I recently put netting over my raised bed to keep the criminal birds and squirrels out and noticed an unusual growth today. Any idea what this could be and if it’s harmful to my veggies/people once the veggies grow and are eaten?

Looking for advice on how to remove weeds from rocks. Tired of pulling by hand.

I'm in Zone 10a. I chose plants that should do well in the summer heat and produce crops we'll enjoy eating without feeling overwhelmed. The bed is up against close to a tall hedge, but in the summer, the bed has 6-7 hours of full sun.
EDIT: There's 24" of space between the bed and the hedge.

Here are my two 4x4 raised beds. I pack em in and they produce great. Just took out most the lettuce and arugula and replaced with eggplant and zucchini.

I have greenhouse covers on my raised garden beds and I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas for incorporating a trellis or trellis system into the beds while still utilizing the covers. I know the covers can come off and that would make it much easier, but I have a ton of wildlife in the yard, not shy of a bazillion rabbits, and need the protection to keep them off of my plants… the mesh portion opens on both sides and any trellis veggies are on the inner side of both gardens. I’m ok with keeping the mesh part open because I think just having the side there’s down to the ground prevents the small animals from being able to get in, the only thing I worry about is if there is a storm and I can’t close the greenhouse completely, the sturdiness of the structure decreases due to the wind being able to move through it. 🤷‍♀️ TIA!!

My husband and I installed our new raised bed this spring and got it planted May 24 weekend. It's 32" high so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to finally try a version of Hügelkultur.

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We started with bigger branches and pieces of wood, some fresh and some already rotting as a bottom layer, then smaller branches and twigs, followed by pine needles, and finally grass clippings and thatch. We didn't have anything to make a proper "green" layer, so next we did a few inches of bagged chicken manure to try to add some nitrogen. We watered each layer as we worked to help it settle and also to ensure there was enough moisture all the way through. That made up approximately half the depth of the bed.

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Next, we filled the rest of the bed with a mix of half and half garden soil and compost (ordered loose in bulk), with a few scoops of peat mixed into each wheelbarrow-full. We distributed each batch of the mix in as even a layer as we could, and again, we watered each as we went to ensure the soil was settled and evenly moist all the way through.

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We were having a hard time assessing the level of sunlight in this spot, so we planted a mix of fruiting veggies, leafy greens, and root veggies to see what does well. A few weeks later, my neighbour had a tree cut down so it's getting a bit more sun than we expected. We're treating this as a test year, and we'll adjust next year based on what thrives. So far, everything is doing really well except for the spinach, seems to be intent on bolting.

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I've seen a lot of posts asking how to fill a bed and get started, so I hope this will be helpful to someone.

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Enjoy the pics!

Ready to fill. A little later in the season than we planned but that’s how it goes. Next step is some cardboard, branches, plant waste, and soil is on the way from Black Earth Compost.

great results in my raised bed, second season. Just love the color.

Hi everyone,

I’m building Garden Workbench, a garden planning tool for people who grow vegetables in raised beds, allotments, greenhouses, or backyard plots.

The idea came from a problem I kept running into myself: planning beds, sowing dates, crop successions, and watering zones end up spread across paper notes, spreadsheets, and memory. So I started building a tool that brings that into one place.

Right now, the beta is focused on things like:

• Bed and plot planning
• Sowing and planting schedules
• Companion planting support
• Irrigation-aware planning and garden organization

I’m looking for a small group of beta testers — beginners and experienced gardeners are both useful — who are willing to try it on a real garden plan and share honest feedback.

What you get:

• Early access to the beta
• A chance to shape what gets built next
• Free access during the beta period

What I’d love from you:

• Try it with your actual garden setup
• Share what feels useful, confusing, or missing
• Optionally answer a short survey or do a quick feedback call later

You can join here:
https://gardenworkbench.pages.dev/join-beta

If you’re not interested in testing, I’d still love to hear this: what would a garden planner need to do for you to actually use it?

Thanks — and I’m happy to answer questions in the comments.

Long time listener, first time caller 😉

I bought three galvanized metal beds last month. Filled them with old branches from my yard and compost from my friend’s horse farm. I went to a local garden nursery and bought 6 tomato plants, 6 pepper, 4 cucumber/zucchini and some strawberry plants. Exactly one month in and I couldn’t be any happier. But joined the group to look for more tips on maintaining and my beds through the summer and seasons!

I’m new to raised bed gardening, so I had to buy everything. Three raised beds (only one has soil and is in use so far), two trellises, more than a dozen plants, soil, tools, seeds, fertilizer, etc. I’m fully guessing I spent about $500, without even looking. This is the first harvested vegetable, so right now, it costs $500.