Raised Bed Garden for Vegetables

by henry
(soon to be leaving ca ..)

It's me and me only on my small hobby farm and i looking at a small raised bed garden in this size -x-4.ft wide-x-15.ft long-x-3.ft deep for personal use.

here is my list of fuits and vegs:

potatoes-x-3-rows
corn-x-3-rows
tomatoes-x-3-rows
carrots-x-1-row
strawberries-x-1-row
watermelon -x-1-row
cantaloupes-x-3-diff typles of cantaloupe-x-1-row each

with item gets a squared foot of space for each veg or fuits items.

So, is that a good basic garden for simple food set up?

i really do not like a lot of diff vegs and i will not eat them so i figure to plant something that i will eat in the long run and put up somethings for the have at a later date.

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Dec 03, 2009
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Square Foot Gardening is the Answer
by: Countryfarm Lifestyles

Looking at the list of vegetables you have here, they look fine, although there are a couple of comments I would like to make.

Firstly, I know you said that you don't like vegetables too much, but I wondered if you have a real variety here. There are no green vegetables at all; lettuce, cabbage, beans, peas, Swiss chard, etc.

Secondly, the melons will have to be grown vertically on supports as to grow them without will mean that they will spread and you will not have the space to grow them conventionally.

Cantaloupes can spread on the ground for 6-9 feet and each plant will bear a number of fruit. You can minimize the number and increase the size by removing some of the flowers. If you grow your melons vertically you may have to contain the growth with some pruning from time to time.

Secondly, take the position of the sun into consideration making sure that your plants are not shaded by your corn and other vegetables that you will be growing vertically.

Thirdly, you can grow 16 carrots per square feet, so do you really want 64 carrots?

Finally, you will need to think about staggering your planting so that you get an extended harvest of your vegetables, otherwise you will end up with a glut which will either require hardwork in bottling, or blanching and steaming for the freezer. Carrots and potatoes store well over long periods of time, if done correctly.

For a more detailed explanation see our page on Square Foot Gardening.

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