My Raised Bed Garden

For the second year in a row I have started a raised bed garden in my back yard. The soil is basically hard clay and gravel here in the upstate of South Carolina, and it is unsuitable (without a LOT of hard work) for growing vegetables.  So, a couple of 8' long 2x10's cut in half and screwed together forms the sides of my raised bed.  Two 3/4" PVC pipes are clamped to the side to hold up a 6" square steel grid (used to reinforce concrete) measuring 4' wide by 6' tall. This is what I train the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini onto. Here's a view of the bed in my back yard (with Blaze climbing rose on my split-rail fence).  The location is in the southeast corner to maximize the amount of daily sun.

The soil is made of 2 parts mushroom compost (composted cow manure will do), 1 part peat moss and 1 part vermiculite. This was a huge success last year as it was weed free, drained readily and held moisture well. Best of all it didn't clump up or become hard like clay does and it wass super easy to work with.

In this small garden I have planted:

• Four Brandywine Heirloom Tomatoes (from seed)
• Two Rutger Tomatoes (from seed)
• Four California Wonder Sweet Peppers (from seed)
• 18 Texas Sweet Onions (from sets)
• Two Cross Country Hybrid Cucumbers (from seed)
• Four Burpee’s Burpless Cucumber (plants from Wal*Mart)
• Two Black Beauty Zuchinni (plants from Wal*Mart)
• Six Yellow Marigolds (plants from Wal*Mart)

I can't wait for the first juicy red tomato. My favorite treat is to cut a thick slice and bury it between two slices of toast with some Miracle Whip. Sooo good.