What Goes In a Raised Bed Garden

My newest obsession is my raised garden beds. I have built and filled three in the past month. (Here is my quick start gardening guide!) I “check” on them multiple times a day which is kind of silly because it can’t go anywhere, haha. One of the things I was most concerned about was how to keep weeds from growing from the ground all the way up and out with my vegetables. I knew I would have to do some research to find out what goes inside a raised garden bed.

My first step to learning how to layer my garden bed was to head to the library. Do you go all in like me and find out everything you need to know about a subject? That is where I found this incredible book: No-Dig Gardening by Charlie Nardorri! I finished it in under 24 hours! No-dig gardening is also known as the lasagna gardening method. You know how much I love to eat so this was a no-brainer for me, haha!

This book is all about how to start a garden without digging up up your yard. It is one of the best gardening books for beginners. It was exactly what I was looking for because I had already decided I wanted to plant in a raised garden bed. The book goes into detail about what you should layer your garden with.

You can get your raised bed gardening guide here. This guide tells you tools, supplies, and instructions for building, filling, and sowing your very own raised garden bed! And there is room for planning your raised garden bed!

How to layer:

There should be between three and five layers. I chose to layer my raised beds two different ways. the first bed I did: rock, wire, cardboard, hay, compost, garden soil.

The second bed I layered: rock, weed barrier, paper bags (cut to fit in a single layer), hay, compost, garden soil.

Every component is important when layering your raised bed because you want your soil to be nourishing to your plants. Remember you want your plants to grow big but you also want your plants to produce fruit! Having a balanced garden bed is necessary for that.

A balanced raised garden bed has oxygen-rich soil (decomposed straw, dried leaves, or newspaper) and nitrogen-rich matter (compost, manure, or coffee grounds) the intentional combination of the materials is to help improve the longevity of your raised garden bed.

The Deconstructed Raised garden bed looks like this:

what filling the empty garden bed looked like this:

Caring for your raised garden bed is simple once you have the right ingredients. You will continue to add compost through the growing season and once you have harvested all of your produce. What are you growing in your garden? I hope you tag me (@cherrisseinchicago) on Instagram or send me an email! I can’t wait to see your harvest!