Gardening in raised beds instead of conventional rows is
becoming more and more
popular. It’s easy to see why.

Raised beds offer earlier crops in the spring, later crops in
the fall and better root
crops. They require less fertilizer and no costly machinery.
They have better drainage,
fewer weeds and almost no soil problems and yield more produce
in less space.

Gardeners who have tried raised beds discover that the soil
is loose, allowing air,
moisture, warmth, nutrients and roots to penetrate more easily.
Raised-bed gardening helps
correct the problems of poor, rocky or compacted soil and
extends short growing seasons.

There is no best time of the year to make raised beds. Here
are three possibilities.

Winter. Gardeners have the most time on
their hands. This is the most
popular time for creating beds because it enables the gardener
to plant extra early in the
spring.

Get the frame made up and mix the soil. However, make sure
you dig into the existing
soil before putting the mix into the bed. This is called
"interfacing" and is
vital for plant growth. If you don’t dig before mixing, the
plant roots will hit the hard
area and won’t penetrate for maximum root growth and uptake of
nutrients and water.

With raised beds, too, you can cover that small area with
plastic and not worry about
wet soil and late planting. Raised beds drain well. They get
more sunlight from both the
top and sides, too, so they warm up quicker in the spring.

Spring. If you can work the soil in early
spring, raised beds allow
you to plant earlier and to protect plants against too much
rain, lengthy wet spells and
other bad weather.

Summer or Fall. Planting in raised beds
helps fall crops produce
longer. Remember, working in the late fall is much cooler and
easier than trying to put in
a raised bed in the summer.