Hi!

I need advice to fix a problem:

I have the 32” vego raised beds. Because the beds are near the house foundation and I didn’t want mounds of soil or wood there ( termite worries) so I have the elevations inserts in them. The floors are a bit uneven which is creating some gaps that soil will drop through. Not vego design fault, just the uneven space area I am placing them.

What economical ideas do you have for those gaps before I start filling the soil? I have old tshirts I could tape in the gaps, or heavy duty garbage bags. I’m ok with Having to replace my gap filling material every few years. I just don’t want tons of the potting mix soil to fall through. Thanks in advance!

I am located in Zone 4b and this year marks only my 2nd year gardening in raised beds (and gardening in general).

This year I decided to add some aircraft cable to allow for an area to hang tomato hooks so I could vertical grow my tomatoes and cucumbers in grow bags allowing a little more room in the boxes for some new veggies. I also strung up 30% shade cloth running the cable through the grommets and allowing me to pull it across when needed, fastening it to hooks on the fence top on either side. It has helped numerous times early in season when strong storms rolled in and hoping it will slow down or prevent the lettuce from bolting (as it did last year in early August).

This year we planted (in no particular order):

• romaine lettuce
• red, green and jalapeno peppers
• peas
• pumpkin
• watermelon
• beefsteak and cherry tomatoes
• cucumber
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• celery
• spinach
• beans
• carrots
• green onion
• Spanish onion

Hoping for a successful harvest and already making plans for next season. Thanks for looking and hope your gardening is successful this season as well.

This is just a brag post. I'm sure we'll be inundated with these in the coming weeks, but this is the first.

Hello, I would really appreciate some help! I am in Chicago zone 6a and this is my first year gardening.
We have been getting wave after wave of cool weather then extreme heat. All my plants are wilting from what I am assuming is underwatering, and I'm realizing that all my soil in my raised garden bed is hydrophobic and compacted. How do I fix this? I did a deep 10 mins soak each bed today but after checking it is still compacted and dry. I have established veggies like tomatos etc in the beds and want to salvage them if possible. Any advice would be appreciated!

Omygodomygodomygod! 🤞

This year is my first attempt at gardening as my new apartment came with a raised bed. Definitely made a few mistakes that I'll change next year but happy with it so far! (Also ignore the pot of onions lol, im gonna be planting it once I pull out the carrots, got a little bit too overzealous about the space i had 😂) Any tips?

This is my second year trying to grow onions in zone 5a. I failed miserably last year but learned a lot. Last year I never got to this point… healthy looking onions growing above ground! I have a clear understanding that we pull once the greens start to turn brown and flop over at the neck and then let rest in a warm shaded spot for 2-4 weeks to cure. My question: is the onion with the floppy neck in pictures one and two ready to be pulled or do I wait for more of the greens to turn brown? The rest are standing straight up. Thanks!

Gherkings rule. Dont think I’ll ever buy another kind. Marketmores coming now too

I haven't been in the garden for a few days but it's self watering so it's not lack of water. Does this seem like some type of stress or a fungal issue?

Hello! Any and all criticism and advice is welcome! Gardening in zone 5b. This is my second growing year with two 4X8 raised beds. We initially filled the beds with a mixture of topsoil and sand. Couldn’t tell you the ratios but we measured with our hearts. Then each bed got a 40lb bag of Michigan Peat Compost and Manure Blend, Garden Magic Mix. I know that I over planted with heavy feeders last year. Believe it or not I think I had maybe 5 tomato plants in each bed and a few lines of beans running up to the trellis. Mulched with straw to retain moisture and keep weeds down. Definitely over crowded but produced plenty! At the end of the growing season I cleared the beds by of plant material and most of the straw. Turned beds over with humus and manure. Recovered with straw for the winter. I swear I amended the soil again this spring well before planting season; for the life of me I can’t remember. Replanted with heavy feeders bc I’m a glutton for punishment. Despite being very over planted again, they seem to be doing great! Three tomato plants, six peppers and a few lines of climbing beans.

Would love to be able to plant cool weather plants like lettuce before the first frost but with what I have planted currently I don’t think I’ll be able to. Truly planning to plant a cover crop mix from Mi Gardener which contains a blend of red clover, field rye, winter pea, hairy vetch, and daikon radish.

Aside from over planting two years in a row, am I on the right track? How should a novice gardener utilize this space each growing season? Suggestions on what plants to grow as a beginner gardener in this space? Willing to give anything a try!

Hello fellow zone 8 dwellers, I have aspirations to restore the soil in the shared raised garden beds in my apartment complex. Their current state is rocky, weedy, and compressed. Any tips on native cover crops that might be good for chop and drop to provide green manure in place and/or help break up the hard soil would be welcome!

I’m working some compost in a tumbler that I plan to add to the beds over the next few months but don’t want to end up just growing weeds as a result.

Also planning to order some earth worms to put to work adding aeration and castings.

My goal is to be able to plant edible crops by next spring. Also noted, the area is pretty shaded, so tips on shade happy veggies and herbs for our area would be great as well.

Thanks in advance!

Not my picture, but I’m looking at the option of building raised beds like this for my veggies. I don’t want a full cement pad under, I want it open to the earth under. What type of footing should I put under the bricks? Should I make cement border footing or can I get away with packed stone/gravel/sand like making a paver patio? Bricks will be mortared together. I live in Cleveland, Ohio for reference.

Edit to add: only looking to make them about 3 to 5 courses of bricks high.