Creating a Raised-Bed Organic Veggie Garden

Here's a great idea for fun and educational summer activities for your nature kidz. My Kidz and I have planted an organic veggie garden with the help of Nature Dad, who built the frame for us. Because our soil is rocky clay and therefore not so good for growing things (and really, really hard to dig), we decided to go this route--and we also got to choose the soild we'd use, which is a nutritious mix of compost, peat moss, and topsoil. The entire investment was less than $100, much of that taken up by materials for the wooden frame and the fill dirt, which can be used year after year, so future years should be very inexpensive. And well worth the effort if all goes as planned!

Here are the directions if you want to make one of your own:

1. Build a wooden frame. We made ours by cutting an 8-foot piece in half, and using two 10-foot pieces. Screw them together with deck screws and install metal l-brackets for extra security. Place where you want to plant. You'll need a spot easily accessed for watering and weeding, and which gets at least 6 hours of sun per day.

2. Line bottom with newspaper to prevent weed growth. Fill with a soil mixture that's equal parts compost, peat moss, and topsoil. Stir to mix before filling (I put a pile of each part on a drop cloth, stirred, then shoveled in).

3. Add plants. I recommend Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It's an excellent resource and even gives some good ideas for keeping pests out of your veggie garden.

We planted carrots, corn, peas, two kinds of bell peppers, watermelon, and tomatoes. We chose two varieties of tomatoes--one that matures in 60 days, one in 80 days, so hopefully our harvest is spread out a bit. We also planted a blueberry bush a month or so ago and hope to reap that harvest this summer, too!

I also recommend getting your veggie plants locally. If you have a farmer's market you have a great resource. We got ours at the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh, NC.