Advantages of Raised Bed FarmingAside from avoiding the issue of gardening in poor soil, raised bed gardens offer several advantages:
Plants can be spaced a little closer together in a raised bed because you don’t need places to step. This increases productivity per square foot of bed and reduces weeding when the plants begin to mature.
Gardeners wishing to extend their growing season benefit from the warming effect of raised beds. I have also enjoyed the benefits of a winter garden consisting of greens, broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts.
Water, fertilizer, compost, mulch, etc. can be applied more carefully because they only need to be applied to the garden beds.
Raised beds tend to drain away excess moisture better than ordinary garden beds. This helps the plant roots to breath. In areas that have saturated soil, such as Florida and many areas of the South, raised beds may be the only way you can grow many types of plants.
Studies have shown that raised garden beds produce 1.4 to 2 times as much vegetables and flowers per square foot as ordinary beds, due mainly to the above advantages. You can have a smaller and more manageable garden that produces more goodies for your table.
Traditionally, gardeners plant their entire garden once each year, in the spring. Gardening in raised beds makes it easy to keep every square foot in production from early spring right through summer, fall and winter. The past two years I have really enjoyed my winter garden of broccoli, brussel sprouts and a wide variety of greens. By using a raised bed, in almost every growing zone, you can increase the amount of food produced by 50 or even 100 percent.
Lettuce, other salad greens, radishes, peas and other fast-growing, cold-tolerant crops can be planted in the middle of spring and will produce until mid-to-late June. At this time, remove the plant and compost it. Then you can add some compost and plant something else in that space.
Plants can be spaced a little closer together in a raised bed because you don’t need places to step. This increases productivity per square foot of bed and reduces weeding when the plants begin to mature.
Gardeners wishing to extend their growing season benefit from the warming effect of raised beds. I have also enjoyed the benefits of a winter garden consisting of greens, broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts.
Water, fertilizer, compost, mulch, etc. can be applied more carefully because they only need to be applied to the garden beds.
Raised beds tend to drain away excess moisture better than ordinary garden beds. This helps the plant roots to breath. In areas that have saturated soil, such as Florida and many areas of the South, raised beds may be the only way you can grow many types of plants.
Studies have shown that raised garden beds produce 1.4 to 2 times as much vegetables and flowers per square foot as ordinary beds, due mainly to the above advantages. You can have a smaller and more manageable garden that produces more goodies for your table.
Traditionally, gardeners plant their entire garden once each year, in the spring. Gardening in raised beds makes it easy to keep every square foot in production from early spring right through summer, fall and winter. The past two years I have really enjoyed my winter garden of broccoli, brussel sprouts and a wide variety of greens. By using a raised bed, in almost every growing zone, you can increase the amount of food produced by 50 or even 100 percent.
Lettuce, other salad greens, radishes, peas and other fast-growing, cold-tolerant crops can be planted in the middle of spring and will produce until mid-to-late June. At this time, remove the plant and compost it. Then you can add some compost and plant something else in that space.