3X6 RAISED BED VEGETABLE GARDEN LAYOUT HOW TO
3X6 RAISED BED VEGETABLE GARDEN LAYOUT PLUS

All the recent ones I have built are 4 x 8 and I like this size best. I have several different size beds in my garden, the smallest 3 x 3 and the largest 4 x 8. I like to leave about 2 feet between beds. When placing those beds make sure you leave space around all the sides for you to tend the garden. This is something I learned from experience! You can tell the first few raised beds I added, they are odd sizes and not in the grid the new beds are in. When placing those first garden beds, have a plan for where future beds would go.

That said, before you start construction have an eye on future expansion.Ĭhoose an area of your yard that hopefully would allow for future expansion if you so choose. Starting slowly with just a bed or two is the best way to see how much garden you need and how much you have the time and desire to maintain. If I started out with a garden this size I would have given up the first year.

3X6 RAISED BED VEGETABLE GARDEN LAYOUT PLUS

By 2016 I had 225 square feet of raised bed space plus an additional 400 square feet of so of conventional garden space for fruit trees & berry bushes. That first year with raised beds I had about 32 square feet of raised garden bed space with a little bit of in the ground space. In 2009 I finally gave up on growing plants in the ground and built my first raised bed. For square foot gardening you need as little as 16 square feet per person for fresh eating and about 32 square feet per person to have enough for preserving! Most people seem to agree that for a conventional row garden (a row of corn, a row of lettuce, a row of tomatoes…) 100 square feet per person is needed for a fresh eating garden, and about 200 square feet per person if you want to can food for year round use. How many people are you feeding? Do you want enough just for seasonal fresh eating? Do you want enough for canning, preserving, etc? Do you want enough to share with friends, family, or to sell at farmer’s market? Will you be conventional row gardening or square foot gardening? But most of all, how much space do you have? Most people do square foot gardening in raised beds, but you certainly can use this method with conventional “in the ground” gardening.

It’s easy to add cover in winter so the soil is warmer and ready to go sooner in spring, or even add a cold frame on top for winter gardening. You don’t have to contend with rocks or stray tree roots. Raised beds cut down on the amount of weeds growing, but also makes it easier to pull the weeds that do grow. Twice a year I add compost from my compost bin to replenish the nutrients spent on growing and to replace any soil that washed away or compacted down. The best part about having raised beds is having total control over soil quality. Finally, I gave up, switched over to raised beds and never looked back. Amending & tilling soil, digging out endless rocks and never ending weeds. I tried for many years with conventional gardening with so-so results. Unfortunately that doesn’t make for the best farming soil. Cape Cod is a lovely place to live but we are basically a big sand bar that sticks out into the ocean. The answer to this is how good is your soil? My garden is set up for raised beds. They really are the experts on all things Square Foot Gardening! Mel invented the system in the 70s and the foundation has been carrying on his good work since his passing in 2016. They have released a few different editions over the years, each with new info or ways to make your square foot garden better. I will cover the basics here but I HIGHLY recommend getting the book “All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew & the Square Foot Gardening Foundation. Let me start off by saying right off the bat that this method is amazing, but way more involved than one blog post could cover. Square Foot Gardening is high yield in a small, easy to care for plot. If you are a beginning gardener, click here to check out my 7 beginner gardening mistakes to avoid. I think this is a great way to garden for someone that is just getting started (or someone that has been doing it forever!).

3X6 RAISED BED VEGETABLE GARDEN LAYOUT HOW TO

Do you want to start a garden but are overwhelmed about how to start? Let me tell you about a system I have been using for the past few seasons called square foot gardening.

3x6 raised bed vegetable garden layout