more than rewarding than growing your food and cooking the same. I hope this article was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Also, follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates. 

    9 shares
    • Share8
    • Tweet
    • Reddit

    Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: raised beds

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome

    Author Vidhya smiling in the renovated kitchen

    Hello all, I am Srividhya, the person behind this blog. I firmly believe that the mouth is the way to the heart. My blog is all about vegetarian and vegan food with unique and exciting recipes from all over the world. From traditional, authentic recipes to fusion and eggless bakes, you can find it all here! Read more →

    Enjoy My Cookbooks

    Two cookbooks beautifully presented on the table

    Discover the diverse and delicious taste of South India, eggless recipes made in Instant Pot and other deliciousness! Find out more →

    Sign Up to Newsletter

    Must-Try Soup Recipes 

    • Vegan Miso Ramen Soup With Tofu
    • Easy Pumpkin Soup | Pumpkin Shorba
    • Vegan Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup | Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
    • Broccoli Almond Soup (Instant Pot Method)

    As Featured On

    As seen on logo banner

    YouTube

    Follow me on YouTube for regular recipe videos and insights from my kitchen!

    Follow

    Disclosure

    VVK is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program - an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate VVK earns from qualifying purchases. Privacy Policy →

    Most Popular Posts

    • Tofu Scramble | Scrambled Tofu Breakfast Burrito
    • Pesto Mozzarella Sandwich
    • Sweet Corn and Steel Cut Oats Soup
    • Easy Cream Cheese Pasta with Broccoli
    • Aloo Masoor Dal | Potato With Red Lentils
    • Alu Diye Cholar Dal | Bengali-Style Lentils with Potatoes

    Explore Your Favorites

    15 + Mango Recipes

    25 + Easy South Indian Instant Pot Recipes

    10 + Must Try Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

    20 + Kids Friendly Lunch Box Recipes

    20 + Indian Lentils Recipes Made in Instant Pot

    Footer


    VVK is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program - Privacy Policy
    HOME | ABOUT | CONTACT US

    Footer

    ↑ Back to Top

    VVK horizontal logo

    About

    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

    Cooking

    • Sign Up to Newsletter
    • All Recipes
    • My Cookbooks
    • My Amazon Shop

    VVK is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program

    Copyright © 2023 | VidhyasHomeCooking.com