| If you want to grow healthy vegetables, you should | | | | some wood preservative before installing it to prevent |
| plant them in a raised bed filled with selected materials | | | | the wood from rotting. Some popular wood |
| and soil. This has many advantages, such as a | | | | preservatives are Ammoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate |
| controlled soil condition, less weeds and pests and so | | | | (ACZA) and Ammoniacal Copper Quat (ACQ). |
| on. It is especially useful if you have space constraints | | | | Alternatively, you may use polyethylene plastic or not |
| around your house. | | | | use a framework support at all and just leave the bed |
| A raised bed is basically an elevated part of soil where | | | | as a mound of soil. |
| you sow your vegetable seeds. You should make it | | | | Now here are the actual components of the raised |
| about 4 feet wide so that you can reach the | | | | bed. Starting from the bottom, lay out the following: |
| vegetables in the bed from either side. The length of | | | | 1. A wire netting or newspaper. This allows drainage of |
| the bed depends on how much space you have. | | | | water. |
| Make sure the bed gets as much sunshine as possible. | | | | 2. Pieces of gardening waste such as cut grass, twigs, |
| You need at least 5 hours of direct sunshine daily. As | | | | plant stems etc. |
| far as possible, make the bed face an East-West | | | | 3. A layer of straw |
| direction which usually gives one side more sunshine | | | | 4. Normal garden soil |
| than the other. This way, you can plant different | | | | 5. Wet leaves |
| varieties of vegetables according to how much | | | | 6. Compost |
| sunshine they need. Also, make sure you have a | | | | 7. The layer of topsoil you dug up earlier or the topsoil |
| perimeter for you to walk around the bed. | | | | that was bought from the garden center. |
| Here's how to make a raised bed: | | | | After all these layers are put in place your bed would |
| Dig out the topsoil from the bed area. Put the topsoil | | | | be about 4 feet wide and between 6 to 18 inches high. |
| aside for now. Your topsoil is the fertile top layer of soil | | | | The width and the depth of the bed are more |
| that contains the organic matter. Do not dig below the | | | | important than the length so make it as wide and deep |
| topsoil because your purpose in digging it up is to later | | | | as possible. Now you can sow your vegetable seeds |
| put it on top of the bed, in which case you need the | | | | into the bed. Remember that raised beds tend to dry |
| fertile layer not the subsoil. If the topsoil of your ground | | | | up more quickly therefore you need to constantly |
| is unsuitable, you can buy topsoil from any garden | | | | monitor the dampness of the soil. |
| center. | | | | When you plant vegetables in this way it ensures that |
| Get rid of all the weeds that you may find. Once the | | | | they become healthy and strong on account of the |
| trench is made, you can use some wood for the sides | | | | controlled soil composition in the bed. |
| of the bed to hold up its soil. However, you must apply | | | | |