The Joys of Raised Beds and Planter Boxes

I love to garden. When I was younger, I thought nothing of gardening out in the back 40, rototilling, hauling produce long distances to the kitchen, and bending over weeding for hours. Now that I’m older, my gardening motto has become “Work smarter, not harder”: Why bend over if you don’t have to? I’ve found that I can grow more food in less space with a lot less work in planter boxes and raised beds.

I’ve tried all different kinds of raised beds. I even built our front walkway to incorporate wooden planter boxes with storage underneath rather than railings. After experimenting with all kinds of raised beds and planter boxes, I’ve found that the cheapest, easiest, and most productive raised beds can be made by digging up the grass in the yard and stacking up cement blocks.

There are only really three rules for successful planter boxes:

1. They must have drainage.

2. They should be at least 18 inches deep.

3.  They should be no wider than 2 feet if you can reach them in only one direction, and 4 feet if you can access them from both sides.

I fill our planter boxes with potting mix and compost. I am very careful to read the ingredients and make sure that I buy PLANT-based potting mix and compost, so as not to expose our future food to the bone meal, blood meal, manure, and slaughterhouse byproducts so often found in potting soil and compost. I plant really thickly and leave no room for weeds. The soil never compacts because it is never stepped on, and the few weeds that grow can be pulled out easily.

I’ve also found that I eat lots more salads if I have a salad-bar planter as close to the kitchen as possible. There is nothing quite like stepping outside the kitchen door in the early spring and picking lettuce, spinach, bok choy, parsley, and green onions for a big dinner salad. I add sautéed tofu, nuts, and whole wheat crackers, and voila-dinner is served!

Do you have any favorite vegetables that you’ve successfully grown in a planter box?