There are many things to consider when making a new garden bed, particularly when the intention is to grow food. The most important thing is the amount of sun that the spot in the garden gets. To grow vegetables you need a minimum of six hours of sunshine a day.

When deciding to start growing vegetable, you need to think about what is going to work best for you. No dig gardening, or raised beds.

The benefits of raised garden beds

The benefits of raised beds are:

1) Reduction of weeds and grass growing through the soil, competing for nutrients.

2) Soil is more aerated compared to compacted no dig gardens.

3) Reduced access for pests such as snails, rabbits and pets that might like to harvest their own meal.

The disadvantages of raised garden beds

The disadvantages of raised beds are:

1) The cost and effort associated with buying timber, constructing the bed, and filling it with soil.

2) Raised beds have a greater demand for water than no dig gardens. This can be greatly offset by mulching.

We installed another raised garden bed to grow our vegetables because they are physically easier to work. Raised beds are great for young children who can plant and harvest at their eye level.

About our new raised vegetable garden

For Mother’s Day, my husband (Mark) renovated our existing raised vegetable bed, splitting it into two beds. He then constructed a whole new raised garden bed. Clearly he knows the way to my heart. These raised beds were a great gift since Lara, Olivia and I spend so much quality time together in the garden.

We built one long rectangular raised bed with a divider to create two beds in minimal space. Then Mark really impressed me by turning the divider into a super comfy seat. It doubles as Lara’s walking plank, and somewhere to put my cuppa. That seat was so well received that Mark built an additional corner seat.

Our new veggie bed has ‘his and hers’ seats. If you are thinking about building raised beds I highly recommend adding permanent seating. The simple addition has resulted in us sitting in the garden and really enjoying it.

In one day I went from having a massive raised bed vegetable garden that wasn’t very user friendly, to having four vegetable beds. My gardening dream. I was one happy lady. Then a few things didn’t go to plan, and we didn’t fill up the garden with gorgeous new soil.

What to fill a raised garden bed with

I was adding all sorts of things to put a base layer on the dirt and start filling the massive hole.

Over the course of a couple of weeks, paper and cardboard waste got thrown into the beds. A few bins full of soil that I moved from the chicken run area were added and all our coffee grounds were thrown in. Hopefully all those things are adding great nutrients to the soil.

After a few weeks of Mark having other priorities, he finally went to the nursery and filled the ute with soil. He then wheelbarrowed it from the driveway, up the side path and into the new raised vegetable garden. All with Lara close behind him, pushing dirt in her wheel barrow and dumping it in the garden bed like a seasoned pro. Honestly, sometimes that little lady is two going on twenty two.

Olivia contributed by aerating the soil. She was taking handfuls of soil out of the bed, throwing it up in the air, and then we would both hope that it landed back in the hole. Needless to say I achieved very little during that whole process. But it was lovely family time, and we all got to enjoy the garden together. Everyone loves dirt-particularly dirt that provides so much potential to grow food.

Once the new raised bed was full of soil, I couldn’t wait to plant it out. The original plan was to make one side of the new bed a strawberry patch, and the other side a designated herb spot. But the planned herb garden is now planted out with a whole heap of seeds that I’m hoping will germinate. I say hoping because the weather is unseasonal and unpredictable at the moment.

Gardening and Gratitude

Planting out the strawberry plants with Lara as my assistant was so enjoyable, it set us up for a delightful day. Slowing down and enjoying the little things really makes us realise how lucky we are.

Lara, Olivia and I get dirt up our fingernails, but family time outdoors really made for a wonderful weekend. I also had the bonus of Mark being around to capture precious memories of our babies who are growing up at the blink of an eye.

Lara and I were out in the vegetable garden the first day she was home. We were planting seeds together not long after that. Now watching her dig a hole to transplant a strawberry plant makes me very, very proud.

I can only hope that I am teaching lifelong skills to my children, and that they will want to pass them on. As a population we simply can’t allow ourselves to forget how to grow our own food. Not only is it good for us and the environment, it’s also a lot of fun.

If you aren’t already growing something you can eat, go and plant your favourite herb. Soon you will be wanting to grow your own vegetables.