Garden Bed Newbie

Written by Ellie Steltz on 06/16/19

Hello dearest friends! Today I wanted to give you a little tour and backstory of my garden beds. I’m a newbie, learn-as-I-go gardener, so I thought I’d share some of the process from that perspective.

Container Gardens

I’ve had a love for growing things as long as I can remember. The last couple summers I’ve dabbled in container gardens and planted some flowers and herbs in the ground. Nothing too crazy, but every year I added more containers and tried more things.

The only thing that really worked for me in the containers were the carrots, the rest didn’t do so hot because of all the rain we got (yes, I’m blaming the rain). Over this past winter, I decided that I wouldn't try too hard with veggies this summer because I have so many other things going on. (Said that the year before too...I guess the winter gets to my head and makes me believe lies…).

2016

2017

2018

Making the Beds

Then, one day, David and I were out in the yard and I said to him “What if we did raised beds this year?” He said “yeah let’s do it!” And we went out THAT DAY and bought the wood for it (I probably should have found old wood somewhere to save money, but I really wanted to get the beds made!) Well, David asked me what measurements I wanted, since he wouldn't let me just wing it...so we decided on two 3’x6’x10" beds.

The next step is covering the ground in the bottom of the beds so that no weeds will come up (one of the benefits of raised beds, better control over weeds). I had brown paper that I’ve been holding onto since my wedding, so I decided to use that and Amazon packing paper instead of newspapers.

That night we (okay, David) put the beds together and realized how big they were! We contemplated painting the wood to make it last longer…then we decided nahhhhh, it’ll be fine. We laid the beds down where they would get the most sun (David wouldn’t let me put them right in the middle of the yard…who needs a lawn?)

Next up, fill them with dirt! We used 2 bags of 3.8 ft compressed Pro Mix each and it was the perfect amount. I was able to dig up some of my compost from last year and mix it in to increase the nutrients in the soil. That was a proud moment for me, not gonna lie. Food scraps from last year are now fueling my food for this year. So. Freaking. Cool.

What I Planted

Last, but not least, plants!! Here is what I decided to plant this year: tomatoes, grape tomatoes, peas, carrots, onions, green peppers, lunch box peppers, hot peppers (for David), chives, cucumbers, spinach and lettuce greens. That’s all! I planted the spinach, carrots, peas and chives from seed and all but the chives (RIP) are coming up nicely! The rest I sourced as plugs from local greeneries. Supporting local growers AND saving a bunch of time and failure by doing that. Win win. I did some research on square foot gardening and (mostly) followed those guidelines. Some things I ended up cramming together to use all the plants.

To see the whole process, check out my Plant Momma highlight on Instagram! I'll continue to update you as the plants grow and start producing yummy veggies!

All my love,

Ellie

Are you a plant Momma yourself? Or do you have a friend who has plant babies of her own? This mug makes a great gift! You can order one here!

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