Expanding veggie production

Because of my small piece of land, I plant my annual vegetables very densely, giving each plant exactly the space it needs and no more. I was inspired by the book All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, and after learning about his method I was really excited about minimizing footprint while maximizing harvest.

When building raised beds, any size works, though narrow boxes work better so you can reach into the middle without stepping into the bed. These beds are just boxes that can be created with anything: wood, cinder blocks, rocks, or bricks, with the main concern being to use something that will not leach toxins.

Boxes are simple and can be made of any safe material.

The potting soil mix in the square foot gardening book (1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 vermiculite) is high in nutrients, drains very well, and is light for easy weeding. My original boxes were built to these specifications and have done well in past years.

Plants growing happily in a box, summer 2014.

For my 2016 boxes, I have two types of new boxes: 4' x 4' boxes and 4' x 8' boxes. The 4' x 4' boxes are pre-owned, pre-fab kits that a very generous friend gave me, and they are made out of a composite material (something like this). Two of the new 4' x 8' boxes are made from new, non-treated cedar boards, and the last new 4' x 8' box is made from repurposed 4" x 4" cedar posts. I attached the boards together using self-tapping deck screws, so I didn't need to pre-drill.

For the soil mix I ordered two square yards of Purple Cow Organics compost from a local store, which turned out to be just right for the new boxes and left a small amount to mix into each of the old boxes--a big shout out to my father who spent a whole day helping me shovel and haul the pile off of the driveway! I also bought bags of peat moss at my local garden store and deviated from the original mix by not adding the vermiculite, which I will likely mix in to the new beds before planting.

Peat moss is a non-renewable resource. I am investigating alternatives for future raised beds.

In the new 4' x 4' boxes I used old coffee burlap bags as a weed barrier. For the 4' x 8' boxes I decided to do something different-- I put down a layer of wet newspaper.

This moist layer should attract worms to my box as well as discourage weeds for the first season. Eventually the newspaper will be incorporated into the soil and I will be able to use these boxes for deep-rooted veggies.

Annual vegetable bed expansion history:

• 2012: 64 sq  ft of raised beds
• 2015: 88 sq ft of raised beds + 200 sq ft community garden plot                                             
• 2016: 216 sq ft of raised beds + 200 sq ft community garden plot

Two of the new 4' x 8' boxes on the left. New 4' x 4' boxes at the bottom.