Comments on: Common questions from new gardeners

By: lyanda

lyanda — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:22:31 +0000

Neat post (your site is always beautiful!). I’d like to add that you don’t necessarily have to build raised beds. Mounded earth beds offer a lot of flexibility. I live in Seattle, where the wood on raised beds gives slugs a great place to hang out. We’ve built raised beds in the past, but now, other than our cold frame, we’ve switched to entirely mounded beds, and are very happy. Here’s a recent how-to from my blog, The Tangled Nest:

http://thetanglednest.com/2009/03/mounded-earth-raised-beds/

By: Welcome, People Readers | The Slow Cook

Welcome, People Readers | The Slow Cook — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:34:53 +0000

[...] doing at Rappahanock Cook & Kitch Gardener, or El at DescriptionFast Grow the Weeds, Emily at Eat Close to Home, or Michele at DescriptionGarden [...]

By: TeacherPatti

TeacherPatti — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:16:56 +0000

I think Jeff gets tired of hearing “Emily says”, so now I’m going to start saying, “Emily does…”

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:32:10 +0000

Emily doesn’t just say it…Emily’s done it for ten beds and never dug one shovelful of sod. I don’t even put newspaper or cardboard down in my raised beds first.

By: ilex

ilex — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:42:22 +0000

All fine advice- especially the bit about not rotating for a couple of years. New gardeners have enough to think about.

I’ve built raised beds out of cedar, too- beautiful. Expensive, but hard-wearing and beautiful.

By: Leasmom

Leasmom — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:00:02 +0000

Good advice. I made the mistake last year of using just topsoil. I only had half success. Thanks.

By: TeacherPatti

TeacherPatti — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:48:27 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you. Jeff and I have been going round and round on whether we have to dig up the sod. I told him that Emily said NO and you know about 1,000,000,000 times more than I do! Thanks for vindicating me (and saving my back)

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Ed- How exciting! I can’t wait to see your article. And I would be honored if you’d link to any of my resources, including the “See also” list. -Emily

By: Robyn M.

Robyn M. — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:47:09 +0000

I’ve got 1″x8″s for my garden beds, and they have begun to bow already, but then again, I used decking nails instead of screws, which probably didn’t help. This was a one-year cheapo experiment, but next year if I do it again (signs point to yes), I’ll get the 2″x8″s instead. I’m surprised to hear how durable the untreated pine is–good news!

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:34:47 +0000

Emily, my garden is supposed to be featured in an article about how to start a garden in People magazine, out this Friday. I’m planning to have a post ready on the blog with links to garden resources. This would be great.