by HawaiiHerbLady

Created on: April 15, 2008

You can easily create a raised bed for your vegetable garden in one afternoon. Raised beds are a time-honored concept. Sometimes called the biointensive method, this technique for growing vegetables started in 1972 at Stanford University in California, where a group called Ecology Action began a 1/2 acre research, demonstration and teaching garden. It was so productive that it produced a complete vegetarian diet for one person in just 2800 square feet of garden. In 1980 the method was taken to India, where it improved local nutrition. Since then, biointensive farming techniques have been used in China, Brazil, Africa, Mexico, the Philippines and other countries.

Sheet composting is a fancy name for this easy, organic layering method you can use to create better soil while keeping your garden neat and attractive. Through this method, you can build and maintain a garden without digging, tilling or removing sod or lawn. If you have a patch of old, weedy lawn, it's the perfect way to transform the area in a few hours.

Start small! A 4-foot by 8-foot area will make a nice bed and won't require many ingredients. A basic principle of raised bed gardening is that you never want to step on the beds, so consider access when you're planning your raised bed: you should be able to reach into the middle of it from either side without stepping on the bed. This keeps it light and fluffy and doesn't compact the soil.

Here's how to do it:

1. If the weeds in an area are tall, mow them or weed whack them down as close to the ground as possible. No need to remove the cut weeds, pull them out by the roots, level the ground, or remove any rocks unless they're big ones.
2. Mark the area with stakes or string or simply sprinkle some flour to mark the edges.
3. Sprinkle the ground with bone meal and/or blood meal, or a bucket or two of compost (this adds nitrogen, which starts the process of reducing the carbon in the following layers). If you have seed-filled weeds that you want to get rid of, spread them here.
4. Cover the entire area with cardboard, newspaper, or old non-synthetic carpet, overlapping and leaving no holes for weeds. Water this layer well.
5. Spread alternating layers of peat moss, chicken manure, topsoil (if you want to use it) or black cinder, wood ashes, chopped leaves, grass clippings, and/or compost. You can vary the ingredients according to what you have: for example, you can use plant rubbish like chopped-up tree trimmings, pine needles, hay, old tomato stems, corn husks, small branches, etc. Water your new bed thoroughly.
6. Plan the depth of your bed depending on what you want to grow. Small plants such as herbs and flowers need little root space, while large plants like trees need much more. Keep this in mind while building your bed: it could be from 3 inches to 4 feet deep, or more.
7. Cover your bed with a cosmetic layer of chipped bark, leaves, or sawdust. Water everything well. The bed is done!
8. You can plant in your new bed right away. With your hand, dig a small hole to the base of the loose top mulch. Plant your plants close together, and mix the plants, as nature does. No need for straight rows, either.

TIP: If you transplant tiny seedlings directly into your garden beds, there is a danger presented by bugs and slugs. If you keep young plants in small pots until they're bigger, you'll be giving them a head start on a long and healthy life.

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