Raised Beds

An herb spiral creates multiple microclimates in a small raised bed area.

Rip out last year's leafy, aboveground growth, leaving the roots. Chop the leaves and use as a thin layer of mulch on top of the soil, (no digging/burying) but not too thick so that it inhibits new plant growth.

Use drip irrigation. Watering by hand is not only time consuming but results in non-uniform watering and can be hard to adjust for different needs during the season.

Get a filter for the irrigation system to catch particulates that may clog your line.

Start seeds indoors if you live in an area without a year-long growing season.

Practice succession planting so that everything doesn't mature at once.

Interplant crops between others to maximize space in the garden. Plant low-growing crops under tall ones like tomatoes or corn, or slim-leaf crops beside other slim-leaf crops (such as onions and radishes). They can act as a cover-crop, protecting the soil and keeping it moist.

Mulch before or after transplanting.

Mulching protects the soil and keeps in moisture.

Straw as a mulch: Cleaned straw has most seeds removed, thin and breaks down quickly into the soil, light-colored and reflective to keep the soil cool.

Wood chips as mulch: Be careful when using in vegetable beds as they use nitrogen in the soil until they begin to break down.

Good soil mix:

compost: 1/3

aeration (perlite or pumice): 1/3

water retention (peat moss, coconut coir): 1/3

Cover the beds during the winter with mulch or the remains of the plants that grew the previous season. Protects the soil and eventually breaks down.

Use humidity domes to germinate seedlings. (Seed mats also help if you're starting during the winter.)

Instead of filling large raised beds completely with good (expensive) soil, fill the bottom 50-70% of the bed with untreated logs/wood, filling the spaces with wood chips or mulch. These will break down over time and the bed will settle, needing just a few inches of compost on top every new growing season. This is known as hugelkultur.

Should not be used with crops that have large taproots or extensive root systems.

6 inches is the minimum height for a raised bed. Taller raised beds allow crops with larger roots to be grown (such as carrots or radishes) and are easier to work with, but require more soil.

If you are using raised beds of the minimum height, make sure the soil is well-amended.

Practice "cut and come again" harvesting: cutting-off mature leaves from leafy green plants while leaving the growing part of the plant, called the "crown." Can usually be done 3-5 times before the plant is spent.

Fast-growing leafy-greens (like lettuce) respond best to liquid fertilizers.

Basic soil components: compost, peat moss, and vermiculite.

Fertilize only the top inches of soil.

Transplant seedlings only during the morning or evening hours.

Always water them thoroughly so they don't dry out.

Triangular spacing of seedlings allows more plants per area.

Make sure the garden is south-facing and gets full sun.

Consider the size that the plants will reach and whether they will shade out lower-growers.

Plan your irrigation system.

Make sure you're using quality soil.

Vermiculite vs. Perlite

Use perlite if:

you need the soil to dry out between waterings
you're transplanting seedlings into new pots
you need to loosen clay soil

Use Vermiculite if:

you want the soil to retain water better
in seed trays to start seedlings with strong roots

Label everything you plant.

Plant herbs and annual flowers to attract pollinators.

Beet seeds come as multiples, so only plant one per hole.

Alternate types of plants if they are prone to disease/pests so that similar species are isolated from one another.

Self-watering raised bed:

Water reservoir (with overflow drainage and filter) at the bottom, with structural support. Sand as the wicking medium, covered by mulch, then soil.