Raised Garden Beds/Garden Planning

[lindyanne]

Anyone have any good resources for garden planning or any raised garden bed kits they love? DH and I have a small garden - 8x12.  We have been doing it for 9 or so years in this space.  We have always had some peppers (bell and chili) and tomatoes. Last year we did spinach and Swiss chard as well. 

We would like to find some raised bed kits to use in the space bc our youngest pup eats everything and also to make it easier to weed and harvest without bending and squatting so much.  We are also interested in growing a better variety of vegetables to make it easier to consume. We had Swiss chard coming out our ears last year even with giving a lot away. It was insane.

[imojoebunny]

My grandfather planted raised beds in Cinder blocks. They are cheap, and can be easily tiered, last for many years. His would be planted in 1, 2, and 3 block set, with a middle place for other plants, sort of stadium seating for plants. The closest I can find is this: siteforeverything.com/look-at-these-12-unique-fun-raised-garden-bed-ideas/ His had 3 tiers, and was very prolific, but in a fairly small space, maybe 20X10...

[niemand88f]

I have several of this brand of raised beds, they were really easy to put together and seem really sturdy. But I've only had them for 2 years so I can't speak to longevity

I use this for planning my raised beds, it's really good and helps me maximize space, but not free: www.growveg.com/

[minzy]

Great question. No true advice since I haven’t done a raised bed yet, but I plan to this year. I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos about getting the wood and squaring off the corners, and it doesn’t look too terribly difficult or expensive.